The Drug War and the Homicide Rate: A Direct Correlation?

In fiscal year 1985 the federal drug-control budget authority appropriated by the Congress was $2.75 billion; by 1994 it had risen to $12.14 billion. Economists, most notably Milton Friedman and William Niskanen, have argued that the war on illicit drugs has diverted police resources away from other...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Cato journal 1995-01, Vol.14 (3), p.509-509
Main Authors: Brumm, Harold J, Cloninger, Dale O
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arrests
Criminology
Drug crimes
Drug trafficking
Drugs
Econometrics
Economic theory
Homicide
Hypotheses
Law enforcement
Mathematical models
Murders & murder attempts
Opportunity costs
Property crime
Public policy
Social conditions & trends
Statistical analysis
United States
Violent crime
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Summary:In fiscal year 1985 the federal drug-control budget authority appropriated by the Congress was $2.75 billion; by 1994 it had risen to $12.14 billion. Economists, most notably Milton Friedman and William Niskanen, have argued that the war on illicit drugs has diverted police resources away from other law enforcement activities with the result that violent crimes and crimes against property have been higher than they would otherwise have been. To the extent that communities divert law enforcement resources from violent crimes to illegal drug offenses, the risk of punishment for engaging in violent crimes is reduced. The empirical results obtained are consistent with a priori expectations that homicide offense rates are higher in communities that devote a greater percentage of their policing resources to the enforcement of drug laws.
ISSN:0273-3072
1943-3468