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What America's Users Spend on Illegal Drugs: 1988-1998

NCJ Number
187080
Author(s)
William Rhodes; Mary Layne; Patrick Johnson; Lynne Hozik
Date Published
December 2000
Length
131 pages
Annotation
This report provides estimates of expenditures by Americans on cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana from 1988 through 1998 and projects estimates for 1999 through 2000.
Abstract
Researchers examined both the demand for and the supply of drugs in order to estimate the retail sale of illicit drugs consumed in the United States. The consumption analysis, which estimated the number of drug users, how much money they spent on drugs, and the amount they likely consumed, indicated that between 1989 and 1998 American’s spent $39 billion to $77 billion annually on cocaine, $10 billion to $22 billion annually on heroin, roughly $2 billion annually on methamphetamine, and $11 billion annually on marijuana. Trend analysis on these estimates revealed that expenditures on cocaine decreased between 1988 and 1998. Heroin expenditures decreased from 1988 to the mid-1990s and then began increasing. Marijuana expenditures between 1988 and 1998 increased slightly as prices increased and then decreased slightly as prices fell. The supply analysis indicated that approximately 12 to 13 metric tons of pure heroin entered the country between 1988 and 1998 and about 352 metric tons of cocaine were available in the United States in 1998. It was not feasible to conduct supply analysis for methamphetamine and marijuana. Concluding analyses indicate that more Americans use marijuana than either cocaine or heroin and trends in marijuana consumption have remained relatively stable over the 10-year study period. Endnotes, appendixes