In South Carolina, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made 256 drug arrests in 2006, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In 2006, in excess of 26,000 adult arrests for simple drug possession occurred in South Carolina. Further, 6,178 adults were arrested for selling, manufacturing, cultivating, and possessing drugs with the intent to distribute.

In South Carolina, powder and crack cocaine abuse has long been the state's primary drug threat. Heroin abuse and availability has been known to settle in the inner cities of South Carolina. However, new data indicates that heroin use is increasing among youths in experimental or party settings.

In South Carolina, marijuana is the most easily accessible and frequently abused drug. Methamphetamine manufacture and abuse has reflected a consistent decline over the past 2 years in South Carolina (from 2005 to 2006). Meanwhile, MDMA is easily accessible in cities, mostly in Greenville, Columbia and areas along the Atlantic coast. Investigations suggest OxyContin, hydrocodone products such as Vicodin, and pseudoephedrine diversion remain issues in South Carolina.

South Carolina had 14,332 full time law enforcement employees as of October 31, 2006; 10,597 were officers and 3,753 were civilians. During 2002 to 2006, South Carolina had 351 meth lab incidents; in 2006 alone, South Carolina had 69 meth lab incidents.

In 2006 in South Carolina, Federal agencies apprehended 153.5 kilos of cocaine. Further, authorities apprehended and destroyed 35,336 marijuana plants in the state of South Carolina under the DEA Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program.

South Carolina had 36 drug courts in existence or being implemented as of April 16, 2007; 22 drug courts had been running for more than two years; 2 had recently been created; and an additional 12 were being implemented.

In 2006, 39.9 percent of inmates serving a Federal sentence in South Carolina committed a drug violation; 45 percent of them involved crack cocaine. South Carolina had 23,434 prisoners under the jurisdiction of the South Carolina Department of Corrections on June 30, 2007; 48 percent of these prisoners were categorized as chemically dependent. Further, on this date, 19.8 percent of South Carolina prisoners were imprisoned for perilous drugs as their most serious violation. South Carolina had 39,349 adult probationers and 3,155 adult parolees as of December 31, 2005.