 Identifying Demand Responses to Illegal Drug Supply InterdictionsScott Cunningham and Keith Finlay Health Economics, 2016, vol. 25, issue 10, 1268-1290 Abstract: Successful supply‐side interdictions into illegal drug markets are predicated on the responsiveness of drug prices to enforcement and the price elasticity of demand for addictive drugs. We present causal estimates that targeted interventions aimed at methamphetamine input markets (‘precursor control’) can temporarily increase retail street prices, but methamphetamine consumption is weakly responsive to higher drug prices. After the supply interventions, purity‐adjusted prices increased then quickly returned to pre‐treatment levels within 6–12 months, demonstrating the short‐term effects of precursor control. The price elasticity of methamphetamine demand is −0.13 to −0.21 for self‐admitted drug treatment admissions and between −0.24 and −0.28 for hospital inpatient admissions. We find some evidence of a positive cross‐price effect for cocaine, but we do not find robust evidence that increases in methamphetamine prices increased heroin, alcohol, or marijuana drug use. This study can inform policy discussions regarding other synthesized drugs, including illicit use of pharmaceuticals. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Date: 2016 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:25:y:2016:i:10:p:1268-1290 Access Statistics for this article Health Economics is currently edited by Alan Maynard, John Hutton and Andrew Jones More articles in Health Economics from John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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