BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (WCAX) – A latest drug bust in Brattleboro yielded distinctive proof that you simply don’t see each day. It’s common to see medicine, money, and weapons seized throughout a drug bust. But between the scales and different paraphernalia had been piles of sports trading cards. And police say they’re not the one uncommon currencies they run throughout.
One of the cards seems to be a Michael Jordan rookie basketball card, which, if genuine, may very well be value 1000’s of {dollars}.
At this time, police usually are not saying how, if in any respect, the trading cards had been linked to the September 13 bust at the Colonial Motel.
“It is not out of the realm of possibility that someone would trade a valuable card in exchange for drugs,” mentioned Brattleboro Police Capt. Adam Petlock.
And police say individuals with substance use dysfunction are additionally typically trading requirements for his or her subsequent excessive, together with EBT cards, to purchase meals. “It’s sad, and it speaks to the desperation that we are seeing in people out in the community, that all they are thinking about in that moment is getting a small amount of drugs. And if that means giving up food, an EBT card, whatever it may be, then that is what happens,” Petlock mentioned.
That is the place Brattleboro Police Community Resource Specialist Justin Johnston comes into the fold. “I think most folks have heard the phrase rock bottom,” Johnston mentioned.
He was employed final yr as half of the city’s Downtown Safety Action Plan, which targets downside areas. Johnston is in restoration himself and sometimes accompanies police to a bust as a way to give individuals choices for getting assist.
“But in that moment, if somebody says, ‘Yes, I want to go to treatment,’ then I’m going to sit there with them, call treatment facilities, go through the entire intake process with somebody. And if they are accepted that day, I am going to transport them there,” Johnston defined.
He’s been sober for 11 years however says he as soon as traded his motorbike for medicine. Now, Johnston is targeted on others who’re prepared to show their lives round like he has. “And be a support, not only to them, but also to the long-term agencies that are stepping in to support them,” he mentioned.
Johnston is celebrating his first full yr with the division subsequent month.
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