NCJ Number
227619
Date Published
March 2009
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This 2009 overview of the illicit drug situation in the Michigan High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) highlights significant trends and law enforcement concerns related to the trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs.
Abstract
The Michigan HIDTA region consists of nine counties: Genesee, Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, Wayne, Allegan, Kalamazoo, Kent, and Van Buren. It has an estimated population of 5.8 million residents with Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo as the primary drug markets in the region. These cities also serve as distribution centers for many smaller drug markets within the HIDTA region and neighboring States. The region is centrally located between the major drug markets of Chicago and New York City and is connected through a system of interstate highways. The extensive maritime border around the State is used extensively by drug traffickers to smuggle drugs. Detroit and Flint are the primary drug markets in the eastern counties of the HIDTA region and Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo are the primary drug markets in the western counties in the region. Cocaine poses the most significant drug threat in the region in terms of distribution and abuse; however, an increase the wholesale price of cocaine and a decrease in drug purity have resulted in a decrease in the availability of cocaine. Law enforcement officials report an increase in the availability and abuse of heroin in the region, with an increase in use seen principally in White adolescents. Marijuana production has also increased in the Michigan HIDTA region, with seizures of the cannabis plants more than doubling from 2007 to 2008. From 2007 to 2008, local methamphetamine production and abuse increased the number of methamphetamine laboratory incidents more than tripled, and admissions to publicly-funded treatment facilities increased by 30 percent. African-American drug traffickers are the primary distributors in the HIDTA region for cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Figures and list of sources