The National Household Survey of Drug Abuse (NHSDA) reported in
1997 that an estimated 1.5 million Americans age 12 and older
were chronic cocaine users, a substantial improvement over the
1985 estimate of 5.7 million users. Based upon additional data
sources that take into account users who are underrepresented in
the NHSDA survey, the Office of National Drug Control Policy
estimates the number of chronic cocaine users at 3.6 million.
The NHSDA estimated the number of current crack users to be
about 604,000 in 1997, which does not reflect any significant
change since 1988. Last year, there were approximately 170,000
visits to emergency rooms in the U.S. due to cocaine. South
America exports some 1,000 tons of refined cocaine per year. The
wholesale price of a kilogram of cocaine has continued to drop
since 1981, when it was about $55,000. In 1984, the average was
about $25,000 per kilogram. By 1995, nationwide prices ranged
from $10,500 to $36,000 per kilogram.