Even with the large number of arrests made last week for drug-related offenses, law enforcement officials say Ames is still relatively safe and drug-free.

Capt. John Tinker, manager of the Central Iowa Drug Task Force and investigative coordinator with the Department of Public Safety, said the drug-related arrests are comparable to years past, excluding last weekend’s Phish concert.

“Obviously, the concert increased that [number] considerably,” he said.

The Central Iowa Drug Task Force, which responds to drug-related offenses, has been busy with arrests, including an undercover LSD sting last week, in which three men were arrested for possession of 3,000 hits of acid.

“With the arrest of those people last week, we would expect [LSD] would basically return to normal,” Tinker said. “I think they were bringing a lot in from Texas, and I think with the arrest of the individuals it broke the connection.”

Loras Jaeger, director of DPS, said he has recently seen an increase in the amount of methamphetamine in Ames.

“[There is also an] increase in the amount of LSD in the area, and complaints of marijuana laced with other stuff that made people sick,” he said. “Any time there is a huge profitability in doing an illegal act, you’re going to have people who are going to fill the void.”

Tinker said he was glad most of those arrested last weekend were not Iowa State students.

“We have a relatively, for the student population, low number of people involved in drugs,” he said. “If people could be down at the concert and seen some of these people who were arrested, and the effect these drugs had on them, it would change a lot of opinions.”

Jaeger said the goal is to keep the drug situation from getting out of hand.

“We want to keep [ISU] as safe as possible; we don’t want to see the drug situation get to the point where we have drive-by shootings and open distributions of drugs,” he said.

Both Tinker and Jaeger said the drug problem in Ames is currently under control, but they are seeing more drug activity from Des Moines.

“There’s been an influence from the Des Moines area into our area,” Tinker said. “I don’t know if that will continue to increase, hopefully it won’t, but that is something we will continue to monitor and deal with.”

Tinker said the Ames community should remain pro-active against drug use and monitor it to make sure a serious drug problem doesn’t form in the future.

Jaeger said alcohol also should be considered a drug because it is abused every day.

“If you would count alcohol as a drug, that is primarily our drug of choice on this campus,” Jaeger said. “We have alcohol abuse and use virtually every day.”