Drug Abuse Data From the Nation’s Communities
At the June meeting, CEWG members reported on drug abuse trends in their areas.
Highlights from each area are listed below.
Atlanta
Large-scale production and distribution of methamphetamine continues, and the number and demographic diversity of users are increasing.
Baltimore
In the metropolitan area, indicators of both heroin and cocaine abuse are up.
Boston
Heroin now rivals cocaine as the street drug of choice.
Chicago
Ecstasy (MDMA) continues to be the most frequently identified stimulant, with emergency room mentions increasing more than tenfold between 1995 and 1999.
Denver
Almost all ethnographic reports indicate the availability of very potent marijuana.
Detroit/Wayne County
Heroin deaths increased by 23 percent in 2000 over 1999. Ketamine remains a target of veterinarian office break-ins.
Honolulu
Law enforcement officials seized a significant amount of powdered heroin and Hawaii had its first reported death associated with MDMA.
Los Angeles
Methamphetamine production and trafficking continue to expand and the use of club drugs such as ecstasy has rapidly become one of Southern California’s most significant law enforcement challenges.
Miami/S. Florida
Oxycodone (OxyContin) abuse appears to be skyrocketing, based on reported South Florida deaths and emergency room data.
Minneapolis/St. Paul
One of five people entering addiction treatment programs reported marijuana as the primary substance problem. |
Newark
In the first half of 2000, heroin
accounted for 77 percent of all admissions
to drug treatment programs.
New Orleans
Crack, heroin, and marijuana remained the drugs of choice in 2000.
New York City
Ecstasy is widely available throughout the city, on the street as well as at dance clubs.
Philadelphia
In the second half of 2000, the number of individuals who died using illicit drugs–as reported by medical examiners and hospital emergency rooms–was higher than in any other half-year period on record.
Phoenix
Methamphetamine-related deaths increased 26 percent from 1999 to 2000.
St. Louis
Heroin and methamphetamine are increasingly prominent.
San Diego
Among arrestees, 67 percent of males, 47 percent of females, and 67 percent of juveniles tested positive for at least one drug.
San Francisco
Heroin is used more than ever and is cheaper than ever.
Seattle/King County
The use of club drugs appears to be widespread, not only in the dance party and club scenes, but in other recreational and social settings as well.
Texas
Ecstasy treatment admissions and exposures confirmed by poison control centers are up.
Washington, D.C.
High-dose oxycodone has become a popular illicit drug in the suburbs.
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