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National Drug Intelligence
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Violent and property crimes in the Rocky Mountain HIDTA region are often associated with the distribution and abuse of illicit drugs, particularly methamphetamine and crack cocaine. Methamphetamine and crack cocaine distributors commonly commit violent crimes such as assault, carjacking, drive-by shooting, home invasion, and armed robbery to establish or maintain control of local drug markets. Abusers of cocaine, heroin, and diverted pharmaceuticals often commit crimes such as identity theft, retail fraud, burglary, robbery, and theft to obtain drugs or money to purchase drugs; methamphetamine abusers also commit these crimes, but their addiction often results in incidents of domestic violence and child abuse. Local methamphetamine producers, often Caucasians, steal precursor chemicals from retail stores in the region.
Drug-related thefts of various metals are increasing in the region. Rising metal prices in recent years have made the theft of recyclable metals more profitable. According to law enforcement, increasing amounts of aluminum, bronze, copper, and stainless steel are being stolen by drug abusers and sold for cash to junk dealers, salvage yards, and recycling businesses to fund drug purchases (particularly methamphetamine purchases).
Violent crime associated with retail drug distribution by street gangs, primarily African American and Hispanic street gangs, is one of the primary public safety concerns for law enforcement in the HIDTA region. Many of these gangs are well-established in metropolitan areas throughout the region and are starting to expand their drug distribution operations into suburban and rural areas. Members of these gangs pose a considerable threat because they often engage in violent activities to protect their drug operations and expand their territories. Street gangs in the region use drug sales as their primary funding source to conduct other gang-related activities. Denver law enforcement officials report that most criminal street gang activity involves street-level drugs sales, assaults, robberies, burglaries, and shootings. Law enforcement agencies in the region report high levels of violence associated with crack cocaine and ice methamphetamine, drugs commonly distributed by street gang members.
Ice methamphetamine is abused at particularly high levels throughout the Rocky Mountain HIDTA region. Since 2002 there has been a steady increase in the number of methamphetamine-related treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities in the region. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), the number of treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities for amphetamines (including methamphetamine) increased from 2002 to 2006 in each of the states in the Rocky Mountain HIDTA region. Specifically, treatment admissions increased from 2,248 to 4,549 in Utah, from 695 to 1,081 in Wyoming, from 2,590 to 5,952 in Colorado, and from 938 to 1,104 in Montana. According to law enforcement officials, methamphetamine abuse in the Rocky Mountain HIDTA region has a direct correlation to increasing levels of violence, property crime, and child abuse and neglect. In addition, methamphetamine abuse severely taxes the resources of public health departments, treatment centers, and social service agencies in the region. The highly addictive nature of methamphetamine requires longer treatment programs and results in high recidivism rates that further burden treatment centers in the area.
Cocaine abuse has increased in the HIDTA region--particularly the abuse of crack cocaine in major metropolitan areas. The demand for both powder and crack cocaine has surged in some areas of the Rocky Mountain HIDTA region, a development that may be the result of abusers switching from methamphetamine to cocaine, which they perceive as being less harmful to their health. The rising demand may also reflect a new trend reported by law enforcement officials: an increase in the number of younger illicit drug users who choose to experiment with cocaine rather than methamphetamine. This surge in cocaine abuse may be the result of years of law enforcement and public awareness programs targeting methamphetamine and alerting potential users to the short- and long-term consequences of methamphetamine abuse. Consequently, new illicit drug users now view methamphetamine as a "full-time" drug with dangerous consequences, while cocaine is viewed as an "occasional, casual drug" without long-term health consequences.
Mexican black tar and brown powder heroin availability and abuse are rising in some areas of the region, increasing the threat posed by the drug. Many drug task forces throughout the Rocky Mountain HIDTA region are reporting increased availability and demand for heroin. For example, law enforcement authorities and public health professionals in Colorado Springs and Denver; Helena, Montana; Provo, Salt Lake City, and St. George, Utah; and western Wyoming have reported increased heroin distribution and abuse in their jurisdictions. This increase is partly the result of the emergence of new, younger adolescent heroin abusers (approximately age 16) in the region. These younger abusers often start by using prescription narcotics, later progressing to heroin because of availability and cost factors. Some abusers are also using heroin and cocaine at the same time. In early 2007 eight heroin-related deaths occurred in Colorado; two of the deaths involved speedballs (a combination of heroin and cocaine).
Marijuana is the most widely available and abused drug in the region. Commercial-grade Mexican marijuana is the primary type abused in the region; however, with the rise in availability of high-potency marijuana, abuse of the drug has increased, particularly among wealthier individuals who are willing to pay higher prices for more potent marijuana.
The widespread diversion and abuse of pharmaceutical drugs are a significant and rapidly growing threat to the Rocky Mountain HIDTA region. Abusers, primarily Caucasians ranging from 16 to 40 years of age, and independent distributors of pharmaceutical drugs such as OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan, Valium, and Lortab obtain these drugs through forged prescriptions, copied or scanned prescriptions, doctor-shopping, unscrupulous physicians, theft from family and friends, and robberies of retail pharmacies and hospitals. Some abusers use Internet communications to facilitate pharmaceutical drug purchases. Some doctors prescribe methadone, often as a replacement for OxyContin in pain management. Diverted methadone is a particular concern for public health officials in the region. Because the drug is slower-acting than other narcotics, abusers sometimes increase the dosage to hasten the effects, an action that often leads to overdose.
MDMA availability is rising in certain parts of the region, such as Boulder County, Colorado. Most of the MDMA available in the region is produced in Canada and is sometimes combined with methamphetamine. This combination of MDMA and methamphetamine, known as Juiced E or E Plus, is abused primarily by teenagers and young adults and is especially dangerous; most young people seeking treatment state that they were unaware that the MDMA they were taking contained methamphetamine.
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