Idaho Drug and Alcohol News
Sherriff's office: Franklin County, Idaho drug use decreasing
PRESTON, IDAHO- Following last month's methamphetamine overdose of a 21-month
old Preston, Idaho girl, city police and the county sheriff's department say
they are working harder to curb area drug use.
While drug use in Franklin County, Idaho is decreasing there is still cause
for concern, said Franklin County Sheriff's Capt. David Fryar.
"It's harder for people to find dope here. For our community, though,
it's still a big problem," he said.
The Idaho Franklin County Sheriff's Department responds to about 25 drug-related
incidents per year, Fryar said. The main drugs involved are marijuana and methamphetamine.
Drugs are typically found during traffic stops, drug buys, search warrants,
or as a cause of death, Fryar said.
"It seems like an everyday thing," said Chief Scott Shaw of the Idaho
Preston Police Department, regarding drug-related crime.
However, a decrease in the number of meth labs is being seen, as well as less
importation of drugs, he said.
"We'll never completely eradicate it," Shaw said, "but we can
keep it to a trickle."
"We are very aggressive in how we respond," he added.
Preston, Idaho has a zero tolerance policy towards drug use.
"If we see a marijuana butt in your ashtray, or find residue, you're going
in," he said.
Shaw said there is not a big drug problem in area schools. The average age
of offenders in Franklin County is between 25 and 35, he said.
"Right now, it would be difficult for a high school kid to get meth,"
he said. "There might be an occasional joint, though."
In the case of the 21-month old girl, Preston resident Genaro Murillo Silva,
26, has been charged with felony injury to a child.
According to court papers, Silva allegedly allowed the girl "to be placed
in a circumstance where her health was endangered, where methamphetamine was
present to ingest and which said child did ingest."
He is being held in the Franklin County, Idaho Jail on $25,000 bail. Silva
was bound over to district court Thursday. He has pleaded not guilty.
The girl was treated at Primary Children's Hospital. She was released into
protective custody after treatment. Her 4-year old sister was also put into
protective custody and taken from the home.