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U.S. Department of Justice
National Drug Intelligence Center
Philadelphia/Camden HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010
April 2010
Cocaine (particularly crack) poses the principal drug threat in the PC HIDTA region because of the high levels of abuse and the high number of cocaine-related deaths and cocaine-related treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities, as well as the violence attendant to street gang distribution of the drug. Heroin, marijuana, and CPDs are also significant threats in the region. According to data from the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS) 2010,b 12 of the 27 law enforcement agency respondents in the PC HIDTA region identify either powder cocaine or crack as the greatest threat to their jurisdictions, 11 identify heroin, 3 identify CPDs, and 1 identifies marijuana.
Law enforcement officials in many parts of the region report that cocaine is being distributed at the wholesale level in smaller quantities than in previous years because of decreased availability of the drug. Despite lower wholesale cocaine availability, the drug is generally available at the retail level. According to NDTS 2010 data, 25 of the 27 law enforcement agency respondents in the PC HIDTA region report that powder cocaine is available at moderate to high levels in their jurisdictions, and 21 of these respondents report that crack cocaine is available at moderate to high levels. Reporting from PC HIDTA Initiatives indicates that nearly 171 kilograms of powder cocaine and more than 9 kilograms of crack cocaine were seized in 2009. (See Table 1.)
Table 1. Drug Seizures in the Philadelphia/Camden HIDTA, in Kilograms, 2009
| Drug | Amount Seized | Wholesale Value |
|---|---|---|
| Heroin | 9.252 | $982,395 |
| Powder cocaine | 170.650 | $6,138,141 |
| Crack cocaine | 9.476 | $199,648 |
| Marijuana | 3,117.331 | $8,443,508 |
| Methamphetamine | 16.364 | $163,640 |
| MDMA (in dosage units) | 2,905.000 | $58,100 |
| Hydrocodone (in dosage units) | 10,030.000 | $80,240 |
| Methadone (in dosage units) | 30.000 | $180 |
| Oxycodone (in dosage units) | 13,668.000 | $109,344 |
| OxyContin (in dosage units) | 6,860.300 | $102,904 |
| PCP | 0.737 | $5,125 |
| Percocet (in dosage units) | 15,577.000 | $109,039 |
| Vicodin (in dosage units) | 68.000 | $476 |
| Xanax (in dosage units) | 393.000 | $1,179 |
| Total Wholesale Value | $16,393,919 |
Source: Philadelphia/Camden High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
Heroin trafficking poses a growing threat to the region. Law enforcement reporting indicates that abuse is increasing in suburban and rural areas of the region, especially among teens and young adults, because of street gang expansion into these areas and cocaine shortages that caused some cocaine distributors to begin selling heroin. The purity of South American (SA) heroin, the predominant type available in the region, remains the highest on the East Coast, despite gradual decreases over the past several years. Declining heroin purity has contributed to local abusers injecting larger doses or injecting heroin more frequently.
Marijuana availability and abuse pose considerable threats to the PC HIDTA region. While commercial-grade Mexican marijuana is the most widely available and abused illicit drug in the region, high-potency Canadian and locally produced marijuana are increasing in availability throughout the region, in large part because of a rising demand among young people and college students. Passage of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act in January 2010, permitting the use of medical marijuana for qualifying patients, is expected to complicate law enforcement efforts regarding marijuana trafficking. (See text box.)
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New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, which permits the use of medical marijuana for qualifying patients, became effective January 18, 2010. Conditions that make a patient eligible to receive medical marijuana include cancer, glaucoma, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), multiple sclerosis, and Crohn's disease. Under the act, a state registry program will issue identification cards to patients qualified to use marijuana for medical purposes and to individuals qualified to serve as a primary caregiver on behalf of a designated patient. A primary caregiver can have only one qualifying patient at a time and cannot be the qualifying patient's physician. Under the act, a patient who has been issued a registry identification card is permitted to possess up to one ounce of usable marijuana and is allowed to cultivate, or designate a caregiver to cultivate, up to six plants. Various safeguards, such as Department of Health approval of dispensaries and tracking of patients by the Division of Consumer Affairs, need to be in place before doctors and patients can legally buy medical marijuana in New Jersey. New Jersey is the fourteenth state in the nation to allow use of the drug for medicinal purposes.1. Source: New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana
Act. |
The diversion and abuse of CPDs pose significant and growing threats to the PC HIDTA region, as evidenced by high abuse levels and the considerable number of property crimes associated with CPDs. According to NDTS 2010 data, 25 of the 27 law enforcement agency respondents in the PC HIDTA region report that CPDs are available at moderate to high levels in their jurisdictions. The most widely available and commonly abused CPDs are hydrocodone products, methadone, OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, and Xanax (alprazolam). Law enforcement officials report that because of the effectiveness of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs)c in the PC HIDTA region,d some CPD traffickers and abusers are traveling to areas such as South Florida, where they illicitly obtain CPDs and bring them back to the region to use or sell for profit.
b. NDTS data for 2010 cited in this report are as of March 3, 2010. NDTS data cited are raw, unweighted responses from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies solicited through either NDIC or the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) HIDTA program. Data cited may include responses from agencies that are part of the NDTS 2010 national sample and/or agencies that are part of the HIDTA solicitation lists.
c. PDMPs are systems in which controlled substance prescription data are collected in a centralized database and administered by an authorized state agency to facilitate the early detection of trends in diversion and abuse.
d. As of January 2010, 35 states (including Pennsylvania) had operational PDMPs; 5 states (including New Jersey) have enacted legislation to establish PDMPs, but the programs are not fully operational.
UNCLASSIFIED
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