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National Drug Intelligence Center Virginia Drug Threat Assessment March 2002 MarijuanaMarijuana, produced primarily in Mexico, is the most widely available and frequently abused drug in Virginia. However, law enforcement officers generally regard the drug as a lower threat than cocaine because marijuana abusers and distributors usually do not commit violent crimes. The number of admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities for marijuana abuse in Virginia was second only to cocaine each year from 1995 through 1999. Fifty-eight percent of all drug-related arrests by state and local law enforcement in 2000 were marijuana-related. Most of the marijuana available in the state is produced in Mexico, but some is produced in southwestern states, Virginia, and neighboring states. Marijuana typically is transported into the state via commercial and private vehicles and via package delivery and express mail services. Jamaican and Mexican criminal groups based in southwestern states and Virginia and Caucasian criminal groups based in Virginia are the primary transporters and wholesale distributors of marijuana produced in Mexico and southwestern states. Caucasian criminal groups and local independent dealers are the primary transporters and wholesale distributors of marijuana produced in Virginia and neighboring states. Local independent dealers, primarily African American and Caucasian, and street gangs are the principal retail distributors of marijuana produced in Mexico and southwestern states, while Caucasian local independent dealers are the principal retail distributors of marijuana produced in Virginia and neighboring states.
AbuseMarijuana is the most commonly abused drug in Virginia. According to responses to the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, almost twice as many individuals abused marijuana than any other illicit drug in Virginia. Four percent of Virginia residents surveyed reported having abused marijuana, and 2.3 percent reported abusing any illicit drug other than marijuana in the past month. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, law enforcement officials in Alexandria, Emporia, Lynchburg, Newport News, Roanoke, and Chesterfield County report that rates of marijuana abuse are high. The rate of marijuana abuse in Virginia is lower than the national rate; however, the drug is commonly abused. According to responses to the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 4.0 percent of Virginia residents surveyed reported having abused marijuana at least once in the past month compared with 4.7 percent nationally. The number of admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities in Virginia for marijuana abuse was second only to the number for cocaine abuse each year from 1995 through 1999, according to state substance abuse data. The number of treatment admissions for marijuana abuse increased each year from 5,912 in 1995 to 9,334 in 1999. (See Table 1 In Overview section.)
AvailabilityMarijuana, produced primarily in Mexico, is the most widely available drug in Virginia. Marijuana produced in southwestern states, Virginia, and neighboring states also is available. According to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, law enforcement officials in Alexandria, Emporia, Lynchburg, Newport News, Roanoke, and Chesterfield County rate the level of marijuana availability as high. Fifty-eight percent of all drug-related arrests by state and local law enforcement in 2000 were marijuana-related. Marijuana-related arrests increased from 15,706 in 1995 to 17,104 in 1996 and increased approximately 4 percent from 15,753 in 1997 to 16,391 in 1998. (Marijuana-related arrest data for 1999 and 2000 are not comparable with data from previous years because the reporting system was revised.) Fredericksburg, Chesapeake, Bland County (southwestern Virginia), Clifton Forge (west central Virginia), and Hopewell officials reported the highest rate of arrests per 100,000 population for possession of marijuana from 1996 through 1998. Officials in Waynesboro (west central Virginia), Hampton, Rockbridge County, Giles County (southwestern Virginia), and Buena Vista (west central Virginia) reported the highest average rate of arrests per 100,000 for the sale of marijuana during that period. Seizure and OCDETF data reflect the ready availability of marijuana in Virginia. According to FDSS data, federal law enforcement officials in Virginia seized 100.5 kilograms of marijuana in FY1998, 165.6 kilograms in FY1999, and 80.9 kilograms in FY2000. Law enforcement officials seized 137 kilograms of marijuana in 1999 and 326 kilograms of marijuana in 2000 under Operation Pipeline and 49.4 kilograms in 1999 and 563 kilograms in 2000 under Operation Jetway. From October 1998 to May 2001, 12 of the 107 OCDETF investigations initiated in Virginia were marijuana-related, outnumbering all other drug-related investigations except cocaine.
The percentage of drug-related federal sentences in Virginia that were marijuana-related was less than one-half the national percentage in FY2000. According to U.S. Sentencing Commission data, 15.5 percent of drug-related federal sentences in Virginia in FY2000 were marijuana-related compared with 31.2 percent nationally. The number of marijuana-related federal sentences in Virginia was second to the number for cocaine each year from FY1996 through FY2000. Virginia had 85 marijuana-related federal sentences in FY1996, 95 in FY1997, 119 in FY1998, 86 in FY 1999, and 123 in FY2000. Marijuana prices varied throughout Virginia in 2001 and indicate that the drug is readily available. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, marijuana sold for $1,000 per pound in Albemarle County; $1,100 in Roanoke; $1,200 in Lynchburg, Newport News, and Fairfax County; and $2,000 in Richmond. Retail quantities of marijuana sold for $100 to $180 per ounce depending on the area.
