Mitigating Drug Market Externalities: How Effective Are Current Law Enforcement Strategies?

Date

2023-04-13

Authors

Dodd, Taylor

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Abstract

This study investigates the impact that search warrants and subsequently, drug trafficking charges, have on drug market externalities. Specifically, this research studies the impact that the closure of an illicit drug firm has on drug use health emergencies and crime at the neighbourhood level. I employ a difference-in-differences empirical strategy to estimate how these search warrants affect neighbourhood drug use patterns and crime. Finding evidence of very small and short run effects, this paper argues that these search warrants have limited effects on crime and drug use health emergencies on average at the neighborhood level but ultimately, the long-run effects are indistinguishable from zero.

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Keywords

Drugs, Law Enforcement

Citation