NCJ Number
152429
Date Published
1994
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This report documents the prevalence of marijuana use in the United States in 1992, as well as the eradication and suppression efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 1993.
Abstract
According to the 1992 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 17.4 million people used marijuana at least once during the last year compared to 19.3 million in 1991. Rates of use increased among high school seniors. Competing resource priorities, the lack of a national cultivation survey, and the trend toward indoor cultivation have made it difficult to provide a statistically valid estimate for U.S. marijuana production in 1993. In 1993 the DEA-sponsored Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP) eradicated 4.33 million cultivated cannabis plants and 387.9 million tended ditchweed plants. Increases in the number of plants eradicated are primarily due to the change in reporting methodology, which now includes tended ditchweed. DEA and cooperating agencies countered increased indoor cultivation operations by using advanced technologies such as thermal imagery to build effective investigations against these offenders. In addition, DEA special agents, along with their State and local counterparts, developed innovative investigative and analysis techniques to achieve and maintain their investigative superiority. The DCE/SP is continuing its effort to encourage herbicidal eradication in every State. The most notable new program development is in South Dakota, where cannabis herbicidal eradication was conducted in four counties. This environmentally safe operation destroyed more than 140 million plants at significant cost savings and is now considered the national model. This report provides total statistics for DCE/SP operations and statistics for operations in particular areas.