Some shipments are brought to Massachusetts by couriers traveling on commercial air flights into Boston or smaller domestic airports near Springfield, Worcester, and New Bedford. Heroin and cocaine are probably shipped into Massachusetts by maritime means as well, via the major port of Boston and possibly the smaller ports of Fall River, Salem, New Bedford, and Gloucester. Marijuana use is rampant in Massachusetts, but treatment providers and law enforcement officers generally regard the drug as a lower threat than heroin or cocaine because marijuana users do not often seek treatment for marijuana substance abuse or commit violent crimes. Caucasian and Jamaican drug trafficking organizations are involved extensively in the wholesale marijuana trade in Massachusetts, and they arrange transportation of the drug into the state. Mexican marijuana is the most common, and shipments generally are transported to Massachusetts from locations in the U.S. West and Southwest.
Most marijuana is shipped overland in vehicles, although significant amounts are sent by mail.
The marijuana threat in Massachusetts is expected to remain lower than the heroin and cocaine threats in 2001, but the market for marijuana is likely to remain strong. Law enforcement authorities in all counties with more than 500,000 people, with the exception of Bristol County, reported MDMA as a problem in 1999, and federal reporting indicates MDMA use was increasing in the less populous counties in 2000. In 2001, the MDMA threat in Massachusetts is likely to increase slowly in established and new markets. Methamphetamine production and use are not significant threats in Massachusetts. Few methamphetamine laboratories have been identified and seized in the state, and those few were capable of producing only very small quantities of methamphetamine.