ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2018
The law on the streets: Evaluating the impact of Mexico's drug decriminalization reform on drug possession arrests in Tijuana, Mexico.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of drug legislation on crime reduction: a systematic literature review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Impact evaluations of drug decriminalisation and legal regulation on drug use, health and social harms: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2020Pooled it
- Policing Practices and Risk of HIV Infection Among People Who Inject Drugs.Epidemiologic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- The Portuguese police experience with drug decriminalisation.Policing & society · 2026Article
- Using Implementation Science to Improve Evidence-Based Policing: An Introduction for Researchers and Practitioners.Police quarterly · 2025Article
- Awareness and knowledge of drug decriminalization among people who use drugs in British Columbia: a multi-method pre-implementation study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Cost-effectiveness of a police education program on HIV and overdose among people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2024Article
- Decriminalisation and the end of AIDS: keep the promise, follow the science, and fulfill human rights.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2023Review
- Unlocking deflection: The role of supervisor support in police officer willingness to refer people who inject drugs to harm reduction services.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- Implementing a decentralized opioid overdose prevention strategy in Mexico, a pending public policy issue.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2023Review
- Modelling the contribution of incarceration and public health oriented drug law reform to HCV transmission and elimination among PWID in Tijuana, Mexico.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- Impact of SHIELD Police Training on Knowledge of Syringe Possession Laws and Related Arrests in Tijuana, Mexico.American journal of public health · 2022Article
- Typologies and Correlates of Police Violence Against Female Sex Workers Who Inject Drugs at the México-United States Border: Limits ofJournal of interpersonal violence · 2022Article
- The introduction of fentanyl on the US-Mexico border: An ethnographic account triangulated with drug checking data from Tijuana.The International journal on drug policy · 2022Article
- Impact of an overdose reversal program in the context of a safe consumption site in Northern Mexico.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2022Article
- Gender and the first-time provision of injection initiation assistance among people who inject drugs across two distinct North American contexts: Tijuana, Mexico and Vancouver, Canada.Drug and alcohol review · 2022Article
- Impact of cumulative incarceration and the post-release period on syringe-sharing among people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico: a longitudinal analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2021Article
- Preferences and acceptability of law enforcement initiated referrals for people who inject drugs: a mixed methods analysis.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2020Article
- Maximizing order or harm? Arrests among a social network of people who inject drugs in a large urban city.Journal of ethnicity in criminal justice · 2019Article
- Epidemics of HIV, HCV and syphilis infection among synthetic drugs only users, heroin-only users and poly-drug users in Southwest China.Scientific reports · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn 2009, Mexican Federal Government enacted "narcomenudeo" reforms decriminalizing possession of small amounts of drugs, delegating prosecution of retail drug sales to the state courts, and mandating treatment diversion for habitual drug users. There has been insufficient effort to formally assess the decriminalization policy's population-level impact, despite mounting interest in analagous reforms across the globe.
methodsUsing a dataset of municipal police incident reports, we examined patterns of drug possession, and violent and non-violent crime arrests between January 2009 and December 2014. A hierarchical panel data analysis with random effects was conducted to assess the impact of narcomenudeo's drug decriminalization provision.
resultsThe reforms had no significant impact on the number of drug possession or violent crime arrests, after controlling for other variables (e.g. time trends, electoral cycles, and precinct-level socioeconomic factors). Time periods directly preceding local elections were observed to be statistically associated with elevated arrest volume.
conclusionsAnalysis of police statistics parallel prior findings that Mexico's reform decriminalizing small amounts of drugs does not appear to have significantly shifted drug law enforcement in Tijuana. More research is required to fully understand the policy transformation process for drug decriminalization and other structural interventions in Mexico and similar regional and international efforts. Observed relationship between policing and political cycles echo associations in other settings whereby law-and-order activities increase during mayoral electoral campaigns.
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Registered trials
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