The illegal drug trade and overdose deaths in Houston and Texas as a whole have increased over the past decade. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has identified Houston as a HIDTA, or High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
There are several reasons why a geographic area qualifies as a HIDTA like:
- A significant center of illegal drug production, manufacturing, importation, or distribution.
- The law enforcement in the area has teams and resources, especially for drug trafficking issues.
- Local drug-related activities negatively impact the area
- A substantial increase in federal resources is needed to address drug-related issues in the area.
Unfortunately, Houston meets all these criteria. Many of the drugs are brought into the country by Mexican drug traffickers across Texas’ southern border in Houston.
Houston, Texas, Drugs Statistics
- In 2010, Houston was a center for accidental fatal prescription drug overdoses.
- The three major problems in the Houston area, according to a HIDTA Threat Assessment assessment from 2011, are marijuana, cocaine, and prescription drug addiction.
- In 2013 and 2014, the use of P2P (peer-to-peer) heroin and methamphetamine from Mexico skyrocketed. Compared to just 180 reports in 2010, there were 356 calls to the Texas Poison Center Network in 2013 regarding exposure to methamphetamine.
- Methamphetamine was classified among the top two drug dangers in Houston and Dallas in 2015, according to the DEA divisions in both cities.
- The “Houston Cocktail,” a concoction of Vicodin, Soma, and Xanax, was one of the risky drug combinations that resulted in hundreds of fatalities in Harris County in 2016. Additionally, cocaine, which alone contributed to 205 deaths in Harris County in 2016, overtook widely abused substances like opioids and marijuana.
- Cocaine posed the greatest threat in Harris County in 2017, but synthetic marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin all ranked among the top five biggest drug issues in the Houston region.
It’s unlikely that Houston’s drug problem will improve anytime soon, but one thing remains the same residents of Houston can receive addiction support at Skyward Treatment, a top-notch rehab facility serving residents from Houston, Dallas, and the cities around.
We provide all the best for our patients to achieve a faster recovery. If you have questions, call us – know that we’re ready to help you.