The 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA)1 is a comprehensive strategic assessment of the threat posed to the United States by domestic and international drug trafficking and the abuse of illicit drugs. The report combines federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement reporting; public health data; open source reporting; and...

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Heroin Domestic Monitor Program (HDMP) is a retail-level heroin purchase program that provides data analysis about the geographic source of heroin, along with price, purity, adulterants, and diluents sold at the street-level in 27 U.S. cities. In 2015, a total of 823 qualified exhibits were...

A recent enforcement operation by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Indianapolis District Office (IDO) resulted in the seizure of 970 purported prescription pills that were various shades of blue and appeared to be oxycodone. Laboratory analysis subsequently revealed that the pills were counterfeit; the dark blue pills contained carfentanil and...

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office (KCMEO) reported that deaths caused by drugs increased to their highest levels in 2016 in King County, Washington. Methamphetamine was responsible for 109 (30 percent) of the 360 drug deaths according to KCMEO data. DEA reporting indicates that the methamphetamine responsible for the overdose...

Changes in key international cocaine market indicators point to the highest U.S. cocaine supply levels since at least 2007. National data also show the most significant increase in domestic cocaine usage since at least 2009. Recent cocaine production and U.S. Transit Zone movement indicators have reached the highest levels ever...

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Heroin Signature Program (HSP) analyzes several hundred wholesale-level heroin samples each year to identify the geographic area—Mexico, South America (SA), Southwest Asia (SWA), or Southeast Asia (SEA)—where the samples were manufactured.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is in the midst of an unprecedented epidemic of drug abuse and drug-related overdose deaths impacting every corner of the state and all of its residents. In 2016, more than 4,600 Pennsylvanians died as a result of drug abuse, with thousands more affected by addiction, either...

Documenting the administration of naloxone in New Orleans, LA, is one way to determine the amount of heroin being abused in the city. Naloxone, sold under the name Narcan®, is a medication used to counter the effects of heroin and opioid overdoses. Naloxone is typically administered by first responders and...

The King County Medical Examiner’s (KCME) Office reported that deaths caused by drugs increased to their highest levels in 2016 in both Seattle and King County, Washington. The majority (63 percent) of the 360 deaths were caused by opioids. The opioids responsible for the overdose deaths were opium derivatives such...

The King County Medical Examiner’s (KCME) Office reported that deaths caused by drugs increased to their highest levels in 2016 in both Seattle and King County, Washington. The majority (63 percent) of the 360 deaths were caused by opioids. The opioids responsible for the overdose deaths were opium derivatives such...