Earlier Workshops and testimonies of healing have included instances of individuals overcoming drug abuse and its effect on families. This Workshop looks at some of the broader issues behind drug abuse—the challenges of convicting drug dealers, the sheer enormity of the drug network, spawning quasi-governments headed by drug lords with private armies—and a largely overlooked weapon in the war on drugs: prayer.
Last spring I conducted the trial of a lengthy narcotics case. As a judge I had had many narcotics trials over the years, but the evidence here was particularly terrible. The case was about a one-block-long area; and the amount of heroin and cocaine (specifically "crack") being sold on that one street was appalling, especially since this same scene was being repeated over and over in other locations in our large city. The federal authorities had conducted a thorough investigation, and both the street sellers and the leaders of the operation were all arrested and prosecuted.
One piece of evidence in the case was a tape recording of the drug hawking going on openly. I should add that heroin is sold by specific brand names—like "No Joke" and "Nightmare on Elm Street." Crack often carries the name of the color of the cap on the vial—"Gold Cap" or "Blue Cap." The tape recording was played at the trial, and you could hear the voices calling out, "Get your No Joke. Here, No Joke, No Joke." "Nightmare on Elm Street. Get your Nightmare here. Here's your Nightmare." "Gold Cap. Blue Cap."
