Research on the drugs-homicide connection is hampered by data sources that have only limited utility. Following a review of these data sources, this paper examines the drug-relatedness of a sample of homicides perpetrated in New York State as revealed in a specialized correctional department data base. Drug-relatedness is defined according to a tripartite model of the general relationship between drugs and violence. Even though the corrections data base incorporates detailed quantitaive and qualitative data from a variety of criminal justice sources, it was found that drug-relatedness was probably underestimated in the data base. About a quarter of the homicides were clearly drug-related. About two thirds were classified as not drug-related, although some of them may have been. In 10 percent of the cases there was an indication of drug-relatedness but there was not sufficient information to make a classification according to the model. The paper ends by assessing the utility of this correctional data base for understanding the drugs-homicide relationship.
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