Marijuana

Marijuana is the most readily available and frequently abused drug in South Carolina; however, it poses a lower threat than cocaine because it is less often associated with violent crime. According to the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 3.8 percent of South Carolina residents reported having abused marijuana in the past month compared with 4.7 percent nationwide. Marijuana-related treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities increased each year, from 3,901 in FY1997 to 6,100 in FY2001, and the number of marijuana-related treatment admissions exceeded the number of treatment admissions for any other illicit drug in FY2000 and FY2001, according to the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services. (See Table 1 in Cocaine section.) In 1999--the most recent year for which these data are available--the number of marijuana-related treatment admissions per 100,000 population in South Carolina (118) was greater than the number per 100,000 nationwide (103), according to TEDS.

Marijuana is the most readily available drug in South Carolina. Most of the marijuana available in the state is produced in Mexico, although marijuana produced in the state also is available. Local independent Caucasian dealers and abusers produce small quantities of marijuana for local distribution and personal use. African American independent dealers, Caucasian OMG members, and Hispanic dealers also cultivate small quantities of cannabis in the state, but to a lesser extent. Most cannabis in South Carolina is cultivated outdoors; however, indoor cultivation is increasing, partially due to a prolonged drought in the state during the late 1990s and earlier this decade. Marijuana produced in Canada is also available, but to a much lesser extent.

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According to FDSS data, federal law enforcement officials seized 4,283.6 kilograms of marijuana in FY2001. USSC data indicate that the percentage of federal sentences in South Carolina that were marijuana-related increased from 7 percent in FY1997 to 15.8 percent in FY2000. According to the DEA Columbia District Office, commercial grade marijuana, typically produced in Mexico, sold for $750 to $850 per pound in May 2002. According to responses to the NDIC National Drug Threat Survey 2001, the price for an ounce of marijuana averaged $125 in South Carolina.

Mexican criminal groups are the primary transporters of marijuana available in South Carolina. These groups transport multikilogram shipments of marijuana from southwestern states, California, Florida, and Georgia using commercial and private vehicles. In commercial vehicles, marijuana often is intermingled with legitimate cargo. In private vehicles, the drug typically is transported in hidden compartments. Marijuana also is transported to South Carolina via package delivery services, aircraft, buses, and occasionally commercial maritime vessels that travel into the Port of Charleston.

Criminal groups, OMGs, street gangs, and local independent dealers distribute marijuana in South Carolina. Mexican criminal groups are the primary wholesale distributors of marijuana produced in Mexico. OMGs and local independent dealers as well as African American, Caribbean, and Caucasian criminal groups distribute wholesale quantities of marijuana produced in Mexico and locally. Street gangs and OMGs are the primary retail distributors of marijuana in South Carolina's larger cities, while Caucasian and African American independent dealers are the primary retail distributors in the rest of the state. Marijuana retail sales usually occur on street corners, in bars, in residences, from vehicles, through established contacts, and near college, high school, and middle school campuses.

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