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Publications in Scientific Journals:

R. Bultmann, J. P. Caulkins, G. Feichtinger, G. Tragler:
"How should policy respond to disruptions in markets for illegal drugs?";
Contemporary Drug Problems (invited), 35 (2008), 2&3; 371 - 395.



English abstract:
This article raises the question of how drug policy should respond
to take advantage of market disruptions. A simple mathematical
model of the spread of drug use is adapted to a two-stage problem
in which drug prices are abnormally low or high in the first stage,
and the policy planner is allowed to adjust the level of drug control
funding continuously over time. Optimal policies for this model are
derived using the methods of optimal control theory. They suggest
that whether it is better to increase or decrease drug control
efforts in response to a market disruption can depend on the initial
number of users and, hence, on the stage of the epidemic, as well as
the length and intensity of the drougt or glut. Although simple
prescriptions are not possible, the potential for adaptive policies
to improve outcomes is illustrated.

Keywords:
DNSS point, drug epidemic, drug policy, market disruption, supply chains, treatment, two-stage optimal control

Created from the Publication Database of the Vienna University of Technology.