2003-07-06
... ? Breaking the drug-crime linkThus, the question that supporters and opponents of drug prohibition endlessly debate, “Do drugs, or drug laws, cause crime?” presents a false dichotomy. The answer to both halves of the question is “Yes.” In this essay, we will try to answer a more productive question: What drug policies would work best to minimize predatory crime? The question is difficult to answer, given the complexity of the problem and the uncertainty surrounding key factual questions. A reasonable first step is to review the empirical evidence about the potential links between drugs and such predatory crimes as theft and assault.
