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Executive Summary

Overall, the availability of illicit drugs in the United States is increasing.1 In fact, in 2009 the prevalence of four of the five major drugs--heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine)--was widespread and increasing in some areas. Conversely, cocaine shortages first identified in 2007 persisted in many markets. Significant trends include:

Although drug use remained relatively stable from 2007 through 2008, more than 25 million individuals 12 years of age2 and older reported using an illicit drug or using a controlled prescription drug (CPD) nonmedically in 2008. Each year, drug-related deaths number in the thousands, and treatment admissions and emergency department (ED) visits both exceed a million. These and other consequences of drug abuse, including lost productivity associated with abuse, the impact on the criminal justice system, and the environmental impact that results from the production of illicit drugs, are estimated at nearly $215 billion3 annually.

Mexican DTOs continue to represent the single greatest drug trafficking threat to the United States. Mexican DTOs, already the predominant wholesale suppliers of illicit drugs in the United States, are gaining even greater strength in eastern drug markets where Colombian DTO strength is diminishing. The extent of Mexican DTO influence over domestic drug trafficking was evidenced in several ways in 2009. For example:

The threat posed by the diversion and abuse of CPDs, primarily pain relievers, is increasing, evidenced by the sharp rise in the percentage (4.6% in 2007 to 9.8% in 2009) of state and local law enforcement agencies reporting CPDs as the greatest drug threat in their area.

National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) analysts estimate that the overall threat posed by illicit drugs will not diminish in the near term. Although NDIC believes that sustained shortages of cocaine will persist in some U.S. markets in 2010, the availability of heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana will increase, largely the result of increased production of the drugs in Mexico. The growing strength and organization of criminal gangs, including their alliances with large Mexican DTOs, will make disrupting illicit drug availability and distribution increasingly difficult for law enforcement agencies. The increased enforcement against illegal pain clinics and the growing number of PDMPs will disrupt the supply of CPDs to prescription opioid users in some areas, with the result that some users will seek opioids from other sources and some will switch to heroin.


Footnotes

1. The findings presented in this assessment are based on exacting analysis of quantitative data sources (data on seizures, investigations, arrests, drug purity or potency, drug prices, law enforcement surveys, laboratory analyses, and interagency production and cultivation estimates) and qualitative information including subjective views by individual agencies on various drug-related issues (see Appendix C: Scope and Methodology). For in-depth analysis of key issues in this summary, refer to individual chapters in this document.
2. Information based on a National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) sample survey.
3. Estimate is based on a 2002 Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) estimate of $180 billion that has been adjusted for inflation.


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