NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
were 30 GHB ED cases at BGMC. This downward
trend reflects the national pattern with GHB since
2000, when the drug was banned by Federal legislation.
In the unweighted DAWN data, there was only
one GHB-related ED report for Broward County in
the first half of 2004; this may change as more hospitals
join the network. The one patient was a White,
non-Hispanic, female age 21–24.
The NFLIS reported there were 18 1,4 butanediol
(1,4 BD) crime lab cases in Miami-Dade County in
the 12-month period from October 2003 to September
2004, and there were no GHB cases.
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, or
“Ecstasy”)
MDMA’s popularity appears to be declining. Measures
of MDMA abuse suggest problems may have
peaked in 2001.
Ecstasy pills generally contain 75–125 milligrams of
MDMA, although pills are often adulterated and may
contain other drugs being sold as “ecstasy.” The major
sources of the designer logo-emblazoned pills
seem to be clandestine labs in Western Europe, especially
the Netherlands and Belgium (and more recently
Spain). The pills enter South Florida from the
Caribbean because of post 9-11 airline security.
There were 17 MDMA-related deaths statewide in
Florida during the first half of 2004, with the drug
being cited as the cause of death in 1 of these cases.
There were also 13 methylenedioxyamphetamine
(MDA)-related deaths statewide in Florida during the
first half of 2004, with that drug being cited as the
cause of death in 1 of the cases. There were 13
MDMA-related deaths and 9 MDA-related deaths
during the last half of 2003, down from the 23
MDMA deaths and 12 MDA deaths in the first half
of that year.
Unweighted DAWN data show 48 MDMA ED reports
from Miami-Dade County during the first half
of 2004. Males accounted for 74 percent of these
patients. White, non-Hispanics accounted for 43 percent
of the patients; Hispanics accounted for 34 percent;
and Black, non-Hispanics accounted for 23 percent.
Two (4 percent) of the patients were younger
than 18, 54 percent were age 18–24, 27 percent were
age 25–34, and 15 percent were older than 35.
In the unweighted DAWN data for Broward County
in the first half of 2004, there were four MDMArelated
ED reports. Two of the patients were males
and two were females; two were non-Hispanic
Whites and two were non-Hispanic Blacks. One was
age 12–17, two were 18–20, and one was 25–29.
The NFLIS reported the Miami-Dade Crime Lab analyzed
266 MDMA exhibits and 28 MDA exhibits in
the 12-month period from October 2003 to September
2004, representing 2 percent of all substances
analyzed. In the first half of 2004, MDMA was the
sixth most common case worked at the Broward
Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab, behind cocaine, alprazolam,
marijuana, oxycodone, and hydrocodone. In
the first half of 2004, there were 57 BSO MDMA
cases analyzed and 9 MDA cases. In the last half of
2003, the Crime Lab analyzed 58 MDMA cases and
10 MDA cases. The number of MDMA cases peaked
in the first half of 2001 with 132 cases and declined
67 percent in the first half of 2004 (exhibit 7).
In South Florida, ecstasy tablets sell for $5–$7 per
tablet wholesale (in bulk), $10–$20 retail for a single
pill, or up to $50 per pill at expensive nightclubs.
These prices have remained the same since 2002.
In 2003, any lifetime ecstasy use was reported in results
of the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey by
7.8 percent of high school students in Broward
County and by 8.2 percent of high school students in
Miami-Dade County (exhibit 6). In Palm Beach
County, 12.1 percent of high school students reported
lifetime ecstasy use in the same survey. The proportion
for the high school students in Florida was 9.7
percent, compared with 11.1 percent by high school
students nationwide.
Nationally, the 2004 Monitoring the Future Survey
reported that current MDMA (ecstasy) use (defined
as any use within the past 30 days) was reported by
0.8 percent of 8th and 10th graders and 1.2 percent of
12th graders. These proportions reflected a 0.1percent
increase for 8th graders from the same survey
in 2003, a 0.4-percent decrease for 10th graders, and
no change for 12th graders.
Other Stimulants
Methamphetamine abuse continues to be a local
problem. Law enforcement sources confirm increased
trafficking from Atlanta and North Carolina of high
grade Mexican-manufactured methamphetamine.
There have also been several seizures of relatively
small local methamphetamine labs. Signs of methamphetamine
abuse spreading to new populations indicate
the local epidemic has progressed from the incubation
period of the past 3 years to an expansion phase
with growing numbers of users.
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005 129