Countering the Spread of Synthetic Drugs
Overview
The term "Synthetic," as used in the National Drug Control Strategy (NDCS), the National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan, and the 2006 Synthetic Drug Control Strategy, refers to drugs whose origins are not primarily organic, but rather are produced via chemical synthesis. One of the primary synthetic drug threats to the United States lies in the market for amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), most notably methamphetamine and MDMA (Ecstasy).
Methamphetamine is a central nervous system stimulant with serious health implications that include violent behavior, extreme paranoia, and other psychotic episodes. The drug is clandestinely manufactured in crude laboratories primarily by street chemists referred to as "cooks." Prior to 2005, the majority of these labs were located in the United States. However, with the passage of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act (CMEA), domestic access to required precursor chemicals like pseudoephedrine and ephedrine has been restricted and the number of clandestine labs in the United States has fallen by 70% since 2004. Small toxic labs continue to operate in the United States, but the majority of methamphetamine now found in the United States is produced in Mexico. Methamphetamine is usually found in powdered form or in a more potent crystalline form referred to as "Ice" and it can be injected, snorted, smoked, or ingested orally. The manufacture of methamphetamine poses serious environmental hazards.
Commonly referred to as Ecstasy or XTC, MDMA is a psychoactive substance with both stimulant and mild hallucinogenic properties. MDMA is most often found in tablet form, although it is occasionally distributed as a crystalline powder. Taken orally, the health risks include severe hyperthermia, dehydration, and long term learning impairment. MDMA is manufactured in laboratories located in Western Europe and Canada.
Prescription drugs are now the second most abused drug in the United States behind marijuana. Recent surveys show that teens are increasingly using prescription drugs illicitly and more often than not are obtaining them from family medicine cabinets. Unfortunately, many teens incorrectly believe that abusing prescription drugs is safer than other forms of illicit drug use.
Successes and Challenges
In the late 1990s synthetics like methamphetamine and MDMA emerged as one of the most urgent drug threats to the health and safety of Americans. MDMA produced in Europe could easily be shipped or couriered to the United States, where it became popular in the club scene. Methamphetamine, whether produced in small toxic labs in the United States or smuggled across the southwest border from Mexico, spread in prevalence from west to east, wreaking havoc along the way.
In pursuit of the President's goal of reducing youth drug use, the United States has aggressively attacked the methamphetamine and MDMA markets at the Federal, State, local, and even international levels. In large part due to extensive cooperation with the Netherlands, the primary producer of MDMA, total domestic seizures of Ecstasy have declined to less than three million tablets from a high of eleven million in 2001. At the same time, use of MDMA by teenagers has dropped dramatically-a decline of over two-thirds since 2002. Even though use rates are still currently low, there has been an increase in the smuggling of MDMA into the United States from Canada. This Canadian MDMA has frequently been found to be tainted with methamphetamine, and law enforcement officials from both sides of the border are focusing on countering this dangerous threat.
Studies have shown that use of methamphetamine by young people is decreasing nationwide, as well-by more than 56% percent since 2003. Despite this drop, methamphetamine has spread to more regions of the country, creating major health, environmental, and law enforcement problems for communities across the U.S. In response, law enforcement efforts along with state-level and U.S. - Canadian precursor chemical control measures have succeeded in reducing the number of methamphetamine labs operating in the United States. Since 2002, the number of domestic "super labs" reported-those methamphetamine laboratories with a production capacity estimated at 10 or more pounds per production cycle-have fallen from 144 in 2002 to just 12 in 2007. Challenges certainly remain, however, as methamphetamine continues to take a devastating toll on American communities.
A Strategic Response
In October 2004, the Federal Government released the National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan, the first comprehensive national plan to address the problems of synthetic drugs, including the illegal use and trafficking of pharmaceuticals. The Action Plan provided an overview of recent trends in the consumption and trafficking of methamphetamine, diverted pharmaceuticals, Ecstasy, and other synthetic drugs, and outlined a balanced approach focused on four core areas: prevention, treatment, regulation of chemicals and drugs, and law enforcement.
On June 1, 2006, the U.S. released the Synthetic Drug Control Strategy, a companion document to the National Drug Control Strategy, and a follow-up to the progress made by the National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan. The strategy sets goals of 15 percent reductions in methamphetamine use and prescription drug abuse over the next three years and a 25 percent reduction in domestic methamphetamine labs. These goals will be pursued using a three-tiered approach to the United States' international efforts: improving intelligence and information on the global market for precursor chemicals; effective implementation of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act; and strengthening law enforcement and border security cooperation, particularly with Mexico.
| See also: | |
| Efforts to Control Precursor Chemicals, Office of National Drug Control Policy, March 2008. | |
Related Resources:
A number of publications on synthetic drugs can be found at http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov by clicking on "Drug Facts" on the welcome page. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) website provides detailed health information related to drug abuse. Please also refer to the National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan and the Synthetic Drug Control Strategy.
