›› California: Drug Climate

Drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana are smuggled into the state from Mexico; however, methamphetamine and marijuana are produced or cultivated in large quantities within the state. San Diego and Imperial Counties remain a principal transshipment zone for a variety of drugs – cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine – smuggled from Mexico. Although the northern half of California is awash in methamphetamine in more rural areas, heroin remains the number one drug of abuse in San Francisco, heroin and crack cocaine continue to impact Oakland, and methamphetamine continues in and around Sacramento.

• Cocaine
  Cocaine is readily available throughout the state with Los Angeles remaining one of the nation’s largest cocaine transshipment and distribution centers. Cocaine is also widely available in San Francisco and other areas of northern California.
  
• Heroin
  The increased availability of high purity heroin that can be snorted allows a new, younger population to use heroin without a syringe and needle. Drug treatment specialists stated that these new heroin users ingest large amounts of heroin and become quickly addicted.
• Meth
  Methamphetamine is the primary drug threat in California. Mexican organizations continue to dominate the production and distribution of high-quality meth, while a secondary trafficking group, composed primarily of Caucasians, operates small, unsophisticated laboratories. Clandestine laboratories can be found in any location: high density residential neighborhoods, sparsely populated rural areas, remote desert locations in the southern portions of California, and the forested areas in northern California. In recent years, there has been a decrease in the number of meth labs seized in California and an increase in the number of meth labs just south of the border in Mexico.
• Club Drugs
  Although MDMA or Ecstasy was considered the most popular “club drug” in the state among teens and young adults, there are indicators that its use may be decreasing across the board, yet consistently available in geographical pockets. First, the Partnership for a Drug Free America conducted a study released in 2004 which stated the use of Ecstasy among teenagers “had dropped 25 percent in the last two years, (that) decrease translates into an additional 770,000 teens rejecting the once trendy drug.” Second, law enforcement has targeted rave promoters in the San Diego county area, resulting in their inability to hold such events and thereby decreasing the possibility for distribution of Ecstasy through that channel. Recent studies indicate that use of MDMA is expanding from raves and clubs into schools, malls and residences. Compton (near Los Angeles) remains a primary source of PCP throughout the U.S. Street gangs continue to control both production and distribution of PCP. Though not as widely popular as most rave drugs, LSD remains readily available throughout the Los Angeles area. The ample supply of LSD is due to the number LSD laboratories operating in remote areas of Northern California, which has been the center of LSD production since the 1960’s. Internet sales of GHB and GBL persist.
  
• Marijuana
  Marijuana remains the most widely available and abused illicit substance in California. Large quantities of low-grade marijuana are smuggled into the state from Mexico. Highly potent Canadian marijuana, commonly referred to as “BC bud” is also smuggled into the state. Potent domestic marijuana is also cultivated in sophisticated indoor, hydroponic gardens throughout the state.