The nexus between lethal violence in the drug market and drug-selling behavior remains a topic of interest among social scientists. Although the current body of literature demonstrates strong empirical evidence of systemic violence, questions still endure as to the underlying causal mechanisms responsible for this violence. This study uses 10 years of prosecution data aggregated at the county level to investigate whether drug-related homicide is predictive of first-time drug-selling offending. Results from a pooled cross-sectional time-series analysis suggest that new entrants are using lethal violence to penetrate the illegal drug market. As drug-related homicides increase, the percent of first-time offenders being prosecuted for a drug-selling offense increases markedly. This relationship persists even after controlling for non–drug-related homicide. This finding suggests that lethal violence is being used primarily by new drug sellers, possibly to help them gain entry into a competitive drug market.

中文翻译：

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市场动态和系统性暴力：对非法药物市场的市场渗透、进入威慑和产能过剩的纵向检验

毒品市场中的致命暴力与毒品销售行为之间的联系仍然是社会科学家感兴趣的话题。尽管目前的大量文献证明了系统性暴力的强有力的经验证据，但关于造成这种暴力的潜在因果机制的问题仍然存在。本研究使用在县级汇总的 10 年起诉数据来调查与毒品有关的凶杀案是否可以预测首次贩毒犯罪。汇总横断面时间序列分析的结果表明，新进入者正在使用致命暴力渗透非法毒品市场。随着与毒品有关的凶杀案增加，因贩卖毒品罪被起诉的初犯比例显着增加。即使在控制了与毒品无关的凶杀案之后，这种关系仍然存在。这一发现表明，致命暴力主要被新药销售商使用，可能是为了帮助他们进入竞争激烈的毒品市场。