Breaking the Crystal Methamphetamine Economy: Illegal Drugs, Supply-side Interventions and Crime Responses

Abstract

This paper evaluates the effects on crime of supply-side interventions that restricted access to pseudoephedrine-based medications in the USA, drastically reducing the domestic production of methamphetamine. I find that these government interventions increased property and violent crime by around 3–4%, with criminogenic effects lasting for up to 7 months. Stronger evidence is detected in counties where laboratories producing methamphetamine were previously in operation. My findings suggest that policy interventions that have a limited effect on supply and no impact on the demand for drugs could open up the way to unwarranted crime responses. Timely policy implications are discussed.