On Monday, The Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Forensic Chemistry section released their information on statewide drug trends from January 1st thru May 22nd 2018. It seems the six most confiscated drugs are are methamphetamine, cocaine, alprazolam (Xanax), oxycodone, heroin and hydrocodone. The drugs are sent to the crime lab for testing after being seized by law enforcement during arrests. The number of meth samples seized and tested were more than doubled the number of cocaine samples so far this year, and has been the most tested substance by the GBI since 2011, when it topped the former leader, cocaine. According to the GBI, as far as opioids are concerned, oxycodone is the most used in Georgia followed by Oxycodone, Heroin, Hydrocodone, and Fentanyl/analogs. Investigators said they seized 11 different types of fentanyl just this year. Because marijuana is rarely tested, it was not included in the new data that was gathered by 3,954 cases submitted to the crime lab.
Frequency of most-tested drugs
1. Methamphetamine tested 1,890 times
2. Cocaine: 891
3. Alprazolam (Xanax): 201
4. Oxycodone: 196
5. Heroin: 175
6. Hydrocodone: 120
Most opiate samples tested by county
1. Cobb: 79
2. Gwinnett: 68
3. Fulton: 67
4. DeKalb: 27
5. Chatham: 19