Posts Tagged ‘addiction’

In Massachusetts, the drug that is feared as the second most threatening drug is Cocaine. It is threatening because; many addicts who are into cocaine drugging have often committed the most violent crimes in the state. Surveys have revealed that at approximately 2.2% of the state’s population have abused this drug at least once in a year. However, reports are also indicating that there has been a fall in the number of cocaine addiction treatment admissions in the publicly funded rehabilitation homes across the state of Massachusetts. Even then, the number of cocaine related admissions in the state per 100,000 exceeded the number of admissions per 100,000 nationwide. In the year 2000, the number of deaths caused by the drugs was counted to 118 and a majority of these deaths were caused by cocaine.

In Massachusetts, cocaine is readily available in two varieties which are crack cocaine and powdered cocaine. In the span of 1995 to 2000, the federal law enforcement officials had seized the maximum amount of cocaine in the year 1999. The amount they had seized weighed 208.5 kilograms. Also, in the year 2000, 64.8 percent of the total drug related sentences in the state were related to cocaine as compared to 44.2 percent nationally. This is what the U.S. Sentencing Commission data indicated. The DEA said that in the first four months of the year 2002, powdered cocaine was available for $24,000 – $32,000 a kilogram or $50 – $100 a gram. At the wholesale level, the purity of powdered cocaine vary from 30 percent – 90 percent pure. However at the retail level the purity levels become low and are 20 percent – 70 percent at the retail level. In the same year, crack cocaine was available at $900 – $1,600 an ounce or $10 – $20 per rock. The purity of crack cocaine in Massachusetts ranges from 30 percent – 90 percent.

The principal transporters of this drug in Massachusetts are the criminal groups from the Colombian and Dominican Republics. These criminal groups are based in the state of Massachusetts and smuggle in cocaine from New York City via rental vehicle or private vehicles. There are distribution centers in the state like the Greater Boston area, Worcester, Holyoke and Springfield. These distribution centers then supply cocaine to different cities across Massachusetts. Even though to a comparatively lesser extent, but the Puerto Rican criminal organizations are also into cocaine trade in Massachusetts. These are dominant wholesale distributors smuggling powdered cocaine into the state.