Sharp fall in US cocaine availability

Sharp fall in US cocaine availability

A recent report by the US Department of Justice underscores what has been know for some years now that availability of cocaine in the US has dropped significantly since 2006 due to among other factors, law enforcement and supply reduction.

There is probably not one single decisive factor behind the decrease. The report points at "a combination of factors, including increased law enforcement efforts in Mexico and the transit zones, decreased cocaine production in Colombia, high levels of cartel violence, and cocaine flow to non-U.S. markets likely contributed to decreased amounts being transported to the U.S.–Mexico border for subsequent smuggling into the United States".

The report issued by the National Drug Intelligence Center, says Cocaine production estimates for Colombia decreased significantly in 2008 reducing the amount of cocaine available to world markets. Since 2006 production has fallen 40% (2008 estimates).

The reduced availability is noticeable from a range of indicators in the US, such as fewer testing positive for cocaine in work place drug tests, a sharp increase in prices and decrease in purity and reports of fewer seizures and reported "cocaine shortages" in many cities in the US.

"The price per pure gram of cocaine increased from $94.73 in the third quarter of 2006 to $174.03 in the third quarter of 2009, while cocaine purity decreased from 68.1 percent to 46.2 percent".

Consumption down

It should be no surprise then that several indicators point at a reduction in consumption. According to the latest US report from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) on drug use in 2008, there were 722,000 persons aged 12 or older who had used cocaine for the first time within the past 12 months. This estimate was significantly lower than the number in 2007 (906,000). The perceived availability of cocaine also fell from 26 per cent that thought cocaine was "fairly or very easy to obtain" in 2006 to 22 per cent in 2008.

SAMHSA estimates that there was 1,7 million dependent on cocaine in 2006 which fell to 1,4 in 2008.

EURAD comments

The significant thing to learn from these numbers is that progress is possible in even the notorious cocaine market. It underscores the simple fact that availability matters and that law enforcement and supply reduction are key strategies to reduce consumption and harm.

These developments are important when reviewing the reports from the ongoing drug conflict in Mexico in order to get a full understanding.

Laster...