Heroin

Heroin-related treatment statistics and medical examiner data indicate that the drug commonly is abused in Vermont. According to the Vermont Department of Health, Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs (ADAP), heroin-related treatment admissions in Vermont increased 87 percent from 373 in fiscal year (FY) 2000 to 696 in FY2001. (See Table 1.) The Vermont Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reported that 12 drug deaths in Vermont in 2001 involved heroin.

Source: Vermont Department of Health, Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs.

Heroin, primarily South American, is readily available in Vermont. Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials indicate that the ready availability of heroin has caused law enforcement agencies in the state to focus most of their counterdrug resources on stemming distribution of the drug. Federal-wide Drug Seizure System (FDSS) data indicate that in 2002 federal law enforcement officials seized 0.1 kilograms of heroin in Vermont. Many seizures of heroin fall below the minimum reporting threshold of 100 grams; therefore, these data likely are not an accurate gauge of heroin availability in Vermont.

The Vermont Crime Information Center reports that the number of heroin-related arrests in Vermont increased from 141 in 2000 to 177 in 2001. The high percentage of heroin-related federal sentences in Vermont indicates the drug's ready availability. Heroin-related sentences accounted for 24.4 percent of the drug-related federal sentences in Vermont in FY2001; this percentage was significantly higher than the percentage nationwide (7.2%), according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC). Despite the high percentage of federal sentences for heroin-related violations, the distribution and abuse of heroin typically are not associated with violent crime in Vermont.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Boston Division reports that in Burlington, Vermont's largest city, in the fourth quarter of FY2002, heroin sold for $20 per bag and was 55 to 60 percent pure. The Vermont State Police report that heroin prices in Vermont have been as high as $30 per bag, and purity levels have reached 75 to 80 percent. The purity levels reported by DEA and the Vermont State Police far exceed the national average of 37 percent purity.

Caucasian local independent dealers are the primary transporters of heroin into Vermont; they also are the primary retail distributors. These local independent dealers usually make frequent trips in private and rental vehicles to regional distribution centers such as Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, and Springfield, Massachusetts; Hartford, Connecticut; and New York City to purchase ounce quantities of heroin packaged in bags for distribution at the retail level in Vermont. These dealers typically obtain heroin for $6 to $10 per bag from Dominican criminal groups based in these cities. Local independent dealers also smuggle smaller quantities of heroin from Montreal, Canada, into Vermont primarily via private vehicles. The Vermont State Police Drug Task Force reports that local independent dealers increasingly are concealing heroin during transport by "bodypacking"--inserting plastic-wrapped drugs into a body cavity.

Wholesale-level heroin distribution in Vermont does occur but is extremely limited. Investigations have revealed that heroin distributors from source cities occasionally travel into the state, rent motel rooms, and quickly sell up to 1,000 bags of heroin. 

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