New Hampshire Laws and Programs

New Hampshire's border with Canada and the seacoast provide several points of entry for drugs. Marijuana is the most common drug of abuse in the state, and most marijuana in the state comes from Mexico, although recently high-grade hydroponic marijuana with a high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content (in some cases over 22 percent) has become increasingly common. Methamphetamine use is increasing, particularly in coastal New Hampshire, and is primarily transported from Mexico via mail and privately owned vehicles rather than created locally (in 2006 there were only two meth lab incidents in New Hampshire). Dominican traffickers distribute most of the cocaine and heroin in the state, and powder and crack cocaine are available throughout the state with availability recently increasing in the seacoast area. Heroin use is widespread throughout the state and availability is increasing, particularly in the seacoast, southeast, and western regions. MDMA (ecstasy) is frequently found on college campuses and at nightclubs and rave parties that attract young people. OxyContin (oxycodone) is the primary prescription drug of abuse, although methadone diversion and abuse is increasing. In 2006 federal authorities seized 43 kilograms of marijuana and 7.5 kilograms of cocaine in New Hampshire and destroyed 11,878 cultivated marijuana plants.

A 2005 survey reported that 8.88 percent of New Hampshire residents age 12 and older used an illicit drug in the past month, with marijuana the most common (7.60 percent). The most common illicit drugs used in the past year were marijuana (12.59 percent), nonmedical use of pain relievers (4.66 percent), and cocaine (3.31 percent). Marijuana was also the most popular drug among New Hampshire high school students with 44.4 percent reporting lifetime use and 25.9 percent current use. Inhalants were the second most common drug reported with 11.3 percent lifetime use, followed by cocaine (9.0 percent lifetime use), and methamphetamine and ecstasy (each 5.5 percent lifetime use).

In FY 2006, 45.2 percent of federally sentenced defendants had committed drug offenses, most commonly related to crack cocaine (43.4 percent) or powder cocaine (15.2 percent). In June 2006, 11.6 percent of inmates in the New Hampshire Department of Corrections system had committed drug offenses. As of April 2007 New Hampshire had five drug courts (diversionary programs that send offenders to treatment rather than incarceration) in existence and two in the planning stages.