The Drugs/Violence Nexus: A Tripartite Conceptual Framework

Drug use and drug trafficking are examined as etiological factors in the creation of violence. A conceptual framework is presented for examining the drugs/violence nexus. Drugs and violence are seen as being related in three possible ways: the psychopharmacological, the economically compulsive, and the systemic. Each of these models is examined in depth. The quality of data available in existing national crime data bases to explicate these relationships is assessed.