Where does drug related
supply and related crime take place?
Drug-related crime is in
effect the same as any other acquisitive crime. It is part of the
patterns of distribution of such crimes as shoplifting, burglary and
credit card or cheque fraud.
Drug users tend not to
travel far from their sites of distribution and purchase of drugs in
committing offences. Mapping of their offending shows it to be usually
close to where they buy and or sell drugs.
This means that the poorest
communities where drugs are most commonly sold, also attract a
disproportionate amount of burglaries. This in turn can lead to a
cycle of abandonment and area decline. For these reasons the most
deprived areas are often the location for many closed markets,
especially in inner city or out of town estates.
Open street markets tend to
be congregated in shopping centres in the centres of towns, and in
inner-city deprived areas close to city centres where users live. They
often surround bus stations and train stations.
Shoplifting is inevitably
concentrated in High Street shopping areas. High profile drug markets
attract related anti-social behaviour and crime.
Sex markets tend to be
closely attached to street-level drug markets, especially for crack
cocaine.
Mapping of hotspots of
dealing against other crimes, using GSI software is useful for mapping
the relationships involved
There are variations across
the country in the patterns of drug misuse (in terms of the scale,
distribution and type of drug used). Regional differences in routes of
drug use are of considerable practical importance (Source: Routes
of drug administration and multiple drug misuse: regional variations
among clients seeking treatment at programmes throughout England NTORS
Michael Gossop, John Marsden, Duncan Stewart and Samantha Treacy
Addiction, 95(8): 1197-1206 (2000). In tackling drug related crime
it is important to think in terms of a number of local and regional
problems rather than a broad, national problem.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors197.pdf
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