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Virginia Drug Threat Assessment
March 2002

Other Dangerous Drugs

Other dangerous drugs (ODDs) present a significant and increasing threat to Virginia. ODDs include stimulants such as MDMA; hallucinogens such as LSD, PCP, and ketamine; depressants such as GHB; and diverted pharmaceuticals including opioids (narcotic analgesics) such as OxyContin, Dilaudid, Hycodan, Lortab, Percocet, Percodan, Tylox, Vicodin, and methadone, and sedative hypnotics (benzo-diazepines) such as Xanax and Valium. Various criminal groups transport ODDs to Virginia via parcel delivery and express mail services. Many ODDs are sold and abused by middle-class, suburban, young adults at raves and nightclubs, and on college campuses. MDMA is increasingly available and abused in Virginia, particularly in the Northern Virginia, Central Virginia, and Tidewater areas. The diversion and abuse of pharmaceuticals, especially OxyContin, represent the most significant ODD threat to southwestern Virginia. Caucasian criminal groups and local independent dealers are the principal distributors of diverted pharmaceuticals.

Rave Clubs

Throughout the 1990s, high energy, all-night dances known as raves, which feature hard pounding techno-music and flashing laser lights, increased in popularity among teenagers and young adults. Raves occur in most metropolitan areas of the country. They can be held at either permanent dance clubs or temporary "weekend event" sites set up in abandoned warehouses, open fields, empty buildings, or civic centers. Club drugs are a group of synthetic drugs often sold at raves and dance clubs. MDMA is one of the most popular club drugs. Rave managers often sell water, pacifiers, and glow sticks at rave parties. "Ravers" drink water to offset dehydration caused by MDMA; use pacifiers to prevent the grinding of teeth, which is a common side effect of abusing MDMA; and wave glow sticks in front of their eyes because MDMA stimulates light perception.

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Stimulants

The increasing availability and abuse of MDMA, particularly among teenagers and young adults, poses a growing threat to Virginia. MDMA, also known as Adam, ecstasy, XTC, E, and X, is a stimulant and low-level hallucinogen. MDMA was patented in 1914 in Germany where it was sometimes given to psychiatric patients to assist in psychotherapy, a practice never approved by the American Psychological Association or the Food and Drug Administration. Sometimes called the hug drug, MDMA makes users feel good; they claim that the drug helps them be more "in touch" with others and that it "opens channels of communication." However, abuse of the drug can cause psychological problems similar to those associated with methamphetamine and cocaine abuse including confusion, depression, sleeplessness, anxiety, and paranoia. The physical effects can include muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, blurred vision, and increased heart rate and blood pressure. MDMA abuse can also cause a marked increase in body temperature leading to muscle breakdown, kidney failure, cardiovascular system failure, stroke, or seizure as reported in some fatal cases. Researchers suggest that MDMA abuse may result in long-term and sometimes permanent damage to parts of the brain that are critical to thought and memory.

MDMA is increasingly available and abused in Virginia, particularly in the Northern Virginia, Central Virginia, and Tidewater areas. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, law enforcement officials in Alexandria, Fairfax, Newport News, Richmond, Virginia Beach, Henrico County, and Prince William County report increased rates of availability and abuse of MDMA. The Fairfax County Police Department seized approximately 200 dosage units of MDMA in 1998 and 30,000 dosage units in 1999. Specialized field tests indicated that at least two of the MDMA tablets seized contained heroin. From October 1998 to May 2001, 3 of the 107 OCDETF investigations initiated in Virginia were MDMA-related.

Figure 4. Northern Virginia.

Map of Northern Virginia.
d-link

Violence associated with the distribution and abuse of MDMA has become a threat to Virginia. In March 2001 a 21-year-old male was shot to death in the driveway of his town house in Prince William County. In the largest MDMA seizure ever in the county, police seized thousands of MDMA tablets and over $300,000 worth of high-grade marijuana. Law enforcement officials believe a group that distributed MDMA in Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland may be responsible for the murder.

Most MDMA available in Virginia is produced outside the United States, typically in laboratories in the Netherlands and Belgium and transported through express mail services and by couriers on commercial airlines through distribution centers such as Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. MDMA is transported from these and other areas to Virginia primarily in packages sent through express mail services or by couriers traveling in private vehicles. In March 2000 German customs officials seized a package sent through an express mail service that contained 15,000 MDMA tablets. The tablets were produced in the Netherlands and were destined for a residence in Roanoke. In December 2000 Prince William County Police in Northern Virginia arrested an individual and seized a nonoperational powdered MDMA laboratory. During the first quarter of 2001, law enforcement officials under Operation Jetway seized over 1,000 MDMA tablets in Virginia Beach from an express mail service shipment that was mailed from Florida. The MDMA tablets were vacuum-sealed in an envelope. Local independent dealers sometimes travel to Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., to purchase MDMA and transport it back to Virginia.

