June 16, 2005 - Syracuse, NY, USA \t Syracuse, NY: Drug arrests have an adverse impact on rates of non-drug crimes, including violent crimes and property crimes, according to empirical findings published in the June issue of the journal Social Science Quarterly. Researchers at LeMoyne College in Syracuse analyzed five years of New York state county data to evaluate the effects of recent drug arrests on reported rates of assault, robbery, burglary and larceny. Authors found: "Drug enforcement is positively associated with higher levels of both violent and property crime. ... These results are consistent with the view that non-drug crime rates may rise because limited police resources are diverted from [violent and/or property] crimes when drug arrests are given a higher priority, users must finance higher-priced purchases when supplies decline, and sellers pursue alternate crimes when the risk of arrest increases." Authors noted that arrests for marijuana violations were associated with an increase in larcenies, but not other non-drug crimes. "For [New York] state as a whole, a 10 percent increase in the mean of [total drug arrests] would increase robberies by 212, burglaries by 576, and larcenies by 2,965," authors estimated. "A 10 percent increase in the mean arrest rate [for marijuana violations] is estimated to generate 880 additional larcenies for the state as a whole." Authors concluded, "The empirical findings raise serious questions about the effectiveness of drug enforcement as a crime-control measure and suggest that significant social costs may arise from existing approaches to drug control." For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "DrugEnforcement and Crime: Recent Evidence from New York State," appears in the June issue of Social Science Quarterly. Link to article: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6563