Has the perception of the marijuana problem changed
between 1999 and 2000? No
changed perceptions are reported:
any sources who perceived marijuana
as their community's most serious
drug problem during 2000 also listed
it as such in 1999. However, the epidemiologic
source in Honolulu notes
an increase in the marijuana problem
following decreased interdiction
efforts on the Big Island of Hawaii;
and the Washington, DC, epidemiologic
source notes increased press
coverage of marijuana trafficking.
Exhibit 1. How available are the different forms of marijuana?
The most common variety of
marijuana is locally produced
commercial grade, ranked as widely
available by 20 law enforcement,
epidemiologic, or ethnographic
sources in 14 Pulse Checkcities (71
percent of 28 responding sources)
spanning all regions of the country:
Billings, Denver, Honolulu, and
Seattle in the West; Sioux Falls
and St. Louis in the Midwest; El
Paso, Memphis, Miami, New
Orleans, and Washington, DC, in the
South; and New York, Philadelphia,
and Portland (Maine) in the
Northeast. Only three sources report
marijuana as only "somewhat available,"
four report it as not very available,
and only one source (in Miami)
rates it as not available at all.
Mexican commercial grade is the
second most common variety reported
in Pulse Check cities, cited as
widely available by 13 sources in 12
cities (46 percent of 28 responding
law enforcement, epidemiologic, and
ethnographic sources), again spanning
all regions of the country: Billings,
Denver, Honolulu, and Los Angeles
in the West; Chicago, Sioux Falls, and
St. Louis in the Midwest; Birmingham
and El Paso in the South; and Boston,
New York, and Philadelphia in the
Northeast. Another 10 sources in 8
cities consider Mexican commercial
as somewhat available, two sources
(in Boston and Miami) rate it as not
very available, and three sources (in
New Orleans, Philadelphia, and
Washington, DC) say Mexican
commercial marijuana is not available
at all in their communities.
Sinsemilla, or the seedless variety of
marijuana, is the third most common
type of marijuana available in Pulse
Check cities. It is reported as widely
available by 9 sources in 7 cities (35
percent of 26 responding sources):
Billings, Denver, and Honolulu, in the
West; St. Louis in the Midwest;
Memphis and Miami in the South;
and Portland in the Northeast. It is
considered somewhat available by
another 12 sources in 10 cities, and
not very available by 5 sources in 5
different cities.
One of the least commonly reported
marijuana varieties is British
Columbian ("BC bud"), with only two
sources (in Billings—perhaps due to its
proximity to the Canadian border—
and New York) reporting it as widely
available, and six sources (in Billings,
Denver, Miami, Portland, Seattle, and
Sioux Falls) reporting it as somewhat
available. By contrast, it is considered
not very available by 10 sources in 9
cities, and not available at all by 7 sources in 6 cities. Another variety,
Jamaican or Caribbean marijuana, is
reported in Miami.
Similarly, the majority of law
enforcement, epidemiologic, and
ethnographic sources report that
availability for the different marijuana
varieties has remained stable, and
nearly all the remaining sources
report increased availability. Only five
cases of declining availability are
reported: for Mexican commercial-grade,
by the law enforcement source
in Billings; for sinsemilla, by the
ethnographic source in El Paso and
the epidemiologic source in Sioux
Falls; and for British Columbian
marijuana, by the ethnographic
source in El Paso and the
epidemiologic source in Seattle.
How have marijuana users been
changing across the country?
Epidemiologic and ethnographic
sources generally agree that marijuana
use appears to have stabilized at elevated
levels, covering a wide range of
demographic and socioeconomic
groups. In Portland, Maine, for
example, marijuana users continue to outnumber heroin and cocaine users.
Some changes, however, are noted in
a few cities, as indicated above.
How old are marijuana users?
As reported in Pulse Check issues over
the past few years, marijuana users
continue to span all ages, according to
epidemiologic and ethnographic
sources in many cities. In Portland,
Maine, for example, marijuana use is
initiated in high school and use continues
through middle age. Similarly, the
St. Louis epidemiologic source reports
fairly high use "among everyone, from
teenagers up to adults in their early
fifties."
Adolescent users often outnumber
the young adult and older adult user
groups, according to epidemiologic
and ethnographic sources in Boston,
Columbia, Denver, El Paso, Seattle,
Sioux Falls, and St. Louis. El Paso has
the youngest reported age range
(10–14 years) for the group most likely
to use marijuana; by contrast, that
city also has the oldest age range
(45–54) reported for the group second most likely to use marijuana. Users as
young as 10 years are also reported in
Honolulu, and 12-year-old users are
reported in New York and Seattle.
