Heroin

Heroin poses another serious drug threat to Ohio. The number of heroin-related treatment admissions increased from SFY2000 to SFY2001. According to ODADAS, the number of heroin-related treatment admissions increased from 4,839 in SFY2000 to 5,769 in SFY2001. (See Table 1 in Cocaine section.) The Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring (OSAM) Network analysis of data from treatment centers, law enforcement agencies, personal interviews, and focus groups suggests that heroin abuse is increasing among young adults. In June 2001 OSAM Network research revealed an emerging population of new, young heroin users in Akron, Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown. ADAM data indicate that in 2000, 4 percent of adult male arrestees in Cleveland tested positive for heroin.

Mexican black tar and Mexican brown powdered heroin are the most prevalent types of heroin available throughout the state. South American heroin is available to a limited extent, primarily in the metropolitan areas. Federal, state, and local law enforcement reporting indicates that heroin availability is increasing in many areas of Ohio, particularly in the Cleveland area.

According to FDSS data, seizures of heroin in Ohio by federal law enforcement increased from 9.6 kilograms in 2000 to 18.2 kilograms in 2001. During the first quarter of FY2002, heroin sold for $75,000 to $115,000 per kilogram, $2,500 to $7,200 per ounce, and $140 to $250 per gram, according to the DEA Detroit Division. The average purity of heroin was 25 percent in Youngstown and 72 percent in Cleveland during the same period.

Heroin is transported to drug markets within Ohio by Mexican, Dominican, Colombian, and Jamaican criminal groups. These groups supply wholesale distributors by transporting heroin in private and rental vehicles and aboard commercial buses from major distribution centers such as Chicago, Detroit, New York City, and various cities along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mexican, Dominican, and Colombian criminal groups are the principal wholesale distributors of heroin in Ohio. They use major cities such as Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo as distribution centers for smaller cities in and outside the state. These criminal groups frequently rent an apartment or motel room and distribute multiounce quantities of the drug to other Dominican and Colombian criminal groups and African American and Hispanic street gangs for retail distribution.

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