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Relationship Between Illicit Drug Enforcement Policy And Property Crimes

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  • BRUCE L. BENSON
  • DAVID W. RASMUSSEN

Abstract

Some justify the law enforcement emphasis on controlling illicit drug markets by contending that drug users attempting to finance their habits often are responsible for property crime. Yet, in Florida at least, the increased effort to control drug markets has been accompanied by increasing property crime. The fact is that law enforcement resources are scarce, and many resources now being devoted to enforcing drug laws have been shifted away from enforcing laws pertaining to other crimes. This has reduced deterrence for property crime and, as a result, such crime has increased. Thus, the resource reallocations accompanying strong drug law enforcement lead to more property crime.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruce L. Benson & David W. Rasmussen, 1991. "Relationship Between Illicit Drug Enforcement Policy And Property Crimes," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 9(4), pages 106-115, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:9:y:1991:i:4:p:106-115
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-7287.1991.tb00354.x
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    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7287.1991.tb00354.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Paul E. Carrillo & Andrea Lopez & Arun Malik, 2016. "Pollution or Crime: The Effect of Driving Restrictions on Criminal Activity," Working Papers 2016-31, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    2. Liu, Jin-Long & Liu, Jin-Tan & Hammitt, James K. & Chou, Shin-Yi, 1999. "The price elasticity of opium in Taiwan, 1914-1942," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 795-810, December.
    3. Steve Cook & Duncan Watson, 2013. "Breaks and Convergence in U.S. Regional Crime Rates: Analysis of Their Presence and Implications," Social Sciences, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 2(3), pages 1-11, August.
    4. Adam Jacobsson & Alberto Naranjo, 2009. "Counter-intuitive effects of domestic law enforcement policies in the United States," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 323-343, November.
    5. Carrillo, Paul E. & Lopez-Luzuriaga, Andrea & Malik, Arun S., 2018. "Pollution or crime: The effect of driving restrictions on criminal activity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 50-69.
    6. Amanda Ross & Anne Walker, 2017. "The Impact Of Low-Priority Laws On Criminal Activity: Evidence From California," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(2), pages 239-252, April.
    7. Benson, Bruce L. & Rasmussen, David W. & Kim, Iljoong, 1998. "Deterrence and Public Policy: Trade-Offs in the Allocation of Police Resources," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 77-100, March.
    8. Hope Corman & H. Naci Mocan, 1996. "A Time-Series Analysis of Crime and Drug Use in New York City," NBER Working Papers 5463, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Jeff DeSimone & Matthew C. Farrelly, 2003. "Price and Enforcement Effects on Cocaine and Marijuana Demand," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(1), pages 98-115, January.
    10. Jordi Blanes i Vidal & Tom Kirchmaier, 2015. "The Effect of Police Response Time on Crime Detection," CEP Discussion Papers dp1376, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    11. Bruce L. Benson, 2010. "The Allocation of Police," Chapters, in: Bruce L. Benson & Paul R. Zimmerman (ed.),Handbook on the Economics of Crime, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Desimone, Jeff, 2001. "The Effect of Cocaine Prices on Crime," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(4), pages 627-643, October.
    13. Robert E. Marks, 1991. "What Price Prohibition? An Estimate of the Costs of Australian Drug Policy," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 16(2), pages 187-212, December.
    14. David W. Rasmussen & Bruce L. Benson & David L. Sollars, 1993. "Spatial Competition In Illicit Drug Markets: The Consequences Of Increased Drug Law Enforcement," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 23(3), pages 219-236, Winter.
    15. Amanda Ross & Anne Walker, 2014. "Low Priority Laws and the Allocation of Police Resources," Working Papers 14-06, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    16. Fred S. McChesney, 2010. "The Economic Analysis of Corruption," Chapters, in: Bruce L. Benson & Paul R. Zimmerman (ed.),Handbook on the Economics of Crime, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Gregory DeAngelo & R. Kaj Gittings & Amanda Ross & Annie Walker, 2016. "Police Bias in the Enforcement of Drug Crimes: Evidence from Low Priority Laws," Working Papers 16-01, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    18. Caulkins, Jonathan P. & Reuter, Peter, 2006. "Illicit drug markets and economic irregularities," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 1-14, March.
    19. Jeffrey A. Miron & Jeffrey Zwiebel, 1995. "The Economic Case against Drug Prohibition," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 175-192, Fall.
    20. Jaewook Byeon & Iljoong Kim & Dongwon Lee, 2018. "Protest and property crime: political use of police resources and the deterrence of crime," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 175(1), pages 181-196, April.
    21. Anderson Martin, 1993. "The Spontaneity of Justice," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 4(2-3), pages 1-12, June.
    22. Kuziemko, Ilyana & Levitt, Steven D., 2004. "An empirical analysis of imprisoning drug offenders," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2043-2066, August.
    23. Farrelly, Matthew C. & Bray, Jeremy W. & Zarkin, Gary A. & Wendling, Brett W., 2001. "The joint demand for cigarettes and marijuana: evidence from the National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 51-68, January.
    24. Yunker, James A., 2012. "Estimated optimal drug law enforcement expenditures based on U.S. annual data," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 356-371.

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