Heroin

While the demand for heroin is significantly lower than for other drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana, the consequences of heroin abuse are such that its abuse poses a significant drug threat. Slightly more than 310,000 persons aged 12 or older reported past year heroin use in 2003, considerably lower than the number of individuals who reported past year use of marijuana (25.2 million), cocaine (5.9 million), and methamphetamine (1.3 million).

Trends and Developments

• Heroin is readily available in most major metropolitan areas in the United States, and availability appears to be relatively stable overall. The availability of Southwest Asian heroin appears to have increased slightly in 2003, attributable partly to participation by certain groups--for example, Nigerian and Russian traffickers--in heroin transportation and wholesale distribution. However, compared with other types of heroin available in domestic markets, relatively little Southwest Asian heroin is destined for the United States, and preliminary 2004 data indicate that availability of Southwest Asian heroin may be declining to  pre-2003 levels.
• Despite stable demand for heroin in the United States, the number of primary heroin treatment admissions continues to increase. Because heroin abusers typically abuse the drug for several years before seeking treatment, the increase likely is due to individuals seeking treatment who began abusing the drug in the mid- to late 1990s, when the demand for heroin increased significantly in the United States.

Figure 7. Heroin Admissions to Publicly Funded Treatment Facilities, 1992-2002

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Source: Treatment Episode Data Set.

• In 2003, potential worldwide opium production and heroin production increased significantly, attributable overwhelmingly to increases in production in Afghanistan. Potential worldwide illicit opium production in 2003 was estimated at 3,757 metric tons compared with 2,237 metric tons in 2002. Worldwide heroin production was estimated at 426.9 metric tons in 2003 compared with 244.7 metric tons in 2002. (See Table 5). Moreover, 2004 estimates indicate a significant increase in illicit opium production and potential heroin production. 

Table 5. Potential Worldwide Heroin Production, in Metric Tons, 1999-2003

 Source: Crime and Narcotics Center.
* Estimates for 2004 are not completed.

• The smuggling of South American heroin across the Southwest Border--particularly  through Texas--increased significantly in 2003. According to EPIC data, the amount of South American heroin seized in the U.S. Arrival Zone in Texas surpassed the amount seized in New Jersey, historically the state reporting the third highest amount of South American heroin seized, after New York and Florida. 
• Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York are the three PMAs for heroin distributed throughout the United States because abuse levels are high in these cities and because wholesale quantities of heroin are distributed from these cities to heroin markets throughout the country. Other cities that are not PMAs but are significant markets in terms of abuse or distribution include Baltimore, Detroit, Miami, Newark, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Boston also is a very significant heroin market and previously was designated a PMA for the drug; however, Boston does not appear to be a heroin distribution center equal to Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. In fact, law enforcement reporting indicates that most wholesale and midlevel heroin distributors in New England states are supplied directly by New York City based wholesale distributors rather than Boston-based wholesalers. 

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MDMA

The trafficking and abuse of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy) pose a moderate threat to the United States. Most federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies report that MDMA is readily available and abused in their areas; however, levels of availability and abuse appear to be declining. Federal-wide Drug Seizure System (FDSS) data and law enforcement reporting indicate that federal seizures of MDMA and MDMA-related arrests have decreased each year since peaking in 2001. Demand for MDMA appears to be declining among adolescents and adults overall.

Figure 8. MDMA-Related Arrests, Nationwide, 2000-2003

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Source: Drug Enforcement Administration.

Figure 9. Recorded MDMA Seizures in Dosage Units, 2000-2003

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Source: Federal-Wide Drug Seizure System.

Trends and Developments

• The availability of MDMA has decreased significantly nationwide since peaking in 2001, most likely the result of increased interdiction efforts and the effective dismantling of large MDMA trafficking organizations. 

• The rates of past year use for MDMA are decreasing. NSDUH data show that the estimated number of persons aged 12 or older reporting past year use of MDMA decreased significantly from nearly 3.2 million in 2002 to 2.1 million in 2003. 

• Most MDMA available in the United States is produced in northwestern Europe, particularly in the Netherlands and Belgium. Very few domestic MDMA laboratories are seized each year. 

• The number of MDMA dosage units seized arriving from foreign source countries decreased from 6,699,882 dosage units in 2001, to 3,771,449 dosage units in 2002, and 948,438 dosage units in 2003.

Figure 10. Numbers of Reported MDMA Laboratory Seizures, Nationwide, 2000 - Mid-2004

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Source:  El Paso Intelligence Center National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure System.

• Asian criminal groups are increasingly involved in MDMA trafficking in all regions of the United States and may surpass Israeli and Russian criminal groups as the dominant transporters and wholesale distributors of the drug. 
• Los Angeles, Miami, and New York are PMAs for MDMA based on reporting from public health and law enforcement agencies. These metropolitan areas are PMAs for MDMA because of a high level of demand for the drug in these areas and the large amounts of MDMA distributed from these areas to other markets across the country. There appears to be a relatively high demand for MDMA in Philadelphia based on data that gauge MDMA-related consequences in that city; however, distribution from Philadelphia to other U.S. drug markets is limited.

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