Background – In New Zealand, it is often claimed that outlaw motorcycle gangs control the illegal markets for methamphetamine and cannabis, including purposively suppressing the local availability of cannabis to encourage sales of the more profitable methamphetamine.
Aims – (1) Explore predictors of higher levels of gang involvement in retail illegal drug markets. (2) Investigate whether higher levels of gang involvement and number of gangs are predictors of differences in the price, potency and accurate sale weight of different drugs types compared to lower levels of gang involvement.
Methods – An online convenience drug survey (NZ Drugs Trends Survey) was broadly promoted via Facebook™ from November 2018 to March 2019 (n=10,966). Respondents were asked to what extent gangs control the sale each drug type (1=none-5=only gangs), how many different gangs were selling in the area (1=many-4=one), and how price, potency and weight provided by gangs compared to non-gang sellers.
Results – Region was a significant predictor of extent of gang involvement in drug selling. Higher methamphetamine availability and conversely lower cannabis availability was associated with higher gang involvement. Higher relative price of cannabis was positively associated with extent of gang involvement and lower number of different gang sellers. Lower sale weight of cannabis was positively associated with greater gang involvement and lower number of different gang sellers. Weaker cannabis potency was associated with lower number of different gang sellers.
Implications - Economic theory of monopoly and marketing offers important insights into these findings.
Chris Wilkins is the leader of the drug research team at Massey University. He has studied the rise of methamphetamine and MDMA, including conducting national household drug surveys and early warning drug studies in the community and at police watch houses. He has analyzed the size and structure of the illegal cannabis market and involvement of organized crime. In the mid-2000s, much of his research focused on the emergence of “legal highs” and policy responses. This research attracted invitations to present at the European Monitoring Commission Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), and U.K. Home Office. More recently, he has studied cannabis policy reform, including the NZ medicinal cannabis scheme and overseas cannabis reforms. In 2020, he was invited to be a member of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor Panel to assess evidence for the cannabis referendum. He has led the annual New Zealand Drugs Trends Survey (NZDTS) since 2017. In 2023, he was awarded a HRC project grant to investigate the outcomes of overseas cannabis reforms and translate these to Aotearoa NZ.