Conclusions
This issue of the Pulse Check finds that the markets for heroin and marijuana are growing, while the market for cocaine is stable. These findings are generally corroborated by all sources in different regions of the country.
According to Pulse Check sources, youth drug use is rising. Not only are more young people using heroin and marijuana, cafeteria use of a variety of sedatives and hypnotics is increasingly popular. While the majority of heroin and crack users are a stable, older cohort of long-term users, the continued increase in youth drug use paints a troublesome picture. These findings are consistent with the results of population-based survey research, such as NIDA’s National Household Survey of Drug Abuse, and University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Study.
This Pulse Check also reveals an increase in poly-drug use, and innovative methods of drug use. For example, combining heroin and cocaine powder or crack (speedballing) was reported in several areas, as was cafeteria use. Innovations, such as cooking crack from cocaine powder, or dissolving crack to inject it intravenously, also indicate that users are searching for more creative ways to use drugs.
Treatment providers reported that the majority of their clients enter treatment with cocaine as the primary drug of abuse, while in the West and Southwest, methamphetamine is the most widely cited primary drug of abuse. In the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and the South, approximately 19 percent of people who enter treatment cite heroin as their primary drug of abuse. In the Midwest, South, and Southwest, this figure is about 10 percent. This indicates that while heroin use is rising, there has not yet been a wide scale entry of heroin abusers into treatment facilities. However, treatment providers do report an increase in the number of young clients who enter treatment with a number of club drugs and alcohol as their problem drug problem.
Sources also reported that methods used to deal heroin and cocaine are becoming more sophisticated. First, there has been an increase in double-breasted dealing. Second, there are more organized, entrepreneurial crews of young dealers who use more efficient distribution methods. Like the well-organized crack dealers of the 1980s, these crews often use beepers to communicate with their clients and they are willing to deliver relatively small purchase amounts to suburban areas. These new crews may in fact be "second generation" crews, that is, they are somehow acquainted with members of the crack crews of the 1980s, and have picked up their methods to deal heroin and cocaine in the 1990s. Since the cocaine market has stabilized, dealers may be looking for innovative ways to reach potential heroin users.
