Heroin

Heroin, primarily South American, is Maine's second most significant drug threat. Law enforcement reporting and the high number of heroin-related treatment admissions indicate that heroin is widely abused in Maine. DEA and MDEA report that heroin abuse is increasing statewide, particularly among teenagers, and has recently become a problem in northern Maine. Levels of abuse are highest in Augusta, Bangor, Brunswick, Lewiston, and Portland, according to DEA. The Maine Office of Substance Abuse reports that OxyContin appears to be a gateway drug to heroin abuse, as evidenced by many former OxyContin abusers switching to heroin. According to the Maine Office of Substance Abuse, the total number of treatment admissions for heroin abuse increased from 205 in 1995 to 509 in the first 11 months of 2001. (See Table 1 in Diverted Pharmaceuticals section.) The number of methadone clinics in Maine doubled in 2001 (from two to four) evidencing the increased need for treatment for opiate abuse. The state's fifth methadone clinic, funded by a federal grant, is scheduled to open in Washington County (in northern Maine) by midsummer 2002.

According to law enforcement reporting, heroin is increasingly available in Maine. State and local task force officers seized 1,400 grams of heroin in FY2001, an increase from the 266 grams seized in FY1998, according to MDEA. Heroin-related arrests increased from 51 in FY1998 to 105 in FY2001. According to U.S. Sentencing Commission data, the percentage of heroin-related federal sentences in Maine (11.4%) was higher than the percentage of heroin-related federal sentences nationwide (7.7%) in 2001. MDEA task force offices in Augusta and Portland report that heroin is increasingly available in southern Maine, and DEA and local law enforcement officials report increasing availability in Bangor and Washington County. According to DEA, in the first quarter of FY2002, heroin sold for $40 to $60 per gram, and purity levels ranged from 50 percent to 90 percent.

Caucasian criminal groups, local independent dealers, and abusers are the primary transporters of heroin into Maine. Dominican criminal groups in Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island sell retail quantities of heroin to Maine-based buyers who use private or rental vehicles to transport the heroin back to the state, typically every day or several times a week. In 2002 DEA concluded an investigation that involved a young, female heroin abuser who transported approximately 250,000 bags of heroin from Massachusetts to Maine over a 2-year period. Using a private vehicle, this female typically transported 30 to 80 bundles (10 bags each) of heroin daily.

Most heroin distribution in Maine occurs at the retail level and primarily is conducted by Caucasian criminal groups, local independent dealers, and abusers. Distribution typically occurs in private homes or in bars and other public areas. Heroin abusers often become dealers to support their addiction.

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