Drug Threat Overview

Cocaine, heroin, and marijuana pose the most significant drug threats in the HIDTA region. Violent crime associated with the trafficking of crack cocaine and the far-reaching social and health consequences associated with cocaine and heroin abuse render these drugs the most taxing on law enforcement and public health resources in the region. Cocaine, particularly crack, is the primary drug-related cause of deaths, emergency department visits, and treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities in Philadelphia. Heroin is readily available and relatively inexpensive; law enforcement officials and treatment providers believe that heroin may eventually overtake cocaine as the region's greatest drug threat. The purity level of South American (SA) heroin, the predominant type available in the region, is relatively high but has been gradually decreasing over the past several years. Declining heroin purity has contributed to local abusers' alternative methods of abuse, including injecting larger doses, injecting more frequently, or abusing heroin along with other drugs, such as fentanyl--practices that pose a greater risk of overdose and death. Commercial-grade Mexican marijuana is the most widely available and abused illicit drug in the region; however, the availability of high-potency marijuana, both Canadian and locally produced, is increasing and drawing new users to the drug.

Other illicit drugs pose varying threats to the PC HIDTA region. The threat from methamphetamine production and abuse is low in the area; however, a modest increase in methamphetamine availability is a growing concern for law enforcement and public health officials. This increase is being driven by slowly rising local production of powder methamphetamine and by an influx of high-purity Mexican ice methamphetamine transported into the region by Mexican DTOs. Anecdotal reporting suggests that ice methamphetamine abuse is prevalent in the homosexual male community in Philadelphia and may be spreading beyond this community to young suburban users. Diverted pharmaceuticals are increasingly abused by young, affluent suburbanites who acquire the drugs from friends and family, Internet transactions, and doctor-shopping. Other dangerous drugs (ODDs) such as MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy), PCP (phencyclidine), and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) are available and abused to varying degrees within the HIDTA region, mainly by teens and young adults.

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