Outlook

The trafficking of cocaine will remain a significant drug threat to New Jersey. The drug is readily available and widely abused, and the distribution and abuse of crack cocaine in particular are more associated with violent crime than the distribution and abuse of any other illicit drug. Colombian DTOs and criminal groups and Dominican criminal groups have historically dominated the distribution of cocaine in the state, and there are no indications that this will change.

The distribution and abuse of heroin, primarily South American heroin, may soon become a more serious threat to New Jersey than the trafficking of cocaine. Demand indicators that gauge the consequences of substance abuse reveal that heroin abuse contributes to more treatment admissions, ED mentions, and deaths involving drug abuse in New Jersey than any other single illicit drug, and there are no indications that heroin abuse levels in the state will decrease in the near future.

Marijuana will remain the most commonly available and widely abused drug in New Jersey. Despite continued cannabis cultivation at indoor and outdoor grow sites throughout the state, local production is not sufficient to supply demand, and marijuana produced in Mexico and Jamaica will remain more prevalent.

MDMA will remain the most widely distributed and abused ODD in New Jersey. The level of violence associated with MDMA distribution may escalate with the budding involvement in retail MDMA distribution in New Jersey of Dominican and other historically violent criminal groups. Diverted pharmaceuticals, OxyContin, Percocet, and Xanax in particular, are readily available and increasing in popularity; it is likely that the emerging threat posed by the diversion and abuse of pharmaceuticals will continue to grow, surpassing the threat posed by the abuse of ODDs other than MDMA.

The production and abuse of methamphetamine will continue to pose the lowest illicit drug threat to New Jersey. Availability of the drug has been and is limited; consequently, abuse levels likely will remain low, as will the dangers to public health and safety associated with methamphetamine production and abuse.

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