NCJ Number
199668
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: March/April 2003 Pages: 185-195
Date Published
March 2003
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article discusses whether an arrestee’s probability of testing positive for cocaine use varied across aggregate levels of cocaine price.
Abstract
Supply control is thought to be effective in reducing drug consumption because users reportedly adjust their intake levels as drug prices fluctuate. Some believe that the price elasticity for illegal drugs such as cocaine is low because it is extremely difficult for addicted users, especially heavy users, to reduce their consumption levels. Higher prices for illicit drugs may induce an addicted user to increase criminal activity in order to finance a more costly drug addiction. Using a Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling procedure, this study assessed the impact of cocaine price on cocaine use among arrestees in 20 cities using several individual- and aggregate-level control variables. Individual-level data were obtained from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program. Aggregate-level variables included cocaine price, purchases, and seizures. The study period was 1997. Results indicate that the price of cocaine exhibited a negative effect on cocaine use among arrestees. This effect withstood controls for several individual and city characteristics. Street-level enforcement was favored because it not only increased the price of cocaine, but also increases the search time necessary to obtain drugs and the risk of arrest. The results failed to lend credence to the importance of cocaine price in the manifestation of income-generating crime. The results also did not find any support for the view that people substituted opiates or marijuana for cocaine as the price of cocaine increased. Higher prices of cocaine appeared to reduce cocaine use among arrestees. This finding is important because cocaine users involved in the criminal justice system accounted for the majority of the cocaine consumed in this country. 4 tables, 9 notes, 38 references