Cocaine: Cocaine HCL is moderately available in northern Nevada and readily available throughout southern Nevada. Cocaine HCL is transported into Nevada primarily from California via ground transportation. Southern Nevada, specifically Las Vegas, serves as a transshipment point for cocaine HCL with distribution points across the nation. Crack cocaine is readily available in the urban areas of Nevada. African American street gangs predominantly control the distribution market for crack cocaine and base their operations in inexpensive motel rooms and apartments located in impoverished areas throughout Nevada's larger cities.

Heroin: Mexican black tar heroin remains the most prevalent heroin available in Nevada. Mexican poly-drug trafficking organizations control the heroin trafficking in the state. These trafficking organizations continue to recruit Mexican nationals to live in the urban areas of Nevada to distribute heroin for the organization. User amounts of low-purity black tar heroin remain readily available from these low-level suppliers and are most often distributed in open air-markets.

Methamphetamine: Meth is the most frequently encountered drug in Nevada and remains available in both personal use and distribution quantities. Nevada is both a point of importation and a source of manufacture for meth. The meth imported into the state is produced primarily in "super labs" (producing 10 pounds or more in a 24-hour period) by ethnic Mexican drug trafficking organizations operating in Mexico and California. Meth is transported to Nevada primarily via ground transportation. Organized Mexican poly-drug trafficking groups monopolize the large-scale meth trade in Nevada. Distributor levels of imported meth average ½ pound quantities or greater and range in purity levels from 9% - 26%. Local meth manufacturing entrepreneurs continue to manufacture meth in small quantities, usually under one ounce per cook. Laboratories seized this quarter utilized the pseudoephedrine, red phosphorus, and iodine method to manufacture methamphetamine. Locally produced meth often contains a higher purity level that frequently averages 90 percent.

Club Drugs: The availability of "club drugs" in Nevada ranges from sporadic in the northern urban areas to readily available in cities located in the southern section ofthe state, particularly Las Vegas. Club Drugs, specifically MDMA, GHB, and LSD,are trafficked and abused in local nightclubs, adult entertainment clubs, and atraves. The trafficking of these drugs ranges from hand-to-hand sales within clubs orraves to larger sales between locals and out-of-town distributors. Las Vegas serves as a point of importation and a transshipment area for MDMA. Most MDMA that passes through or is destined for Las Vegas continues to come primarily from Southern California and New York.

Marijuana:Domestically cultivated and Mexican-grown marijuana remains readily available in Nevada. Mexican poly-drug trafficking organizations are still the primary source of marijuana smuggled into the area, primarily from California via ground transport. There has been an increased prevalence of indoor marijuana cultivation inthe Las Vegas area during the past year. Growers are using elaborate hydroponicequipment to cultivate high-grade marijuana. Marijuana Legislation: In June 2001,Assembly Bill 453 was signed into law and made Nevada the ninth state in the U.S. where patients can use marijuana for medicinal purposes. In addition, the new state law which went into effect October 1, 2001, decriminalizes possession of small amounts (ounce quantity or less) of marijuana, which previously was a state felony.

Other Drugs:The pharmaceutical drugs of choice in Nevada include Lortab, Hydrocodone, Xanax, Codeine, Diazepam and Oxycodone. Prescription forgery and doctor shopping remain the primary methods by which pharmaceutical drugs are diverted in Nevada. Pseudoephedrine, a precursor for the manufacture of meth, remains the most commonly diverted pharmaceutical drug in the Las Vegas area. The supply of pseudoephedrine in Nevada stems from two sources. The first involves products purchased from "rogue" U.S. chemical companies that sell excessive quantities to non-traditional outlets, such as liquor and convenience stores, who then distribute the pseudoephedrine in case quantity amounts to meth manufacturers. To combat this problem, pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine were administratively added to the Nevada Schedule III Controlled Substance List by the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy on December 17, 2001. Before this regulation went into effect, Nevada had limited regulations on the sale of pseudoephedrine and was surrounded by states that had stringent regulations in place, causing Nevada to become inundated with a significant amount of illicit pseudoephedrine trafficking. The second source is pseudoephedrine smuggled to Nevada from Canada. Traffickers purchase pseudoephedrine, often packaged in 1,000 count bottles from Canadian sources and then smuggle it across the U.S. border where it is diverted to manufacturers of meth.