NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

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2003. Anecdotal information on arrests in 2004
was also provided by NOPD.
• Forensic laboratory testing data were provided
by the Drug Enforcement Administration for FY
2004 (October 2003–September 2004), as reported
to the National Forensic Laboratory Information
System (NFLIS).
• Drug price, purity, and seizure information
was extracted from Narcotics Digest Weekly,
Volume 3, Number 52, December 28, 2004, National
Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), and the
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for the
last quarter of 2004. Data for heroin purity were
derived from the DEA’s Domestic Monitor Program
(DMP) for 2003.
• Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) data
were provided by the Louisiana HIV/AIDS Surveillance
Program and represent cases reported in
the third quarter of 2004.
No recent mortality, survey, or drug-related mortality
data were available for this reporting period. Trends in
drug-related mortality data (DAWN); the Youth Risk
Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) survey, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention; and drug-related mortality
data can be found in “Overview of Drug Abuse
Indicators in New Orleans,” Epidemiologic Trends in
Drug Abuse, Proceedings Vol. II, June 2004.
DRUG ABUSE PATTERNS AND TRENDS
Cocaine/Crack
Crack has been and continues to be the most serious
drug problem in New Orleans. It is associated with
high rates of violence and crime in the city. The DEA
reports that, in 2004, crack and cocaine hydrochloride
(HCl) were widely available in New Orleans in quantities
from kilograms to grams.
Surprisingly, despite the impact and availability of
cocaine/crack, primary treatment admissions for the
drug have been decreasing since 1993. Exhibit 2
shows the percentages of treatment admissions for
the most commonly abused substances in Orleans
Parish—cocaine/crack, alcohol-in-combination, marijuana,
and heroin. Cocaine/crack treatment admissions
in the parish decreased from 40.4 percent of all
admissions in FY 1995 to 31.6 percent in FY 2004.
There were many possible reasons for the decreases
in cocaine admissions, including increases in referrals
of marijuana abusers to treatment by the courts. A
EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—New Orleans
relatively high proportion (39.8 percent) of primary
cocaine/crack treatment admissions in 2004 were
female. Most (80.3 percent) of the male and female
primary cocaine/crack admissions were African-
American. A relatively large percentage (41.4 percent)
of the African-American female cocaine/crack
admissions were in the 35–44-year-old age category.
Among eight other Louisiana parishes, primary cocaine
admissions in 2004 were highest in East Baton
Rouge Parish (45.5 percent) and lowest in Calcasieu
Parish (15.8 percent) (exhibit 3).
Other cocaine/crack indicators remained high in New
Orleans, including hospital emergency department
cases, items identified by police forensic labs, and
arrests for cocaine possession and distribution.
Preliminary unweighted data accessed from DAWN
Live! show cocaine ED reports totaled 494 from
January 1 through June 2004 (exhibit 4), another indicator
of the cocaine problem in New Orleans.
Approximately 38 percent of all items analyzed by
NFLIS labs in New Orleans in FY 2004 were cocaine
(see exhibit 5). This was lower than the percentage of
cannabis items identified (53 percent), but much
higher than the percentages for other drugs identified.
In 2003, there were lower numbers of arrests for cocaine
possession (n=2,941) and distribution (1,262)
than in 2002 (3,649 for possession and 1,434 for distribution)
(exhibit 6).
In New Orleans, Mexican and Caribbean drug trafficking
organizations (DTOs) are the primary distributors
of cocaine HCl at the wholesale level. They
generally do not sell cocaine in the crack form because
of the more severe Federal sentencing guidelines
for the distribution of cocaine in this form. So,
street dealers generally assume responsibility for
converting cocaine HCl to crack. The dominant
street-level crack dealers in New Orleans are African-
Americans.
At the retail level, crack is commonly sold in the
form of rocks and cookies, in small plastic bags, clear
plastic vials, and 35-millimeter film canisters. The
DEA reported that, in the last half of 2004, purity
levels for crack ranged from 40 to 90 percent, while
purity levels for HCl were more variable in the 17 to
90 percent range.
Cocaine HCl is commonly sold in one-quarter, onehalf,
and 1 ounce quantities. Prices range from $800
to $1,200 per ounce and approximately $18,000 to
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005