Working Paper: NBER ID: w29528
Authors: Timothy J. Moore; Rosalie Liccardo Pacula
Abstract: Large and rapid upswings in illicit drug use display similar properties to infectious disease epidemics. In this chapter, we review research to understand what causes drug epidemics and how they end. Drug market actors are subject to both positive and negative reinforcement that lead to rapid, nonlinear increases and decreases in drug market activity. There is evidence that drug epidemics cause serious problems, including drug overdoses, adverse birth outcomes, homicides, lower educational attainment, and migration from neighborhoods subject to intense drug market activity. Many of these costs are borne by those who do not consume or sell drugs. Given the frequency, size, and impacts of illicit drug epidemics, they deserve more attention by researchers and policy-makers.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: I12; I18; K42
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| drug epidemics (I12) | increased rates of drug overdoses (I12) |
| drug epidemics (I12) | adverse birth outcomes (J13) |
| drug epidemics (I12) | increased homicide rates (K42) |
| rapid increase in drug market activity (K42) | negative externalities for individuals not directly involved in drug consumption or distribution (D62) |
| initiation of drug use (I12) | spread through social networks (Z13) |
| social influence and environmental factors (C92) | rise of drug use (I12) |
| supply and demand fluctuations (E39) | rise and decline of drug epidemics (E32) |
| drug epidemics (I12) | increased violence and criminal activity (K42) |
| drug epidemics (I12) | increased incarceration rates (K14) |
| drug epidemics (I12) | community destabilization (R28) |