ReviewEffect of drug law enforcement on drug market violence: A systematic review
Section snippets
Background
Violence is amongst the primary concerns of communities around the world, and the illegal drug trade has been identified as a key cause of violence, particularly in urban areas (Johnson et al., 2000, Martin et al., 2009, Ousey and Lee, 2004, Romero-Daza et al., 2003). Whilst drug market violence has traditionally been framed as resulting from the effects of drugs on individual users (e.g., violence stemming from drug-induced psychosis), violence is increasingly being understood as a means used
Methods
This review involved conventional systematic searching, data extraction and synthesis methods. Specifically, a comprehensive search of the literature was undertaken using electronic databases (Academic Search Complete, PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts, Social Science Abstracts, PAIS International and Lexis-Nexis), the Internet (Google, Google Scholar), and article reference lists. Search terms included “violence,” “drug-related violence,” “drug market violence,”
Study selection and study characteristics
In the initial search, 314 potential articles were identified for inclusion in the review. Of these, 48 (15.3%) were excluded because they did not present new data (e.g., editorials). As such, 266 (84.7%) articles were retrieved for detailed examination after initial searching of keywords and abstracts. Of these, 248 (93.2%) were deemed non-relevant to the current review for the following reasons: 179 (67.3%) were excluded based on a lack of explicit mention of violence in the analysis, whilst
Discussion
In this systematic review, all available English language studies that evaluated the association between drug law enforcement and violence were reviewed. Whilst the number of studies was limited, they included a diverse array of literature including longitudinal analyses involving up to 6 years of prospective follow-up, regression analyses, qualitative analyses, and mathematical predictive models. Contrary to our primary hypothesis, amongst studies that systematically evaluated this question
Contributors
Evan Wood had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. DW and GR conducted the systematic search. DW and EW drafted the manuscript. GG and TK revised the systematic review and meta-analysis methodology. TK, JM and GG revised the manuscript substantially. All authors have seen and approved the final version.
Funding
Dan Werb is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Further support is provided CIHR Team Grant RAA-79918.
The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.
Conflict of interest statement
Dan Werb, Greg Rowell, Gordon Guyatt, Thomas Kerr and Evan Wood have no competing interests to declare. Julio Montaner has received grants from, served as an ad hoc adviser to, or spoken at events sponsored by Abbott, Argos Therapeutics, Bioject Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffmann-La Roche, Janssen-Ortho, Merck Frosst, Panacos, Pfizer Ltd., Schering, Serono Inc., TheraTechnologies, Tibotec (JandJ), and Trimeris.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank study authors for providing detailed responses to our requests for additional data. The authors would also like to thank Deborah Graham, Peter Vann and Brandon Marshall for administrative and design assistance.
References (76)
Colombia: Prohibition's frontline
International Journal of Drug Policy
(2003)Small wars and invisible genocides
Social Science & Medicine
(1996)- Agren, D. (2010, August 3). Mexico: Death toll from drug-related violence is thousands higher than was reported...
- et al.
The impact of a police crackdown on a street drug scene: Evidence from the street
International Journal of Drug Policy
(2002) - Associated Press. (2009). Mexico: 1,000 killed in drug violence so far in 2009. USA...
- Bagley, B. (2001). Drug trafficking, political violence and US policy in Colombia in the 1990s. Mama...
- et al.
The impact of drug enforcement on crime: An investigation of the opportunity cost of police resources
Journal of Drug Issues
(2001) - et al.
Deterrence and public policy: Trade-offs in the allocation of police resources
International Review of Law and Economics
(1998) Youth violence, guns, and the illicit-drug industry
Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology
(1995)The moral economies of homeless heroin addicts: Confronting ethnography, HIV risk, and everyday violence in San Francisco shooting encampments
Substance Use & Misuse
(1998)
A conceptual framework for operationalizing the relationship between violence and drug market stability
Contemporary Drug Problems
The drug war and the homicide rate: A direct correlation?
The Cato Journal
Do efforts to reduce the supply of illicit drugs increase turf war violence? A theoretical analysis
Journal of Economics and Finance
Statistical overview of homicides in British Columbia, 1997–2007: 2009 update
Can supply restrictions lower price? Violence, drug dealing and positional advantage
Contributions to Economic Analysis & Policy
Mandatory minimum drug sentences: Throwing away the key or the taxpayers’ money?
Narcotics and armed conflict: Interaction and implications
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism
Policing gangs and youth violence
Toward a global view of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and cocaine use: Findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys
PLoS Medicine
Cocaine trafficking in West Africa: The threat to stability and development (with special reference to Guinea-Bissau)
Guns, violence, and the efficiency of illegal markets
American Economic Review
Population impact under New York's Rockefeller drug laws: An analysis of life years lost
Journal of Urban Health
On drug treatment and social control: Russian narcology's great leap backwards
Harm Reduction Journal
On suffering and structural violence: A view from below
Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Perspectives
Afghanistan: When counternarcotics undermines counterterrorism
Washington Quarterly
Women of circumstance: The effects of mandatory minimum sentencing on women minimally involved in drug crimes
American Criminal Law Review
Crack and homicide in New York City, 1988: A conceptually based event analysis
Contemporary Drug Problems
Drug decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for creating fair and successful drug policies
Epidemiology of violence in the Americas: The case of Colombia
Highly active antiretroviral therapy including protease inhibitors does not confer a unique CD4 cell benefit. The AVANTI and INCAS Study Groups
AIDS
The effects of the decriminalization of drug use in Portugal
The epidemic of gang-related homicides in Los Angeles County from 1979 through 1994
JAMA
Prepared testimony of Robert Ingenito
Cited by (188)
“The machine doesn't judge”: Counternarratives on surveillance among people accessing a safer opioid supply via biometric machines
2024, Social Science and MedicineRe-incarceration and associated social, structural and behavioural factors among people who use drugs in an urban Canadian setting
2023, International Journal of Drug PolicyThe international regime of drug control may violate the human right to life and security
2023, International Journal of Drug Policy‘Breaking supply chains’. A commentary on the new UK Drug Strategy
2022, International Journal of Drug PolicyCitation Excerpt :A significant concern, however, is that drug law enforcement can actually amplify this. In their systematic review, Werb et al. (2011) found that intensified enforcement interventions were associated with an increase in drug market violence, with causal mechanisms including the destabilisation of markets. Not recognising that supply control interventions can exacerbate some of the very issues they are designed to deal with could, paradoxically, lead to the actions promoted in From Harm to Hope increasing rather than reducing these harms.
Diverting people who use drugs from the criminal justice system: A systematic review of police-based diversion measures
2022, International Journal of Drug Policy