Gangs, Drugs, and Homicide in Los Angeles

The Epidemiology of Adolescent Homicide in North Carolina From 1990 to 1995

“…Adolescent homicides in North Carolina appeared to be much less associated with gang activity than has been reported for major urban areas, such as Boston, Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles 7,23 ; however, our study may have underestimated the role of gang activity, since gangs in small cities and towns may be less readily identifiable by regalia, colors, types of clothing, graffiti, or high degrees of organization (eg, the Bloods and the Crips). Additionally, some of the drug-related homicides, altercations, and retaliations may have been the result of unrecognized gang activity.…”

A meta‐analysis of marijuana, cocaine and opiate toxicology study findings among homicide victims

“…Based on our comprehensive search of the literature, we identified 19 published books, journal articles, chapters or reports containing drug toxicology results from homicide victims [3][4][5][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. The 19 publications represented 18 independent studies.…”

“…Four studies provided age category breakouts for cocaine toxicology. One study dichotomized age as 10-24 and 25+ with the latter category having a significantly higher percentage testing positive for cocaine (18% and 33%, respectively) [24]. For the other three studies, the young adult age categories had the highest percentage testing positive: age category 30-34 [21]; age category 20-29 [12]; and age category 25-34 [3].…”

The Youth Gangs, Drugs, and Violence Connection.

“…Youth gang drug wars represent a notable exception. The absence of a strong causal connection between gang drug trafficking and homicide suggests that gang involvement and drug trafficking are separate risk factors for homicide rather than interre-lated factors (Meehan and O'Carroll, 1992). Maxson (1998a) calls for careful analysis of the specific characteristics of gang homicides in different cities and communities so that solutions can be crafted that are appropriate for the local gang homicide problem.…”