Proximity to the US–Mexico border: a key to explaining geographic variation in US methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin purity

Cunningham, James K.; Maxwell, Jane Carlisle; Campollo, Octavio; Cunningham, Kathryn I.; Liu, Lon Mu; Lin, Hsiao‐Han

doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03032.x

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…5 Cunningham et al (2010) support this conclusion, reporting that methamphetamine purity falls with distance from the borders with Mexico and Canada, which is consistent with local demand being met by production in small local labs. Kentucky's location, therefore, suggests that its 120…”

supporting

confidence: 75%

Breaking Bad: Are Meth Labs Justified in Dry Counties?

2015

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supporting

confidence: 75%

Breaking Bad: Are Meth Labs Justified in Dry Counties?

2015

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“…Rates of SUD, patterns of stimulant consumption, and severity of SUD criteria are likely to vary among tribes as they do in different ethnic groups in the general population. Additionally, SUD symptoms probably vary by region and over time as such factors as proximity to large scale drug trafficking networks and purity of cocaine and methamphetamine vary (Cunningham et al, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013). Second, we used cross-sectional and retrospective data.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Item Response Theory analyses of DSM-IV and DSM-5 stimulant use disorder criteria in an American Indian community sample

Gilder

Gizer

Lau

et al. 2014

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

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Background Native Americans experience some of the highest rates of DSM-IV stimulant dependence (SD) of all U.S. ethnic groups. This report compares DSM-IV and DSM-5 stimulant use disorder (SUD) diagnostic criteria in an American Indian community sample. Methods Demographic information, stimulant (methamphetamine or cocaine) use, and lifetime DSM-IV and DSM-5 diagnoses were assessed in 858 adult American Indians. Item Response Theory (IRT) analyses were used to assess SUD criteria in both DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria sets along an underlying latent trait severity continuum and the effect of demographic variables on differential item functioning (DIF) in those criteria. Results The overall rate of DSM-IV SD was 33%, of DSM-IV SUD was 38%, and of DSM-5 SUD was 36% with no gender differences. All SUD symptoms in both the DSM-IV and DSM-5 datasets functioned on the moderate portion of the underlying severity continuum. “Craving” discriminated better than any other criterion at its level of severity in indicating the presence or absence of SUD. There was little DIF in groups defined by gender or any other demographic variable in either the DSM-IV or DSM-5 datasets. Conclusions These findings indicate that in this American Indian sample, diagnostic criteria for DSM-IV and DSM-5 SUD function similarly in terms of severity and DIF and that the abolition of the DSM-IV distinction between stimulant abuse and dependence in DSM-5 is warranted.

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“…We have demonstrated that while geographic location matters in understanding illicit drug markets (Cunningham et al, 2010), a multifaceted analysis utilizing social, cultural and political economy perspectives delivers an explanation that is more useful for public health. Complex social processes are difficult to document with aggregate analyses of large statistical samples because they often result in non-linear public health and demographic outcomes changing over time and space (Messac et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some cities proximal to the Mississippi River (e.g., Chicago) have mixed heroin sources (Ciccarone, 2009b). Cunningham et al (2010) hypothesize that illicit drug purity is determined by distance from the US-Mexican border, a primary point of entry for illicit drugs. They find that although heroin purity is high near the border, it is also high far away from the border.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban segregation and the US heroin market: A quantitative model of anthropological hypotheses from an inner-city drug market

Rosenblum

Montero

Bourgois

et al. 2014

International Journal of Drug Policy

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Background We hypothesize that the location of highly segregated Hispanic and in particular Puerto Rican neighborhoods can explain how Colombian-sourced heroin, which is associated with a large-scale decade long decline in heroin price and increase in purity, was able to enter and proliferate in the US. Methods Our multidisciplinary analysis quantitatively operationalizes participant-observation ethnographic hypotheses informed by social science theory addressing complex political economic, historical, cultural and social processes. First, we ethnographically document the intersection of structural forces shaping Philadelphia's hypersegregated Puerto Rican community as a regional epicenter of the US heroin market. Second, we estimate the relationship between segregation and: a) the entry of Colombian heroin into the US, and b) the retail price per pure gram of heroin in 21 Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Results Ethnographic evidence documents how poverty, historically-patterned antagonistic race relations, an interstitial socio-cultural political and geographic linkage to both Caribbean drug trafficking routes and the United States and kinship solidarities combine to position poor Puerto Rican neighborhoods as commercial distribution centers for high quality, low cost Colombian heroin. Quantitative analysis shows that heroin markets in cities with highly segregated Puerto Rican communities were more quickly saturated with Colombian-sourced heroin. The level of Hispanic segregation (specifically in cities with a high level of Puerto Rican segregation) had a significant negative association with heroin price from 1990–2000. By contrast, there is no correlation between African-American segregation and Colombian-sourced heroin prevalence or price. Discussion Our iterative mixed methods dialogue allows for the development and testing of complex social science hypotheses and reduces the limitations specific to each method used in isolation. We build on prior research that assumes geographic proximity to source countries is the most important factor in determining illicit drug prices and purity, while we find more complex, potentially modifiable determinants of geographic variation in retail drug markets. We show that specific patterns of ethnic segregation, racism, poverty and the political economy of socio-cultural survival strategies combined to facilitate the entry of pure, inexpensive Colombian-sourced heroin.

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Proximity to the US–Mexico border: a key to explaining geographic variation in US methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin purity

Cited by 21 publications

References 32 publications

Breaking Bad: Are Meth Labs Justified in Dry Counties?

Breaking Bad: Are Meth Labs Justified in Dry Counties?

Item Response Theory analyses of DSM-IV and DSM-5 stimulant use disorder criteria in an American Indian community sample

Urban segregation and the US heroin market: A quantitative model of anthropological hypotheses from an inner-city drug market

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