U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center 

Title:

Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2010

Publication Date: April 2010

Document ID: 2010-R0813-025

Archived on: September 1, 2011. This document may contain dated information. It remains available to provide access to historical materials.

This assessment is an outgrowth of a partnership between the NDIC and HIDTA Program for preparation of annual assessments depicting drug trafficking trends and developments in HIDTA Program areas. The report has been coordinated with the HIDTA, is limited in scope to HIDTA jurisdictional boundaries, and draws upon a wide variety of sources within those boundaries.

Your questions, comments, and suggestions for future subjects are welcome at any time. Addresses are provided at the end of the page.

Contents

List of Figures

Figure 1. Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
Figure 2. Greatest Drug Threat to the Ohio HIDTA Region, as Reported by State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, by Number of Respondents
Figure 3. Ohio HIDTA Region Transportation Infrastructure
Figure 4. Drug Most Associated With Violent Crime in the Ohio HIDTA Region as Reported by State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, by Number of Respondents
Figure 5. Drug Most Associated With Property Crime in the Ohio HIDTA Region as Reported by State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, by Number of Respondents
Figure 6. Number of Specific Drug Mentions Among Unintentional Fatal Drug Poisonings, Ohio, 2000-2007

List of Tables

Table 1. Illicit Drugs Seized Through Ohio HIDTA Initiatives, in Kilograms, 2009
Table 2. Drug Trafficking Organizations Distributing Illicit Drugs, Ohio HIDTA Region, 2009
Table 3. Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizures, by County, Ohio HIDTA, 2005-2009
Table 4. Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions, by Drug, Ohio HIDTA, SFY2005-SFY2009

Strategic Drug Threat Developments

The distribution and abuse of cocaine pose the greatest drug threat to the Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) region. Heroin is expected to overtake cocaine as the greatest drug threat in the near term because of the increasing availability and abuse of Mexican heroin. Marijuana and controlled prescription drugs (CPDs) are widely available throughout the HIDTA region, while the availability of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy) and methamphetamine varies.

The following are significant strategic drug threat developments in the Ohio HIDTA region:

• Mexican heroin availability and abuse are increasing in the Ohio HIDTA region. These increases are primarily due to Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) expanding their distribution of the drug, leading to decreased wholesale prices and a nearly 50 percent increase in heroin-related admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities between state fiscal years (SFYs) 2005 and 2009.
   
• Cocaine availability decreased in some areas of the HIDTA region, resulting in increased wholesale cocaine prices. Hamilton, Warren, and Mahoning County officials report that cocaine was less available, and Stark County officials report that cocaine was being distributed at the wholesale level in smaller quantities.
   
• High-potency marijuana production at indoor grow sites increased in some areas of the HIDTA region, particularly in Fairfield, Lucas, and Summit Counties in 2009, a trend that is expected to continue as local producers seek to meet increasing demand for the drug.
   
• Methamphetamine laboratory seizures in the region increased approximately 41 percent from 2008 to 2009. The use of the "one-pot" method (see text box) and pseudoephedrine smurfinga are expected to contribute to a rise in local methamphetamine production.
   
• Mexican DTOs are introducing Mexican methamphetamine into areas of the Ohio HIDTA region where the drug was previously unavailable. The availability of Mexican methamphetamine is expected to remain low, with local production continuing to meet the limited demand for the drug.
   
• Unintentional poisoning deaths, most often associated with prescription opioids, increased 108 percent from 2003 through 2007 (the latest year for which data are available).b Treatment provider reporting indicates that this trend continued through 2009; however, complete data are not currently available.

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Addresses

Web Addresses

ADNET:  http://ndicosa.adnet.sgov.gov
DOJ:  http://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/
LEO:  https://www.leo.gov/http/leowcs.leopriv.gov/lesig/archive/ndic/index.htm
RISS:  ndic.riss.net

Footnotes

a. Smurfing is the practice of having multiple individuals buy pseudoephedrine at or below the legal limit from various locations.

b. Death certificates are used in the United States for administrative and public health purposes. The registration processes remain labor intensive and employ disparate and limited automated procedures. Manual certificate preparation, including the personal delivery of records to physicians for signature, and labor-intensive processing of paper records locally and at State Offices of Vital Records all contribute to slowing registration and delaying the availability of death data.

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