TY  - JOUR
AU  - Corman,Hope
AU  - Noonan,Kelly
AU  - Reichman,Nancy E.
AU  - Dave,Dhaval
TI  - Demand for Illicit Drugs by Pregnant Women
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 10688
PY  - 2004
Y2  - August 2004
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10688
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w10688.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Hope Corman
Department of Economics
Rider University
2083 Lawrenceville Road
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Tel: 609/895-5559
Fax: 609/896-5387
E-Mail: corman@rider.edu

Kelly Noonan
Department of Economics
Rider University
2083 Lawrence Road, Room SWG 306
Lawrenceville, NJ  08648
Tel: 609/895-5539
E-Mail: knoonan@rider.edu

Nancy Reichman
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Department of Pediatrics
Child Health Institute of New Jersey
89 French St., Room 1348
New Brunswick, NJ 08903
E-Mail: Nancy.reichman@umdnj.edu

Dhaval M. Dave
Bentley University
Department of Economics
175 Forest Street, AAC 195
Waltham, MA 02452-4705
Tel: 212/817-7955
Fax: 212/817-1597
E-Mail: ddave@bentley.edu
AB  - We use survey data that have been linked to medical records data and city-level drug prices to estimate the demand for illicit drugs among pregnant women. The prevalence of prenatal drug use based on post partum interviews was much lower than that based on evidence in the mothers' and babies' medical records. We found that a $10 increase in the retail price of a gram of pure cocaine decreases illicit drug use by 12 to 15%. The estimated price effects for heroin are lower than for cocaine and are less robust across alternative model specifications. This study provides the first estimates of the effects of drug prices on prenatal drug use and yields important information about the potential of drug enforcement as a tool for improving birth outcomes.
ER  -