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Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy
Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs
Volume 3 - Public Policy Options

Statistics

In Chapter 6, we presented an overview of data on cannabis use. We round out th description of the situation in the United States with a number of tables on certain selected indicators.

 

Estimated Domestic U.S. Drug Consumption (in Metric Tons)[1][242]

Year

Cocaine

Heroin

Marijuana

Methamphetamine

1996

288

12.4

874

14.3

1997

312

13.1

960

11.9

1998

291

12.5

952

15.9

1999

276

12.9

982

15.5

2000

269

12.9

1,009

15.5

 

 

1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Past Illicit Drug Use[2][243]

Respondent Age

Ever Used

Past Year

Past Month

12 – 17

23.7 %

18.8 %

11.4 %

18 – 25

45.4 %

25.3 %

14.7 %

26 – 34

50.8 %

14.3 %

7.4 %

35 and over

31.5 %

6.1 %

3.6 %

 

 

1998 Drug Use Amount High School Seniors[3][244]

Drug

Ever Use

Past Year

Past Month

Marijuana

49.1 %

37.5 %

22.8 %

Cocaine

9.3 %

5.7 %

2.4 %

Crack

4.4 %

2.5 %

1 %

Stimulants

16.4 %

10.1 %

4.6 %

LSD

12.6 %

7.6 %

3.2 %

PCP

3.9 %

2.1 %

1 %

Heroin

2 %

1 %

0.5 %

 

 

Drug Prices and Purity Levels: Selected Years 1981-1998[4][245]

 

Purchase Amount

1981

Price/Purity

(per pure gram)

1988

Price/Purity

(per pure gram)

1996

Price/Purity

(per pure gram)

1997

Price/Purity

(per pure gram)

1998

Price/Purity

(per pure gram)

Cocaine

 

1 g or less

$378.70/40.02%

$218.33/75.99%

$159.05$/72.5%

$178.97/64.72%

$169.25/71.23%

 

10-100 g

191.5/59.59%

78.84/

83.53%

49.45/

68.44p. cent

45.58/67.05

44.30/65.92

 

Heroin

 

0.1 g or less

3,114.80/4.69

2,874.19/19.22

2,175.88/23.95

2,114.97/25.24

1,798.80/24.29

 

1-10 g

1,194.05/19.1

947.32/39.48

373.30/45.21

327.88/45.38

317.97/51.33

 

Marijuana

 

10 g or less

$6.41

$12.50

$10.42

$10

$10.41

 

100-999 g

2.75

3.41

2.95

2.63

2.59

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Drug Control Budget[5][246]

Year

Amount (in $US billions)

1999

17.1

2000

17.9

2001

18.1

2002

19.2

 

Total Estimated Arrests and Drug Arrests, 1989-1999[6][247]

Year

Total Arrests

Arrests for all drug violations

Distribution of arrests for drug violations

 

Heroin/Cocaine

Marijuana

Other Drugs

 

Number

Per-cent

Sale

Possession

Sale

Possession

Sale

Possession

 

 

1989

14 340 900

1,351,700

.4

19.1

34.7

6.2

23.1

7.0

9.8

 

1990

14 195 100

1,089,500

7.6

21.0

33.3

6.1

23.9

4.5

11.2

 

1991

14 211 900

1,010,000

7.1

22.5

32.8

6.1

22.4

4.8

11.5

 

1992

14 075 100

1,066,400

7.5

20.6

32.4

6.6

25.5

4.6

10.4

 

1993

14 036 300

1,126,300

8.0

19.2

31.1

6.2

27.6

4.3

11.6

 

1994

14 648 700

1,351,400

9.2

16.8

30.3

5.8

29.8

4.1

13.2

 

1995

15 119 800

1,476,100

9.7

14.7

27.8

5.8

34.1

4.4

13.3

 

1996

15 168 100

1,506,200

9.9

14.2

25.6

6.3

36.6

4.3

13.3

 

1997

15 284 300

1,583,600

10.3

10.3

25.4

5.6

38.3

4.7

15.8

 

1998

14 528 300

1,559,100

10.7

11

25.6

5.4

38.4

4.8

14.8

 

