cannabisnews.com: Prices Down for Heroin, Cocaine Despite WoDs





Prices Down for Heroin, Cocaine Despite WoDs
Posted by FoM on March 22, 2000 at 18:31:21 PT
By Associated Press
Source: Boston.com
The prices of cocaine and heroin have fallen to record lows and the drugs remain widely available, federal officials say, while insisting that progress is being made against drug use in the United States. 
In remarks prepared for presentation Thursday before a House Appropriations subcommittee, White House drug control policy director Barry McCaffrey cites declines in youth drug use and drug-related crime during the past year. But he also notes that heroin has become more popular among young people and says methamphetamines have a ''serious potential nationally to become the next `crack' cocaine epidemic.'' While use of cocaine itself has stabilized, it continues to be readily available in nearly all metropolitan areas. A copy of McCaffrey's statement and his office's annual report for 2000 were obtained by The Associated Press. After an upward trend between 1992 and 1997, heroin use appears to be declining, the report said. But, it added, ''unprecedented retail purity and low prices in the United States indicate that heroin is readily accessible.'' The report said small buys of heroin averaged $1,798.80 per pure gram, a record low. In bulk, it averaged $317.97 a gram. A gram is about the weight of a paper clip, or about 0.036 ounces. Turning to cocaine, the report indicates the average price per pure gram of cocaine, for buyers of one gram or less, was $169.25 in 1998, the second lowest price on record back to 1981. Only in 1996 was it cheaper, at $159.05 an ounce. For buyers of 10 to 100 grams, the price per pure ounce fell to an average of $44.51, the report added. Overall, the report estimated that there were 454 metric tons of cocaine shipped to the United States in 1998, up from 396 metric tons a year earlier. A metric ton is 2,205 pounds. Marijuana remained the most readily available illegal drug, the report added. It said prices ranged from $400 to $1,000 per pound in the Southwest to between $700 and $2,000 per pound in the Midwest and Northeast. Methamphetamine ''remains one of the most dangerous substances America has ever confronted,'' McCaffrey said. His report estimated that 4.7 million people have tried this drug and said its use is spreading. The average price per pure gram was estimated at about $140, down from more than $225 in 1992. On the Net: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/ Washington (AP)March 22, 2000© Copyright 2000 Boston Globe Electronic Publishing, Inc. CannabisNews Articles on ONDCP & Barry McCaffrey:http://www.google.com/search?q=cannabisnews+McCaffreyhttp://www.google.com/search?q=cannabisnews+ONDCPhttp://www.google.com/search?q=cannabisnews+white+house+drug+policy
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on March 24, 2000 at 19:04:24 PT:
Basic Economics
Given the enormous amount of talent and resources that the Federal government has at its' disposal, you'd think that the ONDCP had at least one economist on hand. An economist would have told them that since the quality of the hard stuff has risen, and the prices have fallen, then obviously there is something wrong with the Administration's arithmetic. The Billions it has spent has only *increased* the availability of drugs, not diminished it. It has caused the dealers to concentrate on not only quantity, but quality of the quantity. If I recall my college economics classes, there is a point beyond which any effort applied to an endeavor may actually hinder progress rather than aid it. I believe it is called the 'law of diminishing returns'. Evidently, the Klinton/Whore administration has not yet figured this out, despite the legions of bean-counters it has at it's fingertips. They have just increased the amount of money used in fighting the WoSD to nearly $20 Billion US. And they are nowhere near to accomplishing their goals than than another Administration was - 86 years ago when the madness began. Hmmm. If only they'd ask...
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Comment #2 posted by LSN on March 22, 2000 at 22:13:41 PT
Malaysia
In Malaysia, jails are not overcrowded with drug users yet. You can guess which part of the chain of command is failing.In Thailand, jails are overcrowding.In Singapore, people are so scared (of everything really) that they give up their own right to whatever. So the jails are not overcrowding either.
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Comment #1 posted by observer on March 22, 2000 at 21:54:18 PT
Federal Officials Say
> The prices of cocaine and heroin have fallen to record lows and the drugs remain widely available, That must be because we still have a few rights left ... maybe if they just stopped making a pretense that we have any rights at all, and formally do away with the rest of the our "rights", then they could really "get serious" like "they do in Singapore and Malaysia". (Heck, we'll still have the right to be good citizens, and wave the flag and eat apple pie and watch fireworks on patriotic holidays, right?)> federal officials say, Ooooh. They're federal "officials". Sounds so authoritative when "officials" and "experts" and "authorities" tell us things, doesn't it? We don't even need to know exactly which experts, authorities or officials said it, we just like to know it was an official, expert or authority. That's the important thing.> while insisting that progress is being made against drug use in the United States. Oh sure... If you measure "progress" (as most "officials" do) by the amount of power/budget gained by said "offical", "expert" or "authority". Yes, the drug war sure *has* been good to that "official's" department over the years. A real gravy train not only for government, but also the prison industries, too. And, after all, isn't *that* progress? Well, true ... the "federal official" *is* locking up adults in prison almost as fast as the Nazis could concentrate Jews, gypsies, communists, etc. But hey, the "federal official" is only locking up adults "for the children."
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