Local independent Caucasian dealers are the principal wholesale distributors of MDMA in the state. They usually purchase their supplies from Israeli or Russian criminal groups based in Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Retail-level MDMA distributors are usually high school or college age students, primarily Caucasian, from the middle and upper-middle classes. They typically distribute the drug at raves, nightclubs, and near shopping malls. Law enforcement officials report that these distributors have little understanding of the threat posed by the distribution and abuse of the drug. These individuals usually do not distribute MDMA as part of an organized group bound by loyalty or long-standing affiliations, as is often the case with gangs that distribute cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and other drugs. In April 2001 law enforcement officials in Loudoun County arrested several local independent dealers, including two teenagers, who had allegedly sold as many as 200,000 MDMA tablets from October 1999 to April 2001. In response to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, the Fairfax County Police Department reported that Asian and Middle Eastern independent dealers also distribute retail quantities of MDMA in Virginia. MDMA, typically stamped with a logo such as a clover, usually sells for $25 to $40 per tablet in Virginia.

The DEA Washington Division reports that some military personnel assigned to bases in Virginia distribute MDMA at the retail level. In February 2001 Newport News Police arrested several members of the military for distributing MDMA at a local nightclub. In December 2000 an airman was sentenced to 9 months in prison for distributing MDMA at Langley Air Force Base.

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Hallucinogens

The distribution and abuse of LSD pose a low threat to Virginia. LSD, also known as acid, boomer, and yellow sunshines, is a hallucinogen that induces abnormalities in sensory perceptions. The effects of LSD are unpredictable depending upon the amount taken, the environment in which it is abused, and the abuser's personality, mood, and expectations. Abusers may feel the effects for up to 12 hours. The physical effects include dilated pupils, higher body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, loss of appetite, nausea, numbness, weakness, insomnia, dry mouth, and tremors. Two long-term disorders associated with LSD are persistent psychosis and hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (flashbacks). LSD typically is taken orally.

LSD is available in powder and liquid forms, in tablets or capsules, on pieces of blotter paper that absorb the drug, and on small candies. It is available primarily at raves, bars, and nightclubs in large cities and college towns in Virginia. Most abusers are high school and college age individuals. Some abusers hide liquid LSD in breath mint vials or eyedrop bottles. Approximately 10 percent of high school seniors surveyed in the Norfolk area reported having abused LSD at least once in their lifetime, according to a 1999 survey by The Virginian-Pilot.

Most LSD available in the state is produced in California and transported to Virginia primarily through express mail services. College and high school students, primarily Caucasian, are the principal retail distributors of the drug. In September 2000 law enforcement officials in Roanoke arrested students from two high schools for distributing LSD. It sells for $150 to $400 per sheet (100 dosage units) in Virginia, and a single dosage unit or "hit" typically sells for between $3 and $7.

The distribution and abuse of PCP in Virginia pose a low but increasing threat. PCP was originally developed as an intravenous anesthetic. Use of PCP in humans was discontinued in 1965 because patients who used the drug became agitated, delusional, and irrational. PCP, also known as angel dust, ozone, wack, and rocket fuel, is illegally produced in laboratories in the United States. PCP is a white crystalline powder that is soluble in water and has a bitter taste. The drug can be mixed with dyes and is available as a tablet, capsule, liquid, or colored powder. PCP may be snorted, smoked, injected, or swallowed. For smoking purposes, PCP may be applied to mint, parsley, oregano, or marijuana. When combined with marijuana, the mixture is called a killer joint or crystal supergrass.

PCP is addictive; its abuse often leads to psychological dependence, craving, and compulsive PCP-seeking behavior. PCP abuse by adolescents may interfere with hormones related to normal growth and development and the learning process. Abusers cite feelings of strength, power, invulnerability, and a numbing effect on the mind. At low to moderate doses, physiological effects include a slight increase in respiration and a pronounced rise in blood pressure and pulse rate. Respiration becomes shallow, flushing and profuse sweating occur, and generalized numbness of the extremities and lack of muscle coordination may occur. Psychological effects include distinct changes in body awareness, similar to the effects of alcohol intoxication. At high doses, blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration drop. High doses can also cause seizures, coma, and sometimes death. Abusers who consume significant quantities of PCP over a long period of time may suffer memory loss, difficulties with speech and thinking, depression, and weight loss. PCP has sedative effects and, when mixed with alcohol or other central nervous system depressants, may result in an overdose or coma.

