Cocaine

Treatment data indicate that cocaine, both powdered and crack, poses a significant drug threat to New Hampshire. The percentage of New Hampshire residents aged 12 and older who reported having abused cocaine at least once in their lifetime (1.4%) was statistically comparable to the percentage nationwide (1.6%), according to the 1999 and 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Abuse of cocaine, particularly crack, appears to be declining, according to treatment data. Powdered cocaine-related treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities in New Hampshire decreased 8 percent from 321 in 1997 to 294 in 2001, while crack cocaine-related admissions decreased significantly (43%) from 280 in 1997 to 160 in 2001, according to NHDSA data. (See Table 1 in Heroin section.) Data regarding the number of deaths in which cocaine was a factor in New Hampshire were not available.

Powdered cocaine is readily available throughout New Hampshire, and crack cocaine is available primarily in the urban areas of Rochester, Manchester, and Portsmouth. Twelve of the 22 law enforcement respondents to the NDTS 2002 in New Hampshire reported that the availability of powdered cocaine is medium in their jurisdictions, and 8 of the 22 respondents reported that the availability of crack cocaine is medium. None reported a high level of powdered or crack cocaine availability in their jurisdictions. According to FDSS data, federal law enforcement officials in New Hampshire seized 12.1 kilograms of cocaine in 2002. In the same year the New Hampshire Drug Task Force seized 14.5 kilograms of powdered cocaine. USSC data indicate that in FY2001, 73.0 percent of drug-related federal sentences in New Hampshire were cocaine-related, compared with 42.5 percent nationwide. (See Table 2 in Heroin section.) The DEA Manchester Resident Office reports that in the first quarter of FY2003, powdered cocaine sold for $60 to $100 per gram (20% to 30% pure), while crack sold for $20 to $100 per rock.

Caucasian local independent dealers and abusers are the primary transporters and retail distributors of powdered cocaine in New Hampshire--wholesale-level powdered cocaine distribution is extremely limited. Local independent dealers and abusers usually travel to Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts, in private vehicles to purchase ounce quantities of powdered cocaine from Massachusetts-based Dominican criminal groups. Occasionally, local independent dealers and abusers travel to New York City in private vehicles to purchase cocaine for retail distribution in New Hampshire. Powdered cocaine sold at the retail level usually is packaged in small plastic bags and distributed from apartments, bars, and other public areas.

Crack cocaine typically is transported into New Hampshire by African American local independent dealers and New Hampshire-based Dominican criminal groups and independent dealers; these dealers and criminal groups also are the primary retail distributors of crack cocaine in New Hampshire. They typically travel to Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts, in private vehicles to purchase crack from Massachusetts-based Dominican criminal groups. Local independent dealers and abusers occasionally transport crack into the state from New York City via public transportation, primarily buses. Less frequently, crack is converted from powdered cocaine locally. Crack typically is packaged in vials or is sold as individual rocks. Crack is distributed from apartments, bars, and other public areas, as well as from abandoned buildings used as crack houses.

Cocaine, particularly crack, is the drug most often associated with violent crime in New Hampshire. According to the New Hampshire State Police, crack cocaine dealers in Manchester frequently commit drive-by shootings to protect their territory. 

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