1999

14 031 070

1,532,200

10.9

10

24.5

5.5

40.5

4.1

15.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Adults in Custody of State or Federal Prisons or Local Jails, 1989-1999[7][248]

Year

State Prisons

Federal Prisons

Total State & Federal Prisons

Percent of prisoners who are drug offenders

Local Jails

Federal

State

1989

629,995

53,387

683,382

49.9

19.1

395,553

1990

684,544

58,838

743,382

53.5

21.7

405,320

1991

728,605

63,930

792,545

55.9

21.3

426,479

1992

778,495

72,071

850,566

58.9

22.1

444,584

1993

828,566

80,815

909,381

59.2

22.1

459,804

1994

904,647

85,500

990,147

60.5

22.4

486,474

1995

989,004

89,538

1,078,542

59.9

22.7

507,044

1996

1,032,440

95,088

1,127,528

60.0

22.7

518,492

1997

1,059,588

99,175

1,176,922

62.6

20.7

567,079

1998

1,178,978

123,041

1,232,900

58.7

20.7

592,462

1999

1,209,123

135,246

1,366,369

57.8

Unavailable

605,943

 

 

 

Correctional population in the United States: selected statistics for 1997[8][249]

In 1997, an estimated 5.7 million adult residents of the U.S. (or approximately 2.8% of all U.S. adult residents) were under some form of correctional supervision. Approximately 70% were supervised in the community, through probation or parole. About 9.0% of black adults were under correctional supervision; for white adults, the figure was 2.0% and for other races it totalled 1.3%.

 

Federal drug prosecutions: selected statistics for 1999[9][250]

During 1999 U.S. attorneys initiated investigations involving 117,994 suspects. Of these suspects, 32% were investigated for drug offences. Suspects in criminal matters involving drug offences were more likely to be prosecuted in a U.S. district court (77%) as opposed to suspects involved in violent offences (59%), public order offences (53%) or property offences (50%). Of those convicted of felony drug offences in federal court in 1999, 93% received prison sentences. The average sentence of all offenders sentenced in federal court in 1999 was 57.8 months; for drug offenders, the average was 75.4 months.

 

DEA seizures of non-drug property – 1997[10][251]

In fiscal year 1997, the Drug Enforcement Agency made 15,860 seizures of non‑drug property pursuant to drug forfeiture laws. The total value of this property is estimated at $552 million.

 

Property Type

Number of Seizures

Value (in dollars)

Cash

8,123

284,680,029

Other financial instruments

507

73,602,092

Real property

748

108,833,498

Vehicles

3,695

47,379,874

Boats

111

5,884,754

Aircraft

24

8,945,000

Other means of transportation

172

1,734,731

Other

2,480

1,734,731

 

 


 

 

 



[1][242]  Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2000. What America’s Users Spend on Illegal Drugs, 1988‑1998.

[2][243]  Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse. Drug Data Summary, April 1999.

[3][244]  Ibid.

[4][245]  Ibid.

[5][246]  These figures represent funds specified for the purpose of supporting the goals and objectives of the National Drug Control Strategy and include funds budgeted for various departments, including Defence, Education, Justice, State, and Treasury,. Source: National Drug Control Budget Executive Summary, Fiscal Year 2002, Office of National Drug Control Policy, April 9, 2001.

[6][247]  Source: Crime in the United States: Uniform Crime Reports, U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (1990‑2000).

[7][248]  Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, Prisoners in 1999 (Aug. 2000), Prisoners in 1998 (Aug. 1999), Prisoners in 1997 (Aug. 1998), Correctional Populations in the United States, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989. Jails and Jail Inmates, 1993‑94. Jail Inmates, 1992; 1990. Data for 1997 percentages of drug offenders are estimated from Bureau of Justice Statistics, Substance Abuse and Treatment, State and Federal Prisoners, 1997 (January 1999) and unpublished Bureau of Prisons Data.

[8][249]  Source: Correctional Populations in the United States, 1997, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, (November 2000).

[9][250]  Source: U.S. Compendium of Federal Judicial Statistics, 1999, (April 2001).

[10][251]  Source: Official of National Drug Control Policy, Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse, Drug Data Summary, April 1999.

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