Lifelong Lawrence resident Kevin Droin has found a unique niche in fighting the war on addiction in the Merrimack Valley.
Droin and his two drug sniffing dogs [Moxie and Maverick] do not work for law enforcement and do not work in conjunction with law enforcement. Instead, Droin privately contracts with companies, individuals, rehab and detox centers, or anyone looking to do a drug sweep to keep their facility or private home free of illicit drugs.
Droin started Tough Love Intervention five years ago. He started with one dog but now has two.
“I’ve had Moxie since I started five years ago, Maverick is only 20 months old. Maverick had to be trained since I got him but he’s really good.”
“What we do is privately search for narcotics. We get hired by private individuals and companies can hire me to do a drug search.
If narcotics are found it’s up to them whether or not to call the cops.
Droin says he cannot seize or transport narcotics. As a private citizen he has no law enforcement powers. If one of his dogs is successful in finding drugs, it’s up to the person who hired him to retrieve the drugs from the location they are found, and either notify police or deal with the situation privately.
“I thought most of my work would be in teen bedrooms in private homes,” Droin says. “But, most of my work these days has been in rehab centers, treatment centers, and sober living facilities,” he admits.
“But, I have done my share of teen bedroom searches.”
Droin only charges $300 an hour for a private home search, and says that parents who have hired him have been able to help their loved ones get treatment by confronting them with the confiscated drugs.
For private facilities, Droin says he charges more because there is a little more involved.
“I go into a facility once every two weeks and assist them in rooting out drugs on the premises. Plus, it’s a deterrent. If someone is in a detox and they know there is going to be a random dog search, they are going to be less likely to try and sneak drugs into the facility.
Droin says he has some contracts with treatment centers that last a year or more where he will visit randomly but on a regular basis.
“What I do has to be random, I have worked at midnight, 2AM, whenever it’s least convenient for someone hiding drugs.”
“Most of these facilities want high visibility, we want the clients to see the dogs, watch them search, and see how good they are. I’ve done hundreds of detox rooms and when we find drugs there, that’s the worst.
Droin says K9s today are no longer being trained to find cannabis because marijuana products are now legal.
“Moxie is imprinted on cannabis, she is great, at a treatment center you still can’t bring in weed so she’s pretty valuable for these kinds of jobs.
www.toughloveintervention.com ◊