For most of his 25-year career with the Maryland State Police, Sgt. Mike College served as a narc, fighting the drug war on the streets or collecting data on drug trafficking at local, state and national levels.
Although College retired from the force last month and was toasted at a retirement lunch Friday, he is not ending his battle against drugs.
"I want to be there, to do whatever I can to keep my daughters and other kids in the community from getting involved with drugs," said College, 45, former supervisor of the Carroll County Drug Task Force.
As the task force supervisor, College grew afraid -- not of being exposed as a narc -- but of being unable to share his storehouse of knowledge about drug abuse with others in the community, especially middle and high schoolers and their parents.
Retirement will allow him to pursue that. He has requests from community organizations and church groups to speak about drugs.
"It was time to slow family life down," said College, who with Jody, his wife of 21 years, has two daughters.
His retirement was speeded after ABC's "20/20" came in October to document Carroll County's "Heroin Kills" campaign. Producers wanted to interview College, considered by many to be the county's drug expert.
"Mike will be sorely missed by local law enforcement in fighting drugs," said Sheriff Kenneth Tregoning, a former state police commander.
Last year, Tregoning, College and State's Attorney Jerry F. Barnes were instrumental in re-establishing the Carroll County Narcotics Task Force, a collective effort to share resources and fight the spread of drugs, especially among youths.
"I have known Mike professionally for many years," Tregoning said. "Mike has had the talent and personality ideally suited for drug enforcement. He relates well with young adults and adults, and has always been able to convey the consequences of using drugs."
Those consequences became a grave concern for College even before the overdose deaths of several Carroll County teen-agers in 1997 and 1998. The influx of heroin was rampant. And the drug was so pure, even one dose could be fatal.
"Heroin is the most dangerous" drug, College said. "You can't stop it."
Going public with his anti-heroin message was imperative but raised safety concerns for College, who prefers not to be photographed.
"I've bought drugs and busted too many dealers over the years," he said.
