National Forensic Laboratory Information System (2014 Midyear Report)

The sampling in the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) National Forensic Laboratory Information System (NFLIS) report is from state and local United States forensic laboratories. From January 1, 2014-June 30, 2014, 495,836 distinct drug cases were submitted to these labs and analyzed by September 30, 2014. Of those 495,836 drug cases, 813,071 drug reports were identified. Regions are defined as West, Midwest, Northest, and South. The overall report can be found here.

The West is Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska.

The Midwest is North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.

The Northeast is Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Rhhode Island, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

The South is Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

The top overall reported drugs were:

1.       Cannabis/THC  (241,057)

a.      West (27,293)

b.      Midwest (79,010)

c.       Northeast (39,044)

d.      South (95,710)

2.      Methamphetamine (121,109)

a.      West (53,509)

b.      Midwest (20,579)

c.       Northeast (1,939)

d.      South (45,082)

3.      Cocaine (119,014)

a.      West (10,708)

b.      Midwest (22,883)

c.       Northeast (26,288)

d.      South (59,135)

4.      Heroin (84,962)

a.      West (14,077)

b.      Midwest (26,614)

c.       Northeast (25,173)

d.      South (19,099)

These four drugs accounted for 70% of all reports in NFLIS.

 

The report classifises drugs substances into various categories. These are narcotic analgesics, tranquilizers and depressants, phenethylamines, and synthetic cannabinoids. The report does discuss anabolic steroids, but I'm not overly concerned with those substances, so we won't list them here.

 

Narcotic Analgesics

Total reports for this classification were 64,934.

1.       Oxycodone (23,132)

a.      West (2,211)

b.      Midwest (4,068)

c.       Northeast (4,743)

d.      South (12,111)

2.      Hydrocodone (17,721)

a.      West (2,455)

b.      Midwest (3,939)

c.       Northeast (1,023)

d.      South (10,304)

3.      Buprenorphine (7,709)

a.      West (623)

b.      Midwest (1,572)

c.       Northeast (2,209)

d.      South (3,306)

4.      Morphine (4,192)

a.      West (661)

b.      Midwest (964)

c.       Northeast (329)

d.      South (2,237)

5.      Methadone (3,077)

6.      Hydromorphone (2,479)

7.      Fentanyl (2,219)

8.      Codeine (1,611)

9.      Tramadol (1,426)

10.   Oxymorphone (932)

11.    Mitragynine (88)

12.   Propoxyphene (78)

13.   Meperidine (57)

14.   Acetylfentanyl (55)

15.   Hydrocodeinone (40)

The overall breakdown per region is:

 

South (34,277)

Midwest (13,156)

Northeast (10,311)

West (7,190)

 

Tranquilizers and Depressants

Total reports for this classification were 41,129.

1.       Alprazolam (21,804)

a.      West (1,676)

b.      Midwest (4,067)

c.       Northeast (3,051)

d.      South (13,009)

2.      Clonazepam (6,097)

a.      West (621)

b.      Midwest (1,240)

c.       Northeast (1,143)

d.      South (3,094)

3.      Diazepam (3,013)

a.      West (405)

b.      Midwest (698)

c.       Northeast (261)

d.      South (1,648)

4.      PCP (2,697)

a.      West (217)

b.      Midwest (478)

c.       Northeast (974)

d.      South (1,027)

5.      Carisoprodol (2,023)

6.      Lorazepam (1,241)

7.      Zolpidem (903)

8.      Cyclobenzaprine (626)

9.      Ketamine (574)

10.   Phenobarbital (358)

11.    Methaqualone (348)

12.   Pregabalin (193)

13.   Hydroxyzine (187)

14.   Temazepam (172)

15.   Butalbital (139)

The overall breakdown per region is:

 

South (22,353)

Midwest (7,855)

Northeast (6,704)

West (4,217)

 

Phenethylamines

Total reports for this classification were 141,980 cases.

1.       Methamphetamine (121,109)

a.      West (53,509)

b.      Midwest (20,579)

c.       Northeast (1,939)

d.      South (45,082)

2.      Amphetamine (6,101)

a.      West (620)

b.      Midwest (1,551)

c.       Northeast (768)

d.      South (3,163)

3.      Methylone (4,417)

a.      West (540)

b.      Midwest (329)

c.       Northeast (648)

d.      South (2,901)

4.      MDMA (2,347)

a.      West (937)

b.      Midwest (662)

c.       Northeast (188)

d.      South (560)

5.      Alpha-PVP (2,244)

6.      Ethylone (1,426)

7.      Lisdexamphetamine (1,030)

8.      25I-NBOMe (396)

9.      25C-NBOMe (375)

10.   MDA (331)

11.    Phentermine (326)

12.   MDPV (312)

13.   25B-NBOMe (239)

14.   Dimethylone (219)

15.   4-MEC (138)

The overall breakdown per region is:

 

West (56,273)

South (56,216)

Midwest (24,753)

Northeast (4,738)

 

Synthetic Cannabinoids

Total reports for this classification were 19,838 cases.

1.       XLR11 (6,602)

a.      West (600)

b.      Midwest (1,230)

c.       Northeast (1,884)

d.      South (2,888)

2.      AB-FUBINACA (4,326)

a.      West (161)

b.      Midwest (988)

c.       Northeast (299)

d.      South (2,878)

3.      AB-PINACA (2,232)

a.      West (197)

b.      Midwest (796)

c.       Northeast (127)

d.      South (1,112)

4.      PB-22 (1,342)

a.      West (39)

b.      Midwest (129)

c.       Northeast (539)

d.      South (635)

5.      5F-PB-22 (758)

6.      UR-144 (512)

7.      AB-CHMINACA (324)

8.      AM-2201 (201)

9.      5F-AKB48 (199)

10.   5F-AB-PINACA (193)

11.    ADB-FUBINACA (161)

12.   FUB-PB-22 (124)

13.   THJ-2201 (117)

14.   AKB48 (106)

15.   JWH-018 (93)

The overall breakdown per region is:

 

South (10,684)

Midwest (4,108)

Northeast (3,612)

West (1,435)

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Some food for thought here:

THC/marijuana, alprazolam, and oxycodone have been the top of their respective lists for the last few years at the least.

Mitragyine (Kratom) and Propoxyphene, a drug that has been formally removed from the US market since November 2010, have been detected in casework about the same amount.

PCP is still around and more prevalent than I think some folks think.

Methylone cases almost double the number of MDMA detections.

MDMA and Alpha-PVP detections are basically even in this report.

MDPV detections are approximately 7 and 7.5 times less than Alpha-PVP and MDMA cases.

XLR11 is the number one synthetic cannabinoid detected, but the number of cases decreased by about half since 2013.

The INACA synthetic cannabinoid derivatives were starting to become more prevalent beginning of 2014. Only one INACA derivative (AB-FUBINACA) was reported in 2013's midyear report.  The 2015 report will be chocked full with INACAs.

It'll be interesting to see what is reported for the rest of 2014 when the full year report is released (if it is released) or what will be reported in 2015. Of course, in the NFLIS reporting system there are some limitations to using the numbers, so I'd advise you to click on the link above and read what those limitations are.