Introduction
The mission of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Office of Forensic Sciences, is providing quality scientific, technical and administrative support to law enforcement and intelligence communities for the purpose of enforcing controlled substance laws and regulations.
The DEA Office of Forensic Sciences oversees decentralized accredited laboratories, which analyze evidence obtained by DEA law enforcement to support investigations. The laboratories use a laboratory information management system (LIMS) to receive, process, analyze and store the data. Before 2013, DEA’s LIMS system was referred to as the System to Retrieve Information on Drug Evidence (STRIDE). DEA’s LIMS system maintains one of DEA’s core data assets.
Purpose & Scope
DEA is publicly releasing data on received drugs analyzed in their laboratories. The goals for this release include data transparency, meeting statutory requirements, and increasing public engagement.
| Geographic Coverage: | United States, Limited to 50 States and the District of Columbia |
| Time Frame: | 2010 to 2022 (Inclusive) |
| Data Unit: | Each Record is Data from a Single Analyzed DEA Laboratory Exhibit |
| Source of Data: | DEA Laboratory Exhibits Submitted Through DEA Cases |
Data Description
The Released Public Use File (XLS Format) Contains the Following Laboratory Exhibit Information:
| Drug Type: | Drug category (Cannabis, Heroin, Fentanyl, Cocaine, Methamphetamine, Other Drugs/Substances). |
| Year: | Year obtained. |
| Month: | Month obtained. |
| Net Weight: | The number of grams of an exhibit without packaging received by the DEA laboratory; binned as up-to-10g, 10g-to-1000g, and over-1000g. |
| Purity: | Percentage of net weight; binned into 10 equal size percentages: 0% to 10%, …, 90% to 100%. |
| Price: | Purchase cost in US dollars; binned as up-to-$100, $100-to-$1000, and over-$1000. |
| State: | State where obtained. The DEA aggregated data from the four states of ND, NE, SD and WY to safely address the risk of privacy disclosure resulting from a low volume of data. |
Limitations
Please be advised that FOIA requesters seeking LIMS data contained in the public use file will be denied and the requester will be referred to the public use file which provides the most transparent access to the LIMS data.
This release contains approximately 95% of the DEA laboratory data mentioned above. Some data was withheld because it:
- Could interfere with enforcement proceedings;
- Would deprive a person of the right to fair trial or impartial adjudication;
- Could constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
- Would disclose techniques and procedures or guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions; or
- Could endanger the life or physical safety of an individual.
A laboratory exhibit price does not imply a street price or trend for controlled substances and illicit drugs. Attempting to derive price trends from this data will prove inaccurate.
