HOUSTON – Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, acting Houston Police Chief Martha Montalvo, EMS director Dr. David Persse and METRO announced an aggressive plan to improve public safety throughout the city and address the Kush epidemic.
Kush, also known as Spice and K2, is a dangerous synthetic drug that causes aggressive behavior or renders a victim comatose. More than 100 different types of chemicals can be used to produce Kush, which became illegal in 2012.
Since last September, almost half of the city's 3,000 ambulance runs were for drug overdoses linked to Kush.
"These folks are very often complicated from a medical standpoint, they chew up the resources of the emergency department, the nurses and the doctors," Dr. David Persse.
"Several parks, the downtown library, METRO rail stations and other areas are being taken over by drug users," Turner said. "They are scaring away families and taxing our emergency medical services with their calls for help when they overdose.
"We can't have people smoking Kush and passing out just feet from where our children are playing. We are going to take back our parks and at the same time improve public safety throughout the city."
His plan involves the deployment of 175 patrol officers from desk jobs to beat patrols, 13 additional park rangers, an overtime program for roving HPD patrols in targeted parks and a new patrol division dedicated to the Central Business District.
"There will be high visibility with uniformed presence. Bike officers, crime reduction officers, tactical officers as well as mounted officers," Montalvo said.
METRO has also increased enforcement along the rail line, since the Kush problem appears to primarily run through the heart of the city.
The enforcement effort will be concentrated in Hermann Park, Peggy's Point at the corner of Main Street and Richmond Avenue, the Central Library/Tranquillity Park/Hermann Square area and Main Street Square.
"Wherever the problem is, we have to be dynamic and fluid enough to go where the problem is," Turner said.
He also said the city will start targeting the people and places responsible for making the drug, working to get it off the streets one step at a time.
Turner urged people who use Kush or who suffer from substance abuse to seek help by contacting the Houston Recovery Center at 713-236-7810. Others looking for information and referral services can contact the Council on Recovery at 713-914-0556.