The number of PCP abusers in Virginia is low but increasing. The number of admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities for PCP abuse increased from 6 in 1998 to 20 in 1999 according to TEDS data.

African American criminal groups and local independent dealers based in Washington, D.C., usually purchase wholesale quantities of PCP from distributors based in Southern California. Criminal groups based in Cleveland, Newark, New York City, and Philadelphia also supply Washington, D.C.-based criminal groups with wholesale quantities of PCP, but to a lesser extent. Local independent Caucasian dealers, the principal retail distributors of PCP in Virginia, usually purchase the drug from D.C.-based criminal groups and then distribute it in the state.

PCP Sold as MDMA

PCP tablets have been marketed as MDMA tablets in Northern Virginia. The Fairfax County Police Department first seized the PCP tablets during an undercover drug investigation in December 2000 and has since seized approximately 500 such tablets from three Washington, D.C.-based distributors. The tablets, slightly smaller in diameter than a common aspirin tablet, are stamped with a Pokémon cartoon character known as Pikachu and sold for $15 each. They are orange in color with orange specks, are flat with beveled edges, and are not protected with a glaze or coating. DEA reports that PCP is rarely distributed in tablet form in the United States.

Source: Fairfax County Police Department.

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Ketamine presents a low but increasing threat to Virginia. Ketamine, also known as K, special K, vitamin K, and cat valium, is an injectable anesthetic that is approved for both human and animal use. Ketamine is sold commercially and is produced in liquid, powder, and tablet forms. The liquid form is injected intramuscularly. Liquid ketamine can be boiled into powdered ketamine that can be put into capsules. In its powder form, ketamine can be mistaken for cocaine or methamphetamine and is often snorted or smoked with marijuana or tobacco products.

Low-dose intoxication from ketamine may result in impaired attention, learning ability, and memory; dissociation, which includes out-of-body and near-death experiences; and hallucinations. High doses of ketamine can cause delirium, amnesia, impaired motor function, high blood pressure, depression, and potentially fatal respiratory problems. Ketamine gained popularity among abusers in the 1980s when it was discovered that large doses caused reactions similar to those experienced with PCP abuse (see PCP section). Ketamine abusers in the United States and the United Kingdom have reported incidents similar to bad LSD trips. Some abusers try to jump from moving vehicles or fly.

Wholesale distributors based in Florida, New Jersey, and New York City supply most of the ketamine available for distribution in Virginia. However, break-ins at veterinary clinics in the state also are sources for the drug. Ketamine was stolen in at least five veterinary office break-ins from January through June 2000 in Henrico County.

Young adults, primarily Caucasian, typically abuse ketamine at social venues such as bars, nightclubs, and raves. Local independent dealers, primarily Caucasian, are the principal retail distributors of the drug in Virginia. Ketamine is sold illegally in Virginia for $20 per 50 milligrams.

  

Depressants

The threat to Virginia from GHB is low. GHB, also known as liquid MDMA, scoop, grievous bodily harm, and Georgia homeboy, is a depressant that occurs naturally in the body and is necessary for full functioning of the brain and central nervous system. Using GHB and methamphetamine simultaneously increases the risk of seizures. GHB overdoses can occur quickly; some signs include drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness, impaired breathing, and, ultimately, death. Abusers also can experience insomnia, anxiety, tremors, and sweating. GHB is eliminated from the body quickly which makes it difficult for treatment providers to detect. The drug increasingly is involved in poisonings, overdoses, sexual assaults, and fatalities nationwide.

GHB is available in Virginia primarily at social venues such as bars, nightclubs, and raves. Young adults, usually Caucasian, are the principal distributors and abusers of the drug. Recipes and do-it-yourself kits for GHB production are available on several Internet sites. GHB was federally scheduled on February 18, 2000, and a state law enacted in July 2000 made producing, selling, distributing, or possessing GHB a felony. In Virginia liquid GHB, which is packaged in small vials, sells for between $20 and $50 per vial depending on the size.

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Diverted Pharmaceuticals

Diverted pharmaceuticals pose a significant and increasing threat to Virginia. The most commonly diverted pharmaceuticals in Virginia are opioids (narcotic analgesics) such as OxyContin, Dilaudid, Hycodan, Lortab, Percocet, Percodan, Tylox, Vicodin, and methadone, and sedative hypnotics (benzodiazepines) such as Xanax and Valium. Narcotic analgesics are prescribed to relieve moderate to severe pain. Most sedative hypnotics are prescribed to relieve anxiety; however, some are used as anticonvulsants to treat muscle spasms. Pharmaceuticals are diverted in a variety of ways in Virginia.

