Under the direction of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the NFLIS has been systematically collecting the results of drug analyses conducted by State and local forensic laboratories from around the country. Since 1997, this highly valid information system has been supplying timely data on changing and emerging drugs of abuse, as well as details on drug characteristics such as drug combinations and drug purity. Such information is invaluable in guiding national and local drug policy and drug enforcement initiatives. The report is organized into 2 main components; the first component contains section 1, which presents national and regional data on the 25 most commonly identified drugs during 2001. A total of 1,790,254 drug items were sampled by reporting laboratories during 2001; the 25 top most commonly identified drugs accounted for almost 88 percent of all drugs analyzed. Nationally, the top four drugs included cannabis/THC (36 percent), cocaine (33 percent), methamphetamine (11 percent), and heroin (8 percent). The second component of the report contains sections 2 through 6, which present drug analysis results for all State and local laboratories that reported data to NFLIS for at least a 6-month period during 2001. Section 2 describes the major drug categories reported to NFLIS during 2001, which include narcotic analgesics, benzodiazepines, club drugs, anabolic steroids, and stimulants. Section 3 reports on drug combinations, where multiple substances were identified within a single drug item. During 2001, the four most common combinations were heroin/cocaine, cannabis/cocaine, cocaine/caffeine, and pseudoephedrine/ephedrine. Section 4 reports findings on drug purity levels, which have an impact on drug markets and drug use trends, as well as drug-related medical emergencies. Section 5 provides an analysis on the drugs identified by strategic location. The analysis focuses on laboratory findings in border locations where drugs are thought to enter the country, including South Florida, the Texas border, Southern California, and Washington State. Finally, section 6 presents profiles of participating forensic laboratories, such as their organizational characteristics, lab procedures and policies, and lab information systems. The summary presents the major objectives for the NFLIS during 2002. Figures, tables, references, appendix