Nevada Laws and Programs

As in most other U.S. states, Nevada continues to face a growing drug and alcohol problem. Nevada as a whole has a population of just over 2.6 million people, with over 85 percent residing in just two counties—Washoe and Clark. The remaining 15 counties in the state are very sparsely populated. As a result of this population distribution, most drug [Page 568]policies and programs are concentrated in these counties (e.g., Reno and Las Vegas), though there has been an effort to enhance substance use and gambling addiction programming in rural areas. Owing to Nevada's drug problems and high-density cities, in 2001 Washoe and Clark Counties were designated by the Office of National Drug Control Policy as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.

The most recent statewide statistics made available at the time of this writing were calculated for 2006–07 data. Federal involvement in arrests in the state (i.e., Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA] involvement) rose from 176 in 2003 to 244 in 2006, an approximate 49 percent increase in just four years. Interestingly, the number of DEA arrests in 2007 decreased again to the 2003 level. During 2006, there were over 33,000 county and municipal arrests for alcohol-related crimes and over 1,000 Nevada Division of Investigation arrests for drug-related crimes. These data do not include arrests by the Nevada Highway Patrol.

Of the alcohol-related arrests, most were for DUIs (11,090: 99 percent adult, 1 percent juvenile). This was followed closely by arrests for possession (10,979: 89 percent adult, 11 percent juvenile). Liquor law violations resulted in 8,491 arrests (80 percent adult, 20 percent juvenile); and sales and manufacturing violations resulted in 2,912 arrests (91 percent adult, and 9 percent juvenile). Of the drug-related arrests, the highest numbers were for sales and manufacturing (392: 99.5 percent adult, 0.5 percent juvenile) and possession (325: 95 percent adult, 5 percent juvenile); the remaining 359 arrests were for other reasons (98 percent adult, 2 percent juvenile).

Cocaine (particularly crack cocaine) is a significant problem in urban Nevada. Mexican black tar heroin is readily available and a significant problem, as are pharmaceutical-grade opiates. Methamphetamine is the most-encountered drug in the state, and marijuana is widely used and widely available throughout Nevada.