Drug Supply, Price, and Violence
Jonathan P. Caulkins, Peter Reuter, and Lowell J. Taylor have written a report on the effect that lowering drug supplies has on prices. They examine specifically cocaine and heroin markets. Some interesting findings: Removing the most violent dealers from the market does not change the supply curve or equilibrium price, as all other dealers simply move up in the hierarchy, even though it could result in safer streets; policies that do successfully reduce the drug supply and raise prices will create more violence.