National Drug Intelligence Center   Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Drug Market Analysis 2008   May 2008

Abuse

Marijuana, cocaine, and heroin are the most widely available and abused illicit drugs in the Ohio HIDTA region. Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug in the region; however, the abuse of cocaine and heroin poses a more significant concern to public health and law enforcement officials because of the highly addictive nature of these drugs, the costs associated with publicly funded cocaine and heroin treatment, and the violent and property crime attendant to distribution and abuse of the drugs. According to the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS), the number of cocaine-related treatment admissions in the HIDTA region increased each year from state fiscal year (SFY)¹ 2003 (6,730) to SFY2007 (8,398); treatment providers also report that cocaine remains the drug of choice among abusers in Ohio. (See Table 3.) Heroin abuse is rising in the Ohio HIDTA region, particularly among young Caucasians from suburban areas; heroin-related treatment admissions increased more than 24 percent between SFY2003 (5,549) and SFY2007 (6,906). Additionally, law enforcement officials in Toledo and Fairfield County report that some abusers of prescription opioids are switching to heroin. This switch may be attributed, at least in part, to effects of the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS),² a prescription monitoring program that was fully implemented in October 2006, and to the increasing availability of Mexican heroin, which is typically lower in price, throughout the HIDTA region.

Table 3. Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions, Ohio HIDTA, SFY2003-SFY2007

Source: Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.
* Amphetamine category includes methamphetamine.

Diverted pharmaceutical drugs are abused at high levels throughout the Ohio HIDTA region. OxyContin is commonly abused in the region despite reports of decreased availability in some areas. Other commonly abused pharmaceutical drugs include Xanax, Vicodin, and Percocet. Additionally, a recent study by the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring (OSAM) Network reported instances of Seroquel³ abuse in Cincinnati, Akron, Dayton, and Toledo. Crack abusers in the HIDTA region often use Seroquel to help them "come down" from a high.

Methamphetamine, PCP, and MDMA also are abused to varying degrees throughout the HIDTA region. Treatment data from ODADAS indicate that the number of amphetamine-related (including methamphetamine-related) admissions is significantly lower than the number of admissions for other drugs of abuse in the region. Furthermore, the OSAM Network indicates that most areas of the state report decreasing levels of methamphetamine availability and abuse. PCP is abused primarily by teenagers in Cleveland, where the OSAM Network indicates that abuse of the drug is increasing. MDMA is also abused at low levels in the Ohio HIDTA region; however, officials report increased availability and abuse of the drug in Cleveland and Toledo. In Cleveland, rising MDMA abuse is most likely due to increasing MDMA distribution by street gangs in the city.

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Illicit Finance

Drug-related money laundering in the Ohio HIDTA region typically entails the transportation of bulk currency from major metropolitan areas in the state to Mexico. Mexican DTOs are the primary transporters of bulk currency, typically using the same private and commercial vehicles used to transport drugs into the area. Law enforcement officials in Columbus report that Mexican DTOs involved in marijuana and cocaine distribution in the city typically transport large amounts of currency in a single shipment, whereas groups involved in heroin distribution usually transport currency in smaller quantities, corresponding to the typical size of shipments for each drug.

Traffickers operating in the Ohio HIDTA region also launder money though various other means, including purchasing real estate and luxury items, using money services businesses, structuring bank deposits, and commingling drug proceeds with revenue generated by businesses. Retail-level distributors in the HIDTA region typically use their drug proceeds to purchase luxury items such as real estate, vehicles, and jewelry. Traffickers also move drug proceeds to drug source locations using wire transfers through the many money services businesses in the area. Mexican traffickers who distribute drugs at the wholesale level in Montgomery County launder drug proceeds by structuring bank deposits into financial institutions (a practice commonly known as smurfing). These DTOs then provide individuals known as smurfs with multiple contacts in Mexico to whom they transfer small amounts of money. Additionally, drug traffickers in Stark County have used legitimate businesses to launder their drug proceeds. For example, several traffickers operating in the county have provided large sums of money to a local businessman who used the funds much like an interest-free loan. The businessman used the drug proceeds to purchase used vehicles that he later sold at a significant markup, enabling him to quickly return the initial funds to the traffickers and generating a profit for himself. In an effort to provide legitimacy to the transactions, the money was typically returned to the traffickers in the form of business checks as payment for "consulting fees."

End Notes

1. Ohio's state fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
2. The Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS) is a statewide computerized prescription monitoring program that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to physicians, pharmacists, and law enforcement personnel via a secure web site.
3. Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) is prescribed to treat symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder but is not scheduled as a controlled substance.

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