Heroin Availability

Heroin remains widely available in many U.S. drug markets; availability is increasing in some areas.

Law enforcement reporting indicates that heroin remains widely available and that availability is increasing in some areas, as evidenced by high wholesale purity, low prices, increased levels of abuse, and elevated numbers of heroin-related overdoses and overdose deaths. For instance, according to DEA Heroin Signature Program (HSP) data, the wholesale purity of Mexican heroin was 40 percent in 2008, the highest average purity for Mexican heroin analyzed under the HSP since 2005 (47%). Additionally, Mexican heroin represented 39 percent (by weight) of all heroin analyzed through the HSP, the highest percentage since 1987 (42%). The wholesale purity of South American heroin stabilized at 57 percent in 2008 after significantly decreasing from 2000 to 2006. However, South American heroin representation under the HSP decreased markedly to 58 percent (by weight) in 2008 from a high of 88 percent in 2003. The decreased representation of South American heroin under the HSP resulted from a significant increase of Mexican heroin samples seized and analyzed under the program, 300 kilograms in 2008 compared with 136 kilograms in 2007, rather than an overall decrease in South American heroin samples. In fact, South American heroin samples analyzed under the HSP increased from 424 kilograms in 2007 to 442 kilograms in 2008.