Trends In Drug Use
Part II: Cocaine
Cocaine remains a serious problem, though use is stabilizing in most areas and even declining in a few (Denver, Los Angeles). However, ethnographers in New York and Connecticut reported that cocaine use was increasing slightly, and the ethnographer in Atlanta, Georgia described it as "dominating the drug market." Smoking crack is the most common method of use and injection is confined primarily to users who combine it with heroin in a speedball. In some areas, like Texas and Colorado, crack use is more common among African Americans, though in most places it attracts a variety of ages and ethnicities. In Chicago, the ethnographer notes that crack use is not characterized by a typical drug subculture; purchases are made by both persons heavily involved in street life as well as by employed users who buy it on payday. Increasingly, some of these users are also users of heroin, either through inhalation or injection.
Ethnographers in Florida and Delaware noted a change in cocaine use among younger users. In Miami, "cocaine is not seen as fashionable" and is not as popular among adolescents and young adults as it once was. In Delaware, the ethnographer also described use as leveling. The "population is looking around for other drugs." While the supply of cocaine has been fairly constant in most areas for more than a year, attitudes toward the drug are reportedly changing. Several ethnographers also described an "aging" phenomenon among crack users, in particular, in that there are more older users (in their late 20s and 30s) and fewer new young users than was true a few years ago. In Texas, some older users are switching from cocaine to other drugs; in this area, the switch is likely to be to heroin or methamphetamine.
Cocaine and crack dealing involves gang members in many areas (Denver, Bridgeport, El Paso, Chicago), while in others (New York) the drugs may be dealt out of small stores, or through older, established neighborhood sellers (New Jersey). As was described above, in some areas cocaine is dealt by the same people who deal heroin. These individuals often began by selling cocaine or crack and have switched to or added heroin. Unlike the typical heroin dealer who is often an addict who takes his/her "pay" in drugs, these "double-breasted" sellers may not be users of either drug.
Prices range from $50/gram in Florida to $80-$100/gram in Texas and Georgia. Street level units of sale are generally $10/bag or $5-10/vial or small rock of crack.
Police reported that cocaine use is stable in most areas, though contacts in Washington state and Maryland reported it may be increasing somewhat in their areas. Police reported the same wide range of cocaine users which ethnographic sources describe. They reported that while sources may be Colombian (Florida, New York, D.C.) or Mexican (Los Angeles, the northwest), sellers on the neighborhood level match the demographics of the area in which they sell. In the Maryland, D.C. area, dealing activity was widespread. For example, state police sources in Maryland reported that cocaine is found during random traffic checks and that open cocaine dealing markets are evident in the state's urban areas.
The recent arrests of major Colombian cocaine cartel leaders has produced speculation about the supply of cocaine and the effect on price and purity in U.S. cities. Calls this quarter did not find reports of changes. Cocaine is as available as was reported one year ago, though use has continued to stabilize almost everywhere. Prices range from $40 to $100 per gram for cocaine HCl and from $3 to $20 per vial or piece of crack across the country, and purity is reported as high everywhere except Los Angeles. Police contacts in Miami speculate that adequate quantities of cocaine have been stockpiled on both sides of the border. This speculation is substantiated by a New York City source who reported that dealers can purchase cocaine at "warehouses" (central locations) where quantities are not restricted if the buyer has the capital to purchase them.
Cocaine abusers remain a significant portion of persons in treatment in most regions, though treatment providers also report seeing some signs of stabilization. Less than one-fourth of programs in any region report that the proportion of cocaine abusing clients in their programs increased this quarter. As one provider in Region II states, "Crack is settling down and snorting is definitely out." Over 70 percent of clients in all regions smoke or inhale cocaine rather than inject it. Alcohol is the most frequently mentioned companion drug for cocaine users, followed by marijuana and heroin.
The ratio of male to female users seeking treatment for cocaine abuse is approximately 2:1, except in Region 3 where the gender ratio is closer to 50/50. Many of these clients have no prior treatment experience.