What America's Users Spend on Illegal Drugs 1988-2000 - National ...

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Table 2 - Total Amount of Cocaine and Heroin Consumed, 1988-2000 (in metric tons)1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000Cocaine 660 576 447 355 346 331 323 321 301 275 267 271 259Heroin14.6 16.6 13.6 12.5 11.7 11.2 10.8 12.0 12.8 11.8 14.5 14.3 13.3Estimates for 2000 are projectionsSources: See Tables 3 through 64
IntroductionIn 2000, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), working with Abt Associates Inc., reportedthat Americans spent an estimated $65 billion to $108 billion per year between 1989 and 1998 for illicit drugsand for licit drugs used illegally. New data and a revised methodology have enabled us to improve thoseestimates, extend them through 1999, and project them into the year 2000.To estimate the retail sales value of illicit drugs consumed in the United States, we examined the number ofdrug users, how much they spend on drugs, and the amount of drugs they consume. For a number of reasons,this approach does not yield a precise estimate of the yearly retail value of the illegal drug trade. First, withsome exceptions, drug dealers and their customers transact business away from public view. Second, drugusers often misrepresent their drug use when interviewed. For these reasons, estimates of retail expendituresare based on the best available data, although those data are seldom as complete or accurate as desired. Also,the data lack a probability-sampling basis, so we cannot provide probabilistic confidence intervals.Because of these complexities in drug use monitoring, we encourage an evaluation of our findings in threeways. The reader can first compare our estimates with those reported elsewhere. Second, the reader shouldconsider whether or not two independent approaches (supply-based and consumption-based) reach similarconclusions about the amount American drug users spend on drugs. Finally, our calculations can be replicatedusing alternative assumptions the reader finds more plausible than the ones we used.Previous versions of <strong>What</strong> America’s <strong>Users</strong> <strong>Spend</strong> on Illicit Drugs detailed both the consumption-based andsupply-based estimation procedures. This version explains the consumption-based approach (technicalmaterial and details appear in an appendix) and summarizes results from the supply-based approach.Companion reports provide details about the supply-based approach.5
Page 1: What America’s <
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..
Page 7 and 8: AcknowledgementsThe authors and sta
Page 9 and 10: Executive SummarySince 1991, the Of
Page 11: A different kind of comparison was
Page 15 and 16: An Appendix explains how we used da
Page 17 and 18: Other policy analysts have reported
Page 19 and 20: Trends in Drug UseIf the prevalence
Page 21 and 22: dynamics of emergency room use by c
Page 23 and 24: downward adjustment seems unwarrant
Page 25 and 26: estimation technology at the price
Page 27 and 28: Other studies provide comparable es
Page 29 and 30: areas, computed the number who ente
Page 31 and 32: methamphetamine users in 1993, fewe
Page 33 and 34: percent to about 12 percent. Thus,
Page 35 and 36: Total Consumption EstimatesThe fact
Page 37 and 38: heroin and cocaine have fallen or r
Page 39 and 40: Table 11 - Total Expenditures on Il
Page 41 and 42: In 2000, Americans spent about $36
Page 43: into the United States. These targe
Page 46 and 47: equired for several reasons, but th
Page 48 and 49: We used the SRHT findings to adjust
Page 50 and 51: As noted, the ratio between our est
Page 52 and 53: marijuana for 1995. For this purpos
Page 54 and 55: from TEDS-eligible treatment progra
Page 57 and 58: Endnotes1 The calculations reported
Page 59 and 60: 7. A large percentage of heavy drug
Page 61 and 62: number of people needing treatment
Page 63 and 64:
and Kleiman’s $8 billion figure.
Page 65:
48. In 1993, about 74 percent of ar
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