The geography of drug markets, drug crime and systemic gang violence—Open drug scenes in Sweden
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14905698 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mia-Maria Magnusson (0000-0002-2955-1223, Police Department, corresponding author), Manne Gerell (0000-0002-2145-113X, Malmö University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 148 |
| Pages | 105119 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Drug Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0955-3959 • E-ISSN: 1873-4758 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105119 |
| PMID | 41422742 |
| OpenAlex | W7116360397 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 23 |
INTRODUCTION: Drug market related violence has plagued Sweden in the last decade and has geographically been linked to open drug scenes, ODSs. Surveys have been used to identify ODSs in local police districts in Stockholm County since 2017. The present study analyzes how ODSs and hot spots of police-reported crime relate to geographical indicators of systemic drug market violence. METHOD: Drug hot spots are identified using clustering methods. Drug hot spots and ODSs are then both geographically matched with markers for organized crime to analyze the extent to which they can serve as geographical markers for systemic drug market related violence. The markers for organized crime employed are shootings and organized crime related activities described in court cases that include encrypted phone texts. RESULTS: Our findings suggest that drug hot spots are a rather weak predictor of systemic drug market related violence, whereas ODSs function reasonably well, particularly in the case of ODSs in areas with an established presence of criminal networks. CONCLUSION: Measuring drug market locations is complex, but drug market related violence can be understood geographically by linking typical gang-related crimes to places with open drug scenes
Drug · Drug trafficking · Injury prevention · Poison control · Suicide prevention · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Human Factors and Ergonomics
The Drugs/Violence Nexus
Exploring the situational characteristics of drug policing directed at youth – circumstances of detection and grounds for intervention
General deterrent effects of police patrol in crime “hot spots”
Systemic violence in drug markets
Effect of drug law enforcement on drug market violence
Identifying and Responding to Hot Spots
Inequities in Community Exposure to Deadly Gun Violence by Race/Ethnicity, Poverty, and Neighborhood Disadvantage among Youth in Large US Cities
Can Precision Policing Reduce Gun Violence? Evidence from “Gang Takedowns” in New York City
Examining the Conditional Nature of the Illicit Drug Market‐homicide Relationship
Rivalries, reputation, retaliation, and repetition
| Citations per year | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |