A shift in the drug market may help to explain a surge in stabbings

CCTV cameras captured it all. A drug-dealer's car hurtled down a high street, closely followed by another vehicle. 'We need police, please!' a panicked passenger in the first car told a 999 operator. 'They're gonna stab us!' When their car crashed, they dived into a hotel. Nearby, on another day, a man died after he was attacked over an unpaid drugs debt. He was stabbed 15 times.These ordeals did not play out on London streets, which are in the news following an uptick in murders. Rather, they took place in a Lancashire town called Darwen, which borders pretty moors. Both were directed by drug gangs from Liverpool, 30 miles away. They are extreme examples of the fallout from a shift in Britain's drugs market, which could be one cause of a nationwide increase in violent crime.Local dealers once controlled the drugs market in most towns. They would go to a city about once a month to buy drugs from wholesalers. In the early 2000s, London's kingpins spotted an opportunity to...Continue reading
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