ViolenceThe production and distribution of marijuana are sometimes associated
with violent crime in Virginia. Law enforcement officials report that
outdoor cannabis growers sometimes use countersurveillance equipment, trip
wires, and explosives to secure their cultivation sites. According to
responses to the NDIC National Gang Survey 2000, numerous street gangs
that distribute marijuana have committed violent crimes such as assaults,
carjackings, drive-by shootings, home invasions, and homicides. These
gangs include the Mara Salvatrucha in Arlington County and Alexandria;
Mara Salvatrucha, Seven Woods Crew, and Tiny Rascal Gangsters in Fairfax
County; Blood and Folk in Newport News; Berkly Boyz, Da Mobb, Folks,
Granville Boyz, Lamberts Point, NOON, and West Ocean View Folks in
Norfolk; and Lincoln Terrace Posse and Villa Heights 1 in Roanoke.
ProductionMost of the marijuana available in Virginia is produced in Mexico. However, marijuana produced in southwestern states, Virginia, and neighboring states such as Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia also is available. Outdoor cannabis cultivation reportedly yields more cannabis than indoor cultivation in Virginia. Caucasian criminal groups and local independent dealers cultivate significant quantities of cannabis outdoors in the state, primarily in the mountainous areas of southwestern Virginia. Various local independent dealers and criminal groups cultivate smaller quantities of cannabis indoors throughout the state. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, cannabis is cultivated both indoors and outdoors in Bluefield, Charlottesville, Roanoke, and Virginia Beach. The Southwest Virginia Drug Task Force reported that marijuana producers from Kentucky may be cultivating cannabis in southwestern Virginia because of increased law enforcement pressure in their state. The federal government designated 65 counties in Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia as the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) in 1998. This HIDTA receives approximately $6 million a year in federal funds for marijuana eradication efforts.
By the early 1990s most outdoor grow operations in the state yielded 2,000 to 6,000 cannabis plants and were easily detected from the air. However, according to the director of the Virginia Marijuana Eradication Program, in the mid-1990s many outdoor growers reduced the size of their plots to an average of fewer than 100 plants to avoid detection. In 2001, however, law enforcement officials reported that the number of large-scale cannabis cultivation sites had increased. In August 2000 law enforcement officials in Russell County seized 5,404 cannabis plants from one field, the largest seizure in the county since 1985. In July 2000 law enforcement officials in rural Wise County near the Kentucky-Virginia border seized approximately 4,500 cannabis plants from a single grow with an estimated street value of $8 million. Law enforcement officials transported the seized plants by helicopter because of the remoteness of the location.
TransportationJamaican and Mexican criminal groups based in southwestern states and Virginia and Caucasian criminal groups based in Virginia are the primary transporters of wholesale quantities of marijuana, primarily Mexico-produced, from southwestern states into Virginia. African American criminal groups and local independent dealers based in Virginia also transport significant quantities of marijuana from southwestern states into Virginia. Caucasian criminal groups and local independent dealers are the primary transporters of marijuana produced in Virginia and neighboring states. These criminal groups and dealers usually transport smaller quantities of the drug. Marijuana typically is transported into Virginia in commercial and private vehicles and via package delivery and express mail services. The Virginia State Police report that much of the Mexico-produced marijuana available in the state is smuggled in tractor-trailers from Mexico to southwestern states; from there it is shipped in 10- to 15-pound packages by express mail services into Virginia. In June 2000 federal law enforcement officials arrested an individual for transporting thousands of pounds of marijuana from Mexico into Virginia. This individual had used a Virginia-based trucking company to transport 3,000- to 5,000-pound shipments of marijuana on at least 20 separate occasions in 1999. In February 2000 a Henrico County resident was convicted of transporting over 4,900 pounds of marijuana between 1995 and 1999 using express mail services and commercial freight trucks from San Diego to Virginia. The shipments typically weighed 10 to 20 pounds and were delivered to various addresses in the Richmond area. Transporters frequently use dryer sheets, yellow mustard, coffee grounds, jalapeņo peppers, hot pepper flakes, cleaning products, and other materials to mask the odor of the marijuana. In February 2001 law enforcement officials in Virginia Beach under Operation Jetway seized 6.6 kilograms of marijuana from an express parcel shipped from San Diego. The parcel, labeled as law books, had a distinctive perfume odor. The marijuana was covered with liquid foam and concealed inside a 5-gallon plastic bucket.
DistributionJamaican and Mexican criminal groups based in southwestern states and Virginia and Caucasian criminal groups based in Virginia are the primary wholesale distributors of Mexico-produced marijuana. All of these criminal groups also distribute, to a lesser extent, wholesale quantities of marijuana produced in southwestern states. African American criminal groups and local independent dealers also distribute wholesale quantities of Mexico-produced marijuana. Caucasian criminal groups and local independent dealers are the primary wholesale distributors of marijuana produced in Virginia and neighboring states. Local independent dealers, primarily African American and Caucasian, and street gangs are the principal retail distributors in Virginia of Mexico-produced marijuana and marijuana produced in southwestern states. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, numerous gangs distribute marijuana including the Mara Salvatrucha in Alexandria; the South Side Bloods in Bristol; the Blood and the Folk in Newport News; the Berkly Boyz, Da Mobb, the Folks, the Granville Boyz, Lamberts Point, NOON, and the West Ocean View Folks in Norfolk; the Lincoln Terrace Posse and Villa Heights 1 in Roanoke; the Shotgun Crips in Winchester; the Mara Salvatrucha in Arlington County; the Mara Salvatrucha, the Seven Woods Crew, and the Tiny Rascal Gangsters in Fairfax County; and 55 Dirtyside in Prince William County. Caucasian local independent dealers are the principal retail distributors of marijuana produced in Virginia and neighboring states.
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