Pharmaceutical Diversion Methods

Methods of diverting pharmaceuticals include pharmacy diversion, "doctor shopping," and improper prescribing practices by physicians. Pharmacy diversion occurs when pharmacy employees steal products directly from the shelves or through prescription forgeries. Along with prescription forgery, one of the most widely used diversion techniques is doctor shopping--individuals who may or may not have a legitimate ailment visit numerous physicians to obtain drugs in excess of what should be legitimately prescribed. This problem is common in southwestern Virginia.

The diversion and abuse of OxyContin, also known as Oxys or OCs, and its associated violence represent the most significant ODD threat to southwestern Virginia. According to the Mid-Atlantic Region OCDETF, Western District of Virginia, OxyContin is the most commonly abused drug in the Western District of the state. In addition, diverted OxyContin is becoming increasingly available in parts of central, northern, and eastern Virginia. Law enforcement officials report that OxyContin, once predominantly abused by lower-income individuals, increasingly is being abused by middle-class individuals. Since 1997 at least 38 individuals in western Virginia have died from overdoses of OxyContin, according to the Assistant Chief Medical Examiner in Roanoke.

OxyContin abuse has led to an increased number of pharmacy robberies, burglaries, shoplifting incidents, and healthcare fraud incidents, especially in southwestern Virginia. In May 2001 a doctor from Grundy, Buchanan County, in southwestern Virginia was convicted of over 400 counts of illegally prescribing prescription drugs, including controlled substances such as the oxycodone products OxyContin and Tylox. In February 2001 a Bland County physician was charged with over 300 counts of illegally prescribing prescription drugs including OxyContin. In October 2000 the Pulaski County Police Department reported that approximately 90 percent of all thefts, burglaries, and shoplifting incidents in the area were OxyContin-related. Some pharmacies in Tazewell County discontinued selling OxyContin because of the high rate of robberies. Individuals stole OxyContin from at least 12 pharmacies in Buchanan, Russell, and Tazewell Counties between October 1999 and October 2000. In September 2000 prosecutors in Tazewell County reported that over 150 individuals had been charged with OxyContin-related felonies during the prior 12 months. Typically, in Virginia a 40-milligram tablet of OxyContin sells illegally for approximately $40.

OxyContin-Related Murder

In July 2001 a Virginia resident pleaded guilty to murder and drug distribution in an OxyContin-related investigation. The perpetrator used a syringe to inject a lethal dose of OxyContin into the victim's arm.

Source: Associated Press, 24 July 2001.

Proactive measures have been taken in the state to prevent an increase in the level of OxyContin abuse. In March 2001 law enforcement officials from the federal government and five states met with Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma L.P., the manufacturer of OxyContin, to address the increasing rate of abuse of the drug. As a result, the Attorney General of Virginia and Purdue Pharma agreed on a seven-point plan to reduce the risks associated with the diversion and abuse of the drug. In May 2001 Purdue Pharma, concerned about the possible illicit use of the high-strength tablets, suspended distribution of the 160-milligram OxyContin tablets. The 160-milligram dosage, the highest available, was usually prescribed for less than 1 percent of OxyContin users.

Seven-Point Plan

Purdue Pharma now educates healthcare providers about prescription drug abuse and when it is most appropriate to prescribe OxyContin.

Purdue Pharma plans to educate teachers, students, and parents about prescription drug abuse.

Purdue Pharma now produces and distributes tamper-resistant prescription pads to areas in southwestern Virginia where abuse is high.

Purdue Pharma will contribute $100,000 toward a study of prescription monitoring programs in Virginia.

The Attorney General's office in Virginia agreed to establish a task force composed of law enforcement officials and members of the medical community to study prescription drug abuse.

The Attorney General's office will instruct the computer crimes strike force in Virginia to investigate the illegal sale and distribution of drugs over the Internet.

The Attorney General's Office will participate in the National Association of Attorneys General group on nationwide drug abuse.

Source: Associated Press, 1 March 2001.

Methadone commonly is used as a treatment for opiate addiction, particularly heroin. Methadone was mentioned in 5 of the 46 drug-abuse deaths in the Norfolk area in 1999, according to DAWN ME data. State medical officials reported that some of the 33 methadone-related overdose deaths from 1997 to 2000 in southwestern Virginia may be attributed to individuals using methadone to end their OxyContin addictions. Methadone is sold illegally in Virginia, usually for $40 per 40 milligrams.


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