NCJ Number
103937
Date Published
1986
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The prevailing assumptions underlying law-and-order strategies for controlling organized crime are critically examined, and the effectiveness of law enforcement measures targeting drug traffickers is questioned.
Abstract
It is suggested that the popular strategy of targeting high level traffickers in Australia is based on unsupported assumptions about the number of high level dealers, the organizational and durability of these dealers' operations, and the workings of the drug market. Anecdotal evidence about drug market structures suggests that, in fact, little experience or organization is required to become a high level dealer, and most such dealers leave the market when they have made a substantial amount of money from a few large deals. Consequently, targeting of these dealers is likely to be ineffective. Successful control of the drug problem will require a better understanding of the workings of the illegal market and the behaviors of the buyers and sellers. While some enforcement strategies may be effective for some drugs in some markets, solutions to the problem will rest primarily on the demand, not the supply, side of the equation. Thus, strategies must aim at dissuading users from continuing and potential users from starting inappropriate drug use. On the whole such strategies will be social control, rather than law enforcement strategies. 39 footnotes.