Possession of Controlled Substances

According to the Bureau of Justice statistics, there were 1,508,500 offenses for drug possession in a recent report. There are approximately a million or more people arrested per year for possession now than there were just ten years ago. The law enforcement around the country is taking a zero tolerance attitude towards any form of drug offense.

The main drugs that Americans are being arrested for possessing are:

• Marijuana
  Heroin
  Cocaine
  Methamphetamine
  MDMA – Ecstasy
  Oxycontin
  Hydrocodone

It seems that the latest drug use trends are showing prescription drug abuse actually higher than illicit narcotics. With the exception of marijuana, users are leaning toward prescription drugs more than ever before. The Narcotics Control Board says that the number of prescription abusers jumped from 7.8 million in 1992 to 15.1 million in 2003. The largest increase was with Oxycontin, (Oxycodone) and Hydrocodone (Vicodin) with use by 7.4 % of college students in a recent report.

The courts have been so overwhelmed with drug related cases that many states now have drug courts and diversion programs for drug addicts and abusers in an effort to actually stop the drug problem where it starts. In all the efforts it appears that as long as there is a demand, society finds a way to supply it.