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Drug prices
There are three main sources that have recently been used to provide data for the street price of illegal drugs in the UK:
Care needs to be exercised when using national average figures as regional price differences are significant.
* Drugscope provide data about average drug prices. In the case of cannabis the price range also reflects the different strengths of cannabis that are sold at different prices in the same area. Trends in drug prices and purityAlmost all government and academic opinion agrees that the price of most drugs has fallen at all levels of the distribution chain. [2][3][4][5][6][7] Even when drug prices remain "stable" they are still falling in real terms because of inflation.
Average prices reported by drug users, 1997-2004 The picture on drug purity is less clear. Figures published by the Home Office claim that the purity of seized drugs fell in 2004 compared to 2003, with the exception of seizures of heroin and crack. [8] However seizure figures are often influenced by few large busts and therefore may not be an accurate indicator for purity. What we do know is that drug price does not always correspond with purity. Price mark-upThe value of illegal drugs increase greatly and they travel along the distribution chain. A recent report published by the UK Drug Policy Commission estimates that the effective farm gate price of a kilogram of 40% heroin is £204. [9] By the time it reaches British streets it is worth £30,000 - £100,000 per kg. The price of drugs depends on many different factors and is not always driven by the cost of production and distribution. For example, the production cost of amphetamines is estimated to be three times higher then that of cocaine, yet the street value is far lower. [10] Relationship between street price, availability and seizuresIn theory effective drug enforcement should reduce availability, which should in turn increase drug prices. Higher prices should then reduce demand for drugs resulting in a reduction of the number of people using drugs (although for problematic drug users price may have less influence on use compared to recreational users). In practice seizures have very little affect on price. This is especially true for seizures at international level because only a tiny fraction of the street price is accounted for by the costs of buying the drug from importers. Prices increases at importer level are often absorbed by dealers at the different levels of the distribution chain instead of being passed on to end users. [11] Disruption at a local street level also has little affect on price as users are often able to get their drugs from outside of the disrupted area. [12] A report by the Prime Minster's Strategy Unit concluded that the level of seizures needed to affect supply (and thereafter price) is 'not achievable'. [13] When seizures do occur the police often describe the in terms of street value. Such figures need to be treated with scepticism as they are sometimes based on old or inaccurate prices. An example can be seen in this news story about a "£150,000" ecstasy seizure in October 2004. Only 10,000 pills were seized which would value them at £15 each; both SOCA and the IDMU estimate the average price of an ecstasy pill in 2004 at £4. It also needs to be remembered that when large quantities of drugs are seized they rarely belong to people who will be selling them on the street. Therefore the value of the drugs to the person who they were seized from is likely to be much less than their street value.Price as an indicator of policy successIt is sometimes claimed that a reduction in price is evidence of failing prohibitionist drug policies. However a fall in drug prices is only evidence that there is ample supply of drugs to meet demand. It is only when price is contrasted with prevalence surveys that claims about the effectiveness of policy can be made. Although price might be an indicator that can be used to measure the effectiveness of disruption to supply, the primary stated aim of most drug policies is to decrease use and/or reduce harm, not affect the price. Changes in price may be a consequence of drug policy, but price alone is not a measurements of success. Further reading
References
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