The Denver epidemiologic source
suggests that the older (35+) group is
increasingly using the highly potent
and readily available marijuana in the
mistaken notion that it alleviates "the
aches and pains of getting older."
According to treatment sources,
adolescents outnumber other age
groups among marijuana clients at
programs in 11 of the 20 Pulse Check
cities: Billings, Boston, Chicago,
Columbia, Denver, Detroit, Los
Angeles, Miami, New Orleans,
Portland, and Sioux Falls. Young adults
are more likely to use marijuana at
reporting programs in the other
cities. Pre-adolescents constitute the
second largest group of marijuana
clients at programs in Billings and
Sioux Falls. In Seattle, treatment
sources report that the availability of
potent marijuana has promoted more
use and related debilitating circumstances.
Some treatment sources, as in Boston, report that a growing number
of adolescents consider marijuana use
to be safe.
Are there any gender differences
in who uses marijuana? In four
Pulse Check cities—Honolulu, Los
Angeles, New Orleans, and Portland—
males and females are equally likely
to use marijuana, according to epidemiologic
and ethnographic sources.
Elsewhere, males outnumber females
within the larger user groups. In
many of those cities, however, such as
Memphis, the percentage of users
who are females is larger for marijuana
than for other drugs. Moreover, in
Billings, females outnumber males in
that city's younger (age 15–24) and
smaller user group.
Treatment sources concur that most
marijuana users in their programs are
male. However, at programs in
Chicago, New York, and Sioux Falls,
females are more likely to be in treatment
for marijuana use than males. In
Birmingham, female and male users
are about equal in number. Female
users appear to be catching up to
their male counterparts at programs
in several Pulse Check cities, including
El Paso, Honolulu, Memphis, and
Portland.
Is any racial/ethnic or socioeconomic
group more likely to
use marijuana? Even more than the
heroin problem, the marijuana
problem cuts across all racial/ethnic
groups. Epidemiologic and ethnographic
sources report that racial/
ethnic distributions are fairly representative
of their respective cities'
populations in Boston, Chicago,
Honolulu, Los Angeles, New Orleans,
New York, and St. Louis. White users
are more prominent in Birmingham,
Denver (but they are underrepresented
there), Miami (where Hispanics are a close second), Portland, and Seattle.
Blacks are more likely to use marijuana
in Columbia, Detroit (where they
are overrepresented), Memphis,
Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.
Treatment sources in the majority of
cities, more so than epidemiologic and
ethnographic sources, report that marijuana
users in their programs are predominantly
black. Whites, however,
predominate among marijuana clients
at programs in Boston, Denver, Miami,
Portland, and Sioux Falls. Reflecting
general population distributions in
their respective cities, Hispanics are
the largest racial/ethnic group among
marijuana clients at the programs in
Los Angeles and El Paso, and Asian/
Pacific Islanders are the predominant
group in treatment in Honolulu. In
the Sioux Falls methadone program,
Native Americans constitute the second
largest group of marijuana clients.
As with race/ethnicity, marijuana use
knows no socioeconomic bounds:
epidemiologic and ethnographic
sources report that all SES groups are
represented relatively evenly among
marijuana users in at least 10 Pulse
Check cities: Boston, Chicago, Denver,
Detroit, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New
Orleans, Portland, Seattle, and Sioux
Falls. Similarly, marijuana use cuts
across all SES groups in Miami, but
the middle class predominates there; it
also runs the gamut of SES groups in
New York, but lower-to-middle SES
groups are cited as more prominent;
and it is found among all groups in St.
Louis, but it is slightly more common
among that city's lower SES groups.
By contrast, epidemiologic and ethnographic
sources do note predominance
of specific SES groups in five cities. In
Birmingham, the largest group of
marijuana users is in the middle SES
group; the lower middle class is cited in El Paso; the lower-to-middle SES
groups are cited in Memphis; and the
lower SES groups are cited in
Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
Both the lower and middle SES groups
are represented among marijuana
clients at reporting non-methadone
programs in Pulse Check cities. The
lower SES group is more likely to use
marijuana at the programs in Billings,
Chicago, El Paso, Honolulu, New
York, New Orleans, and Washington,
DC. The middle SES group, however,
has higher representation at the
non-methadone programs in Denver,
Detroit, Miami, Memphis, and
Portland.
