Nebraska Laws and Programs

[Page 562]Methamphetamine is the major drug of concern for law enforcement authorities in Nebraska. It is available in all areas of the state, and is primarily imported from Mexico.

The presence of local labs in rural areas has been declining (in 2007 Nebraska had 16 meth lab incidents, versus 228 in 2005). Nebraska is also a major transshipment point for methamphetamine from Mexico, primarily on Interstate I-80. Marijuana, supplied from both Mexico and Washington state, as well as locally grown, is readily available in the major cities in Nebraska. Cocaine is also readily available in major cities. While heroin is available (primarily through Hispanic trafficking organizations), its use is less common. Club drugs are also abused and Nebraska is a major transshipment area for MDMA (ecstasy) from Texas, Florida, and Arizona. Diverted pharmaceuticals, particularly OxyContin (oxycodone), are also a significant problem in the state.

In 2005–06, 7.05 percent of Nebraska residents age 12 and older reported using an illicit drug in the past month, most often marijuana (5.21 percent), while 9.3 percent reported using marijuana in the past year. Nonmedical use of pain relievers in the past year was reported by 4.68 percent while 2.37 percent reported cocaine use in the last year and 2.36 percent reported illicit drug dependence or abuse in the past year. Among Nebraskans age 12–17, 8.97 percent reported illicit drug use in the past year, most commonly marijuana (11.02 percent) with 5.52 percent reporting marijuana use in the last month. Nonmedical use of pain relievers was second most common (6.72 percent in the past year) and cocaine was less common (1.53 percent in the past year).

In 2007 over half (53.9 percent) of federally sentenced defendants had committed drug offenses, with more than 60 percent of those related to methamphetamine. In June 2008 about a third (30.1 percent, the largest category) of women prisoners in Nebraska Department of Corrections facilities had a drug offense as their most serious offense, versus 14.2 percent (the second largest category, after sex offenses) of male inmates.