Texas Laws and Programs

Due to its large size (including many sparsely populated areas), extensive border with Mexico, sea-coast, and well-developed transportation network (including roads, air travel, and sea routes), Texas is the site of a great deal of drug smuggling, production, and distribution. Drugs often enter the United States through Texas and are shipped to other parts of the country, while the proceeds (in the form of bulk currency) are sent back to Mexico or other locations through Texas as well.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is a prime drug distribution and transshipment area where methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana are brought, primarily by Mexican trafficking organizations, before distribution to the Midwestern, eastern, and southeastern U.S. states. Houston is [Page 771]a major transshipment site for most categories of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine, by Mexican, Colombian, and Dominican trafficking organizations. Narcotics and marijuana are frequently brought into the United States through the El Paso-Juarez corridor, referring to cities on either side of the border (the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas, and the Mexican city of Juarez). Many parts of the Texas-Mexican border are easily crossed by smugglers. Increased international traffic due to the North American Free Trade Act has also provided increased opportunities for drugs to be smuggled across the border.

In 2008 state and local law enforcement authorities in Texas seized over 577,380 pounds of marijuana, 18,498 pounds of solid cocaine, 2,199 pounds of methamphetamine, 557 pounds of codeine, 517 pounds of amphetamines, 416 pounds of designer drugs, and 224 pounds of heroin. There were 112 methamphetamine lab incidents in Texas in 2008, an increase from 2007 when there were 78, but a substantial decrease from 463 in 2004. Federal drug seizures in 2008 included 570,793 kilograms of marijuana, 9,487 kilograms of cocaine, 783 kilograms of methamphetamine, 141 kilograms of heroin, and 69,341 dosage units of MDMA (ecstasy). In addition, more than 36,000 cultivated marijuana plants, primarily from outdoor growing operations, were destroyed in 2008 as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program.

Cocaine is readily available in Texas in both powder and crack forms. Heroin, primarily black tar heroin, is widely available and the price has decreased in recent years. Marijuana is widely available, including high-grade hydroponically grown marijuana. Club drugs are primarily available in North Texas, with MDMA (ecstasy) being the most often abused club drug. Methamphetamine, including pure amphetamine from Mexico, remains available, although supply and purity seems to be decreasing. Abuse of prescription drugs is a problem in Texas, with supply coming both from pharmacies in Mexican border towns and from prescriptions written by U.S. doctors. The prescription drugs most commonly abused are OxyContin (oxycodone), hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin), alprazolam (e.g., Xanax), and benzodiazepines (e.g., Valium).

In 2007, 7.92 percent of Texas residents reported use of marijuana in the past year, with 4.25 percent reporting marijuana use in the past month. Nonprescription use of pain relievers in the past year was reported by 4.72 percent of those surveyed, while 2.31 percent reported cocaine use in the past year. In 2008, 38.6 percent of high school seniors in Texas reported lifetime use of marijuana, with 11.3 percent reporting use of crack or powder cocaine, 10.8 percent nonmedical use of depressant drugs such as barbiturates and benzodiazepines, and 9.9 percent nonmedical use of stimulant drugs such as amphetamines. Seventeen percent of high school seniors reported use of an illicit drug in the past month.

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