{"id":8814,"date":"2018-06-12T06:00:17","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T10:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=8814"},"modified":"2018-06-12T12:42:47","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T16:42:47","slug":"picturing-the-drug-raids-of-the-just-say-no-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2018\/06\/12\/picturing-the-drug-raids-of-the-just-say-no-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Picturing the drug raids of the ‘Just Say No’ era"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there\u2019s one thing all middle-schoolers learn in health class, it\u2019s that you don\u2019t have to do drugs to be cool. <\/span><\/p>\n

Richard Nixon declared that drugs were \u201cpublic enemy number one\u201d in 1971, but anti-drug education really hit its stride during the \u201980s and early \u201990s, thanks to programs like D.A.R.E. and Nancy Reagan\u2019s \u201cJust Say No\u201d campaign. As incarceration for drug offenses skyrocketed, teachers urged schoolchildren to resist peer pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"An <\/a>
An eighth grader performs at a 1992 rehearsal for D.A.R.E. (John Heller\/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"From <\/a>
From 1989: Counseling peers at McKeesport High. (Andy Starnes\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

But the coolest \u201ckids\u201d of all\u2014as documented in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette\u2019s photo archives\u2014weren\u2019t straight-laced teenagers. Instead, they were the cops who carried out the biggest drug busts. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a rough formula to these pictures: enormous bags of cocaine, a few guns, and several fat stacks of cash, fanned out in all their illicit glory. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Evidence <\/a>
Evidence seized in a 1986 drug raid. (Tony Tye\/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Two <\/a>
Two pistols, 2.2 pounds of cocaine, and a whole lot of cash seized by county police in 1986. (Harry Coughanour\/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Equally prominent are the law enforcement officers who obtained the loot in the first place. \u00a0Some of them wear suits and ties. Some cross their arms coolly and survey their bounty.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lynn <\/a>
Lynn Wietharn with Pittsburgh Postal Inspector Joseph McGowan holding a 4-lb. “rock” of crack cocaine in 1990. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"DEA <\/a>
DEA Agent Ernie Batista with evidence from a 1994 raid in Donora. (Peter Diana\/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

In one photo from 1989, Allegheny County police Lt. Robert Kanith casually poses with $65,000 of confiscated cash in his arms. That year saw a significant increase in Pittsburgh drug policing. At the time, Lt. Kanith said the department had made at least 500 drug busts, compared to the previous year\u2019s 400, and 1,321 drug arrests by the end of November, compared to the previous year\u2019s 905. About 300 of the year\u2019s arrests were related to a drug that police had \u201crarely seen here before\u201d: crack.<\/span><\/p>\n

In another picture from 1989, Harry Callithen, deputy superintendent of Western Penitentiary, holds out his hand while holding contraband substances for the photographer to capture.\u00a0<\/span>Dick Winter, the county\u2019s assistant police superintendent, smokes a cigarette (at least he\u2019s wearing gloves) while examining a kilo of cocaine, packaged in Cartier wrapping, after a 1992 raid. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Western <\/a>
Western Penitentiary Deputy Superintendent Harry Callithen holds confiscated drugs from the prison in 1989. (David Spencer\/The Pittsburgh Press <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lt. <\/a>
Lt. Bob Kanith of Allegheny County Police, surrounded by a small portion of the county’s confiscated drugs in 1989. (John Kaplan\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"From <\/a>
From 1992: Assistant County Police Superintendent, Dick Winters enjoys a cigarette on the job. (Bob Donaldson\/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

You almost forget they\u2019re handling evidence. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Images of the arrests show a less glamorous side of the story. One picture shows a uniformed narcotics officer leaning down to berate a suspect. Another shows a 13-year-old girl sobbing in the hallway of her house in Homestead as police officers sweep it for cocaine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"From <\/a>
From 1992: a 13-year-old girl cries as police raid her home, searching for cocaine. (John Heller\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A detective questions a suspect after a 1991 police chase. (Pat Dawson\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

In November 1983, Jim Zarroli, a reporter with The Pittsburgh Press, wrote an article about cocaine that asked, \u201chow safe, how sneaky is this currently chic drug?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe little knot of people with their heads together at a party or in a dimly lit corner of a Pittsburgh bar may be discussing world politics Or they may be engaging in an increasingly popular party game \u2014 snorting cocaine,\u201d Mr. Zarroli warned.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Loot<\/a>
Loot from a Wilkinsburg drug raid: five kilos of cocaine and two handguns. (Bob Donaldson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2\/6\/92)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Post-Gazette\u2019s pictures tell us that the “chic drug” became something much bigger than a fad.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If there\u2019s one thing all middle-schoolers learn in health class, it\u2019s that you don\u2019t have…<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesPicturing the drug raids of the ‘Just Say No’ era<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":8807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[947],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/img008.jpg?fit=1080%2C1045&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":752,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/04\/18\/double-gas-explosions-in-munhall\/","url_meta":{"origin":8814,"position":0},"title":"Double gas explosions in Munhall","date":"April 18, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"A faulty gas line exploded and killed six people on Dec. 5, 1929.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_n474jw4MFb1rr5swxo7_1280.jpg?fit=1000%2C726&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":761,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/04\/16\/officer-baby-face-palmer-and-the-hill-district\/","url_meta":{"origin":8814,"position":1},"title":"Officer ‘Baby Face’ Palmer and the Hill District","date":"April 16, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"In the course of doing his job, he was shot, stabbed, stoned and beaten.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_n430v7IhPt1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C880&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1417,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/09\/09\/murder-in-the-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":8814,"position":2},"title":"Murder in the city","date":"September 9, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Harry Kendall Thaw was well-known in Pittsburgh at the turn of the 20th century.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/tumblr_msnvpdebqh1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C852&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7161,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/01\/06\/can-terry-bradshaw-spell-cat-the-history-of-an-insult\/","url_meta":{"origin":8814,"position":3},"title":"Can Terry Bradshaw spell ‘cat?’ The history of an insult","date":"January 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Behind the scenes at Super Bowl XIII, Hollywood Henderson calls the Steelers quarterback stupid.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Steelers1979020.jpg?fit=1200%2C763&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1608,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/07\/10\/east-liberty\/","url_meta":{"origin":8814,"position":4},"title":"East Liberty","date":"July 10, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"It prospered. 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