Literature Review: The Impact of Heroin Prices on Robbery Trends

... Literature Review: The Impact of Heroin Prices on Robbery Trends Introduction In Australia, as in other western countries, illicit drug users often resort to crime in order to fund their habit. Heroin dependence has been a major factor in the escalation of robbery over the past four decades and there is a strong link between the rising price of heroin and increase in property crime1. Research has revealed that drug treatment, such as methadone clinics, has proved effective in decreasing the robbery rate; however there is a lack of literature on whether a decrease in the price of heroin would cause this decline. If the Australian Government were to legalise heroin, pure heroin would be available at a very low price in order to cut out the black market.2 Heroin would thus decrease in price by approximately 50 per cent.3 However, there is a lack of information available on whether this

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