Drug war enforcement has coincided with falling rather than rising drug prices

Evidence

There is a dearth of studies examining the effects of changes in drug sanction severity on aggregate drug offending. Yet, there are a number of studies that scrutinize the effect of changes in drug sanction severity on drug prices, a proxy for drug offending—the idea being that as law enforcement increases pressure on drug traffickers/drug markets, drug prices rise and increased drug costs lead to reductions in drug offending. Thus, the drug prices are a key indicator of law enforcement effectiveness. Studies conducted in the United States find that, contrary to the predictions of drug war proponents, drug prices have fallen despite the drug war’s increased focus on drug offenses (Caulkins & Reuter, 2010). — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1077

Categorization

• XREF: Reinforces the recurring theme in this book that increased sanction severity fails to produce deterrence outcomes promised by advocates; also connects to broader criminology literature undermining ‘war on drugs’ assumptions. — connects to: Drug policy targets elastic versus inelastic demand rather than drug types — Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at…, 1353; Drug enforcement can be engineered through price rather than prohibition — Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at…, 1351