COCAINE AND HEROIN IN EUROPE 1983-93 - A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON OFTRAFFICKING AND PRICES

Drug law enforcement aims to reduce the consumption of illicit drugs t hrough reducing supply and increasing prices. Data on cocaine and hero in seizures, prices, and methods of trafficking are presented for 1983 -93. Seizures, giving some indirect indicator of trafficking, rose sha rply for both drugs in the second half of the the 1980s. Prices of bot h drugs showed a decline across the decade, and the prices of both dru gs seemed to track each other. Data on the primary, means of transport of cocaine and heroin into Europe lends support to an explanation of the price patterns in terms of the risk factors these impose for traff ickers. The nature of the trafficking, and the mechanism by which enfo rcement of trafficking laws is intended to impact upon the problem, su ggest that the rapid substitution of interdicted traffickers and route s is highly likely, and that present levels of enforcement will have l ittle deterrent or preventive impact. While the European drug scene is changing rapidly, not least due to political changes, the analysis ma y retain some general applicability.