Alcohol, drugs and violent crime

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between alcohol and illegal drug regulation, and the incidence of criminal violence in a nationally representative sample of individuals in the United States. The data come from the 1992, 1993 and 1994 National Crime Victimization Surveys. Violence is measured by physical assault, rape/sexual assault, robbery, and alcohol- or drug-involved violent crimes. Results from the preferred specifications indicate that higher beer taxes decrease the probability of assault and alcohol- or drug-involved assault, but not rape or robbery. Higher cocaine prices are associated with lower probabilities of assaults and robberies. States which are classified as decriminalized for marijuana tend to have higher probabilities of assault and robbery, although an alternative measure of the penalty for possession of marijuana, longer jail sentences, confirms the penalty effect only for assault. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.