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Drug Situation: Marijuana, locally grown and imported from Canada, Massachusetts, and New York, remains the primary drug of abuse in Maine. The use and availability of cocaine, heroin, and diverted pharmaceuticals continues to increase. Methamphetamine remains a minor concern, but significant potential exists for production and distribution in the state. Interstate 95 provides an important north-south transportation route for traffickers traveling most frequently to sources of drug supply in several northeastern Massachusetts cities. Additionally, Maine’s 228 miles of coastline and 3,478 miles of shoreline offer ample opportunities for maritime smugglers.

Cocaine: Cocaine is available throughout the state in fractional-ounce to kilogram quantities. Residents, primarily Caucasians, have historically utilized Interstate 95 in passenger vehicles to meet cocaine suppliers, generally Dominican violators based in Lawrence, Lowell, and Lynn, MA. The popularity of crack cocaine continues to increase in southern and central Maine communities, with Portland and Lewiston serving as the main distribution points for dealers.

Heroin: Massachusetts-based Dominican traffickers continue to be the primary suppliers of high quality heroin to the Maine distributors. These distributors, who typically transport the drug in passenger vehicles, provide for an increasing availability of heroin in the state. While use is more prevalent in southern communities, it is also encountered in coastal and Canadian-border communities and has spread into rural and remote areas. Heroin abuse has increased, particularly among younger teenagers in Bridgeton, Rockland, Penobscot, and York counties.

Methamphetamine: Methamphetamine could become a problem in Maine. Abuse and availability have increased in Aroostook County. Low-quality methamphetamine is often express-mailed into the state from California and the southwestern states. Trafficking groups supplying methamphetamine to the state generally are connected to outlaw motorcycle clubs or are members of “the rave set.” Maine’s size and predominantly rural population create an ideal environment for large-scale methamphetamine manufacturing.

Club Drugs: Law-enforcement officials in southern Maine have noticed a small increase in the use of MDMA, which continues to be associated with rave parties and the student population.

Marijuana: Marijuana, historically the illicit drug of choice in the state, is plentiful and readily available. Year-round indoor grows are common, but high-grade marijuana cultivated in Canada has been smuggled over the border. Commercial-grade marijuana is often obtained from middlemen in the southern New England states and New York. Hashish is available sporadically in small quantities, but the increasing popularity of hashish in Canada may change the situation in Maine. Traffickers have moved hashish and hash oil through Maine and into Canada. Caucasian traffickers typically supply locally grown marijuana as well as marijuana shipped from the southwest border and Canada. Shipments ranging from 15 to 500 pounds typically enter the state via Interstate 95 in automobiles, campers, rental trucks, and tractor-trailers. Motorcycle groups continue to control much of the marijuana distribution in Maine, using associates to distribute approximately 300 to 500 pounds monthly.

Marijuana Legislation: Maine has a number of statutes related to marijuana possession, cultivation, trafficking, therapeutic research programs, paraphernalia, illegal importation, and asset forfeiture. These laws are often cited as the reason that Maine residents must travel to obtain their illicit drugs from out-of-state traffickers wary of the state’s tough drug laws.

Other Drugs: PCP purchased in Boston, MA is available in the southern portion of the state; LSD, available in gelcap form, is abused by young students; and psilocybin mushrooms, most often obtained from commercially available cultivation kits, are available in Maine. The state continues to experience an increase in the availability of diverted pharmaceuticals. Oxycodone products such as Percocet®, Roxicet®, and OxyContin® are readily available. Dilaudid® is found in Washington County, including the city of Calais. Instances of doctor- shopping schemes, falsified prescriptions, and pharmacy robberies of OxyContin® have been experienced in Lincoln County and the Portland area. Diverted Canadian pharmaceuticals also are being smuggled into Maine.

Pharmaceutical Diversion: Current investigations indicate that diversion of OxyContin® continues to be a problem in Maine. Primary methods of diversion being reported are illegal sale and distribution by health-care professionals and workers. Methadone was also identified as being among the most commonly abused and diverted pharmaceuticals in Maine.

DEA Mobile Enforcement Teams: This cooperative program with state and local law-enforcement counterparts was conceived in 1995 in response to the overwhelming problem of drug-related violent crime in towns and cities across the nation. Since the inception of the MET Program, 473 deployments have been completed nationwide, resulting in 19,643 arrests. Since the inception of the program, there has been one MET deployment in Maine, in Lewiston.

DEA Regional Enforcement Teams: Designed to augment existing DEA division resources, this program was conceived in 1999 in response to the threat posed by drug trafficking organizations that have established networks of cells to conduct drug-trafficking operations in smaller, non-traditional trafficking locations in the United States. As of January 31, 2005, there have been 27 deployments nationwide, and one deployment in the U.S. Virgin Islands, resulting in 671 arrests. There have been no RET deployments in the state of Maine.

Other Enforcement Operations: Interstate 95, “The New England Pipeline,” remains the interdiction focus in Maine since it travels through the interior of the state, connects several of the larger cities, and terminates at the Canadian border.

More information about the New England Division Office.

Sources

Factsheet last updated: 6/2007