Which bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos contains THC?

“Bag A, B or ?”, Detective Alex Belcher asked the crowd at the ”Community Drug Awareness” session of the 2019 Dangers in Plain Sight series Thursday at the Winchester-Clark County Bluegrass Community & Technical College campus.

Belcher passed the bags around along with its original packaging, saying it’s hard to tell which bag contains THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component of marijuana.

“Who thinks it was A?” Belcher asked the crowd. No one raised their hand.

“B?”

A few audience members put their hands up.

“C?” More audience members put their hands up. Mayor Ed Burtner, who was in attendance, said he thought the THC-infused Cheetos were in all three bags.

But the few were right, Belcher said, Bag B contained the THC-infused Cheetos.

And it’s hard to tell the difference, so how could a parent know?

Belcher and his colleague Detective Matt Reed broke down the details of the drugs they find in the community and the signs to look for to know when someone has used a drug during the session.

The Dangers in Plaint Sight program, sponsored by the Clark County KY Agency for Substance Abuse Policy (ASAP), is a three-part community education awareness series for K-12 parents and guardians. Reed told the crowd drugs are any agent that alters the biochemical or physiological process of tissue or an organ.

Street drugs, which includes things like alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, nicotine, methamphetamine, heroin and more, are drugs taken for non-medical reasons, usually for its mind-altering effects.

“Drug abuse can lead to physical and mental damage and sometimes substance dependence and addiction,” Reed told the crowd.

Belcher said the most common drugs Winchester Police see are heroin, marijuana, alcohol and methamphetamine.

Reed said most people hear about heroin because of overdoses, but not a lot of people overdose on meth, so the community doesn’t hear about it as much even though it is typically the drug of choice in Clark County.

Reed and Belcher explained the different types of drugs such as depressants (alcohol, heroin, marijuana), stimulants (cocaine, meth, nicotine, caffeine) and hallucinogenics (LSD, mushrooms, ecstasy, ketamine).

Reed also told the crowd there were more than 260 drug investigations in 2017 and more than 350 calls for patrol concerning drug activity. In 2018, there were 222 drug investigations and 381 drug activity calls. Reed said it’s helpful when people call in tips to the anonymous drug tip line and urged the crowd to do so if they ever see anything suspicious.

The detectives also talked about cartridges that contain THC, which may appear as regular vaping pods. The detectives told the crowd if their child is vaping, it may not be vaping juice but rather THC. Reed said the THC cartridges can contain about 80 percent more THC than smoking a joint packed with marijuana. THC cartridges do not smell any different from regular vape juices either, the detectives said.

Reed said another danger of the THC cartridges are when children, teenagers and whoever purchase the drugs from someone who makes the product in their homes rather than illegally imported cartridges from states where recreational marijuana is legal. Cartridges created at home could be laced with other drugs such as fentanyl, meth and more, Reed said.

Reed said with all of the news surrounding the dangers of vaping — THC or regular vape juice — it’s better for parents to encourage and urge their children to not vape at all.

Reed said it’s likely that among a group of teenagers who smoke marijuana together, at least one or two of them will go on to experiment with other drugs such as cocaine, pills or even heroin.

The detectives also brought in a display case with drugs purchased off the streets of Winchester which included marijuana, meth, crack cocaine, powder cocaine and more.

The next Dangers in Plain Sight session will cover human trafficking on Nov. 18, presented by Allyson Taylor, executive director of the Office of Child Abuse and Human Trafficking Prevention and Prosecution. 

The last session will cover online dangers and bullying on Feb. 6, presented by WPD. All events will take place at the BCTC campus in Winchester. Dinner starts at 5:15 p.m. and the events begin at 6:15 p.m.