Drug Market Reconstitution after Hurricane Katrina: Lessons for Local Drug Abuse Control Initiatives

• Author: Andrew Golub,Alex S. Bennett,Eloise Dunlap
• Date: 01 June 2011
• Published date: 01 June 2011
• DOI: 10.3818/JRP.13.1.2011.23
• Subject Matter: Article

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DrugMarketReconstitutionafterHurricane

 Katrina:LessonsforLocalDrugAbuseControl

 Initiatives

Alex S. Bennett

Institute for Special Populations Research

Behavioral Science Training Program in Drug Abuse Research/

Public Health Solutions

National Development and Research Institutes, Inc.

Andrew Golub

Eloise Dunlap

Institute for Special Populations Research

National Development and Research Institutes, Inc.

* Abstract

Hurricane Katrina accomplished what no law enforcement initiative could ever achieve:

It completely eradicated the New Orleans drug market. However, Katrina did little to

eliminate the demand for drugs. This article documents the process of the drug market

reconstitution that occurred 2005-2008 based on in-depth interviews and focus groups

with predominately low-income drug users and sellers. Before Katrina, the drug market

was largely characterized by socially-bonded participants involved with corporate style

distribution. After Katrina, a violent freelance market emerged. The conclusion draws rec-

ommendations for law enforcement for dealing with drug markets after a major disaster.

Research for this article was supported by the National Institute of Child Health & Human

Development (NICHHD 1R01HD059706-01A2), the National Institute on Drug Abuse

(NIDA 1 R01DA05126-06, 1R01DA09056-02) and the National Institute on Alcohol

Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)/NIDA Minority Research Supplemental Award (NIDA

1R03DA06413-01). Partial funding for Dr. Bennett was provided by the Behavioral Sciences

Training in Drug Abuse Research Program sponsored by Public Health Solutions of New

York City, and the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI), with funding

from NIDA (T32 DA07233). Points of view in this article do not necessarily represent the

off‌icial position of the U.S. Government, NICHD, NIDA, nor NDRI. The authors wish to

acknowledge the many contributions to this article of Gwangi Richardson-Alston, Lawrence

Duncan, and Doris Randolph.

JUSTICE RESEARCH AND POLICY, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2011

© 2011 Justice Research and Statistics Association

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This article uses New Orleans as a case study to chart the process of drug market

reconstitution following an extreme disaster, namely Hurricane Katrina. On August

29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall and engulfed the New Orleans area,

overwhelming levees and causing extensive f‌looding and destruction across the city.

The storm generated 30- to 40-foot waves, which demolished many cities and small

towns in Southern Mississippi and Alabama and caused considerable wind damage

further inland. Although the hurricane eye missed central New Orleans by about

30 miles, the wave action in Lake Pontchartrain caused several levees to break and

f‌lood most of eastern New Orleans, which was under sea level. The storm had an

impact on practically all New Orleans residents and almost destroyed New Orleans

(Cooper & Block, 2006; Levitt & Whitaker, 2009; Lee, 2006).

Our research focused on the impact of this storm on the drug markets in New

Orleans. Katrina destroyed the physical environment and organizational structure

that sustained the drug trade, yet drug use and sales did not disappear. During and

soon after the storm, improvised sales and distribution organizations provided

a wide range of illicit drugs to users (see Dunlap, Johnson, Kotarba, & Fackler,

2009; Dunlap & Golub, 2010; Dunlap, Johnson & Morse, 2007). This article

examines the next historical period, the continuation of drug use among those re-

turning to New Orleans and the rebuilding of drug market structures. The analysis

provides a short review of drug markets before Katrina. Our main focus is the

reconstitution process during the three years following the disaster. We pay special

attention to street-level dealers and the end users’ lived experiences in primarily

poorer neighborhoods, illustrating elements of continuity and change as various

actors reconstituted New Orleans’ drug market.

* Literature Review

Drug markets are often forced to adapt in response to various external factors.

Much research has focused on drug market disruption resulting from criminal

justice interventions such as police crackdowns (Caulkins, 1993; Johnson, Golub,

& Dunlap, 2000; Wood et al., 2004; Hoffer, 2006; Brownstein & Taylor, 2007;

Johnson, 2003; Taylor & Brownstein, 2003; Curtis & Wendel, 2007). Research-

ers have also examined market disruption due to shortages of drug supply result-

ing from war, political realignment, or shifts in domestic and international supply

(Degenhardt, Reuter, Collins, & Hall, 2005; Degenhardt, Day, Gilmore, & Hall,

2006; Kuzmarov, 2009; Courtwright, 2001; MacCoun & Reuter, 2001; Musto,

1973; Breecher, 1972). To a lesser extent, research has also begun to examine the

impact of disasters (like 9/11 and Katrina) on drug markets and use (Cepeda, Val-

dez, Kaplan, & Hill, 2010; Vlahov, Galea, Ahern, Resnick, & Kilpatrick, 2004;

Movaghar, Farhoodian, & Goodarzi, 2005).

In general, the market reconstitution process involves reestablishment of per-

sons, facilities, and procedures for transferring drugs from suppliers to users. During