To combat drug use some schools have resorted to posting security guards outside bathrooms, holding hallsweeps where drug searches are conducted while the exits are guarded, using trained dogs for sniff-searches, and holding random locker searches. Many students complain that their schools go too far in efforts to enforce a strict zero-tolerance antidrug policy, and that innocent students are becoming scapegoats in undercover stings currently employed at both public and private schools. Typically, young-looking undercover police or narcotic agents pretend to be students so they can learn about the school drug scene. They then pretend to be interested in buying some drugs and set up the dealers to reveal themselves. The Chronicle of Higher Education surveyed eight hundred colleges in 1993 and found that drug violations had risen 34 percent between 1992 and 1993, even though the percentage of college students who smoked marijuana during that time reportedly only rose 2 percent. An administrator at the State University of New York at Albany doesn't believe that the reported violations translate into a great increase in student drug use. "For the statistics to go up 34%," he says, "would mean that the Medellin cartel [a huge international drug ring] was operating on college campuses." There is still a lot of confusion about exactly how the drug violations should be compiled, and schools are trying to find a balance between complying with the law without making their numbers too high and getting a bad reputation. Yet colleges are getting tougher on drug users all across America. For instance, in 1992 when a student was first caught with marijuana at Colorado State University, he or she would get a warning and their drugs would be confiscated. By 1995, that student would be arrested on a misdemeanor possession charge. At the University of Georgia, drug arrests rose when university police started patrolling on bicycles. They were able to glide up to students who were using drugs in places that police cars couldn't fit. The arrests rose from 12 in 1991 to 60 in 1994. Until 1990 the University of Michigan had a $25 fine for smoking a joint. By 1995 smokers were subject to a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. Drug arrests there rose from 20 in 1989 to 181 in 1994.

Club drugs are not only popular in raves but are often used in other social settings frequented by adolescents and young adults. In a hearing before the Senate Caucus on International Drug Control, the director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse reported an increase in the use of club drugs, especially ecstasy, among those older than 12 years. Those reporting use of club drugs increased from 5.1 million in 1999 to 6.5 million in 2000. Emergency department visits related to the drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), also known as the "date-rape" drug, have also increased dramatically (from 56 cases in 1994 to 4,969 cases in 2000).

Although the stimulant and hunger-suppressant properties of coca had been known for many centuries, the isolation of the cocaine alkaloid was not achieved until 1855 .

Fewer children report knowing what to do if someone offers them drugs.

Heroin trafficking patterns in central Arkansas are difficult to monitor, as there have been so few investigations of this type.

The black communities of Arkansas are greatly stricken with the crack cocaine problem.

The largest quantities of drugs are seized on Arkansas interstates, particularly Interstate 40.

Crack cocaine, as well as powder cocaine has been a long-term problem in Arkansas, especially in the inner cities.

Each year, tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana and hundreds of kilograms of cocaine are seized in Arkansas. Most large seizures involve tractor-trailers, although private vehicles are also used, particularly methamphetamine seizures. Large quantities of drugs are also seized from other forms of transportation including commercial air and bus service.

Mexican produced and domestically grown marijuana are both popular in the Arkansas.