Where do marijuana users tend
to reside? More so than other drug
users, marijuana users reside "everywhere"—
a term used by numerous
responding epidemiologists and
ethnographers to refer to inner-city,
other urban, suburban, and rural
places of residence. Two of the few
exceptions are Birmingham, where
marijuana users are reportedly more
likely to reside in the suburbs, and
Philadelphia, where urban areas
reportedly predominate.
Treatment sources paint a slightly
different picture, however, with the
majority of marijuana clients at the
reporting non-methadone programs
generally residing in inner-city areas.
Suburban users, however, reportedly
predominate at the non-methadone
programs in Denver, New York, and
Portland, while rural users are most
prominent at the Billings and
Honolulu programs.
How do marijuana users wind up
in treatment? (Exhibit 5) Of the
17 non-methadone treatment sources
discussing this question, nearly half
(47 percent, n=8) report that
marijuana clients at their programs
come mainly from court or criminal
justice referrals—more so than crack
clients (40 percent) or heroin clients
(38 percent). By comparison, schools
are the primary referral source for
marijuana clients at only three
programs (in Billings, Detroit, and
Portland), and other health care
providers are the primary referral
source at another three (in Boston,
Honolulu, and New York).
Exhibit 5. How are different drug users referred to treatment?
How do marijuana users take
marijuana? As was found in the last
few Pulse Check issues, "blunts," or
hollowed-out cigars, are reported as common vehicles for smoking
marijuana in several cities, including
Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and
Washington, DC, according to
epidemiologic, ethnographic, and
treatment sources. Boston marijuana
users also reportedly smok "bongs"
and "joints." Detroit and New
Orleans, by contrast, do not have
large blunt cultures. Joints are the
most common marijuana vehicle in
those cities, as well as in Los Angeles
and Portland. In Seattle, grams of
“bud” are smoked through glass pipes
or other pipes.
What other drugs do marijuana
users take? Epidemiologic and
ethnographic sources in nearly every
Pulse Check city report that marijuana
users also use alcohol (sometimes malt
liquor). Cocaine use is also reported
among marijuana users in some cities.
For example, blunts in Boston and
Philadelphia sometimes contain
marijuana combined with either
powder cocaine or crack. In New
York, marijuana is combined with
powder cocaine in either a blunt or a
cigarette. Crack is also reportedly used
by marijuana smokers in Washington,
DC (as a dip, and sometimes including
heroin too), and Detroit. Adolescent
marijuana smokers in the Miami
suburbs use both forms of cocaine.
Heroin is sometimes included in
blunts in Boston and in either
cigarettes or blunts in New York.
Also in New York, marijuana is
sometimes dipped in phencyclidine
(PCP). PCP use by marijuana smokers
is also an ongoing problem in Philadelphia, where the Pulse Check
epidemiologic source reports occurrences
of hallucinogenic behavior,
such as people jumping into traffic
or off buildings. In New Orleans, by
contrast, PCP lacing is not the norm
but, rather, an occasional practice by
"uptown" affluent young marijuana
users. A Washington, DC, treatment
source reports that clients are
smoking high-purity marijuana laced
with PCP.
Some epidemiologic and ethnographic
sources mention other drugs used by
marijuana smokers: flunetrazepam
(Rohypnol) in El Paso; alprazolam
(Xanax ®) in Philadelphia; and methylenedioxymethamphetamine
(MDMA, or "ecstasy"), lysergic acid
(LSD), and some methamphetamine
among a small group of young, white,
middle-class partygoers and clubgoers
in Washington, DC.
Treatment sources, like epidemiologic
and ethnographic sources, report that
marijuana is used most commonly
with alcohol. Additionally, marijuana users, both at their programs and
in their local communities, also use
cocaine (in Birmingham, Chicago,
Columbia, Detroit, El Paso,
Honolulu, Los Angeles, and Miami),
PCP (in Chicago), club drugs
(in Denver), methamphetamine (in
Billings and Seattle), and ice (in
Honolulu, where the marijuana
supposedly smooths out the effects
of ice).
Where and with whom is
marijuana used? The word
"everywhere," once again, is
frequently mentioned by Pulse Check
epidemiologic and ethnographic
sources, not just in response to where
marijuana users reside, but also in
response to where they use the drug.
From the malls and railroad tracks of
El Paso to the beaches of Honolulu
to the reggae concerts of Miami,
marijuana is used in a wide range of
settings and contexts, both indoors
and outdoors, both alone and
socially.
