South Dakota Drug and Alcohol Addiction Problems, Laws and Substance
Abuse Issues, Treatment and Rehabilitation
South Dakota has seen an increase in drug smuggling in the past 2 decades.
Al types of illicit drugs are available in the state but methamphetamine use
has been on an exponential increase. Recent seizures indicate that the methamphetamine
market has infiltrated into a newer younger generation of users including college
students and females. The majority of the drug trade in the state is controlled
by the Mexican drug cartels. The large rural area of South Dakota has also been
associated with an increase in the cultivation of marijuana. The majority of
drugs are smuggled in via the interstate in automobiles, vans and campers. Despite
being a low key state, money laundering has become a major issue in the past
decade.
Cocaine
Cocaine is readily available throughout all parts of South Dakota. The majority
of cocaine is smuggled in from the southern states and Chicago, Georgia, Florida
and Texas. The cocaine is converted to crack and sold on the street. Almost
all the inner cities have had their fair share of cocaine addicts but the numbers
have remained stable over the past decade. Associated with cocaine drug trade
has been street gangs, violence, crime, thefts and inner city poverty.
Heroin
Addiction and Abuse
Heroin use
has steadily been declining over the past 2 decades. Despite the increasing
purity, low price and availability, the drug has seen a significant decrease
in use. Small amounts of heroin are available in the major inner cities but
most of rural South Dakota has been heroin free. The small amounts are routinely
smuggled in the by the migrant workers.
Methamphetamine
Addiction and Abuse
The use and trafficking of methamphetamine continues to increase in South
Dakota and the drug is available in all parts of the state. The majority of
methamphetamine is smuggled in by the Mexican drug cartels who then use the
migrant workers to help distribute it across the state. The major source
of methamphetamine is from Chicago, NE, Florida, Texas, California and Colorado.
Over the years, numerous clandestine laboratories have been discovered which
manufacture methamphetamine. These unsophisticated laboratories use impure and
unrefined chemicals. The recent law banning the use of ephedrine has all but
stopped these laboratories from manufacturing methamphetamine. The methamphetamine
trade is an at all time high and associated with this has been street gangs,
violence, crime thefts and inner city poverty.
Club
Drugs
There has been a major increase in the use of club drugs in the state of South
Dakota. All types of club drugs including MDMA, GHB, PCP, LSD and ketamine are
available at night parties and rave parties. The majority of colleges and universities
have a moderate supply of club drugs. The majority of club drugs are smuggled
in from NY, Canada, California and Texas. The club drug trade is basically controlled
by Asian gangs. Recent seizures indicate the drugs are increasingly being smuggled
in via the US parcel post services.
Pharmaceutical Diversion
The abuse of pharmaceutical drugs continues to rise at an exponential rate.
The most commonly abused pharmaceutical drugs include oxycontin, hydrocodone,
methadone, diazepam, Lortab and Xanax. Oxycontin continues the number one prescription
drug abuse in the state. These drugs are primarily obtained via prescription
forgeries, “doctor shopping”, pharmacy break INS and via the internet.
Some of the pharmaceutical drugs are brought into South Dakota from Mexico and
Southwestern Border cities. Numerous pain management clinics have opened in
every major city in the State and pose an enormous threat to the communities.
These pain management clinics do injustice to patients by continually prescribing
narcotics to addicts.
Marijuana
Addiciton and Abuse
Marijuana is readily available throughout South Dakota. The majority of the
drug is smuggled in from the southern states. The marijuana is smuggled in large
amounts in cars, vans, campers and trucks- all of which have hidden compartments.
In addition, the large rural area of South Dakota has also
been used to grow marijuana. Marijuana is cultivated both indoors and outdoors
in both private and public property. The locally made marijuana is more potent
and pure than the Mexican variety and is increasingly being shipped across into
Colorado and Illinois. In addition, the most potent form of marijuana, called
BC bud, is smuggled in from Canada.
Addiction
Prevention
To counteract the drug problem DEA Mobile Enforcement Teams have been established
in response to the overwhelming problem of drug-related violent crime in towns
and cities across the nation. In addition, DEA Regional Enforcement Teams have
been developed to augment existing DEA division resources by targeting drug
organizations operating in the United States where there is a lack of sufficient
local drug law enforcement. Interstate 90 runs east to west through the state
of South Dakota and has become a more significant transportation route for drug
trafficking organizations. During 2004, highway monitoring in South Dakota led
to seizures of thousands of pounds of illicit drugs and cash money.