Similarly, treatment sources report that
marijuana users smoke their drug both
alone and socially, and almost anywhere:
at home, in cars, at parties, on
the job (as reported in Denver), in the
street, and in other public areas. At
the Seattle methadone program,
solitary use of marijuana has increased
since the previous reporting period;
however, group use still predominates
at that program and in the greater
local area. Additionally, eight of the
non-methadone treatment sources
report frequent use (four to six times
a week) or daily use of marijuana in
their local communities (in Billings,
Birmingham, Boston, El Paso,
Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans,
Portland).
MARIJUANA: THE SELLERS
Who, How, Where, and With What?
How are street-level marijuana
sellers organized? (Exhibit 6) The
way marijuana sellers are organized
in the United States varies widely,
with independent dealers cited most
often as marijuana dealers. Biker
gangs are mentioned as dealers in
Seattle (where they sell high-quality
British Columbian marijuana) and in Detroit. However, street gangs are
mentioned much less often as
involved with marijuana sales than
with heroin or cocaine sales. In
Denver, as with heroin and cocaine,
Mexican cartels are involved with
marijuana sales. In Memphis, some
marijuana is sold by marijuana growers.
Epidemiologic and ethnographic
sources add that in Miami, many
small organizations consisting of
3–10 male members sell marijuana.
Exhibit 6. How are marijuana
sellers organized?*
How old are street-level
marijuana sellers? As with seller
affiliation, the ages of street-level
marijuana sellers vary widely, ranging
from 10 to 65 years. According to
most law enforcement sources,
adolescents and young adults
predominate among marijuana sellers.
Epidemiologic and ethnographic
sources concur that the ages of
marijuana dealers range widely. Those
sources cite adolescents and young
adults as the predominant age groups
of marijuana sellers.
Where is street-level marijuana
sold? (Exhibit 7) In reporting Pulse
Check sites, marijuana is sold
throughout the city, with many sources reporting it as sold "everywhere."
In Birmingham, Boston,
Memphis, and New Orleans, it is sold
in inner-city, as well as suburban,
areas. In El Paso's inner-city areas,
smaller amounts of marijuana are
sold per transaction than in its suburban
areas. In Birmingham, suburban
distributors receive marijuana from
sources outside the State, store large
quantities in the suburbs, then contact
city residents to distribute there,
in crack houses and on street corners.
According to law enforcement
sources, marijuana is sold mostly on
the street, followed by homes and
nightclubs. It is sold in high schools
in New Orleans and even in hospitals
in Columbia. Epidemiologic and
ethnographic sources agree that marijuana
is commonly sold in private residences, streets, and nightclubs,
but they cite schools as the second
most common place (along with
streets) for marijuana sales. They add
that in El Paso, marijuana is sold at
concerts; in Miami, it is sold at open
street markets; in New York, small
amounts are sold on the street, and
larger amounts are sold indoors; and
in Philadelphia, it is sold in streets,
rundown areas, and abandoned
buildings.
How is street-level marijuana
sold? As with the setting of marijuana
sales, marijuana distribution methods
vary widely. Hand-to-hand marijuana
sales are mentioned by Los Angeles,
Memphis, and Washington, DC, law
enforcement sources. Beepers are used
in Memphis, and beepers and cellular
phones are used in Chicago, where
sellers also drive up to residences and
honk. According to the epidemiologist
in Boston, most marijuana is sold
through informal networks of friends.
Some telephone ordering of marijuana
is reported in Detroit, and delivery
services are noted in St. Louis.
How is marijuana packaged and
marketed? The most common
packaging for marijuana in U.S. cities
is plastic zipper bags, according to
Pulse Check sources. Sources also
mention wrapped bundles in El Paso,
cigar boxes in New Orleans, and
small, glassine bags or by the bale in
Portland. In Washington, DC, local
hydroponic marijuana ("hydro") is
packaged in small, glass bottles, and
commercial-grade marijuana is often
sold in $10 "street bags." Brand names
or labels for marijuana were not mentioned
except in New York (where
plastic bags containing marijuana are
stamped with four leaf clover designs),
in El Paso (where brand names include "red colitas"), and in Miami (where
brand names for sinsemilla include
"krippie" and "Seattle," and brand
names for commercial-grade marijuana
include "regs").
What is the impact of and community
reaction to the marijuana
problem? Widespread marijuana use
has had a variety of repercussions in
local communities; conversely, the
varied community responses have had
varied impact on the problem:
