G.D. Hancock, Ph.D.
Research
Papers on drug-induced homicide prosecutions, mandatory minimum sentencing, and the medical evidence bearing on both. Alongside them is a sample of 500 cases from her database of 2,934 prosecutions, each linked to a public source.
Papers by G.D. Hancock
Punishing Addiction: Criminalization as the Nation’s De Facto Drug PolicyJournal of Criminology
Evidence from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, and related sources indicates that overdose deaths, substance use disorders, and recidivism rates remain high despite expanded criminal enforcement and punitive sentencing practices.
The Illusion of Victimhood in Overdose DeathsCharleston Law Review
The Myth of the Addict-DealerJournal of Law & Policy
Examines the medical evidence concerning fentanyl addiction, and the deterioration of brain function bearing on an addicted person’s capacity to deal in the drug of their own dependence.
For a Motive of Kindness…20 years in Federal PrisonNovel Research in Sciences, vol. 13, no. 3
The Incentive to Convict: Power, Accountability, and Prosecution in America
Drug-Induced Homicide Case Database
An ongoing project to document every drug-induced homicide prosecution in the United States, federal and state. It was compiled by Dr. Hancock from prosecutors’ announcements, court records, news reporting, her own case files and her research, and every case links to the public source it was checked against.
It holds 2,934 cases so far, 1,400 federal and 1,534 state, from all 50 states and D.C., and it is still being built and checked. Until it is finished, a sample of 500 cases is online here, chosen so that every state, relationship and outcome is represented. The complete database will follow, with a DOI so it can be cited.
Filter the cases by state, by the relationship between the person charged and the person who died, and by whether the case ended in a plea or at trial. Open any case for its facts, its sentence and its sources. Key findings and a chart of every sentence sit at the top.
The full dataset is available to researchers and institutions under licence. Contact gdweise@hancockonaddiction.org.
If you use the database in research, journalism, advocacy or teaching, please credit Dr. G.D. Hancock and link to this page. Suggested citation: Hancock, G.D. Drug-induced homicide case database. https://www.hancockonaddiction.org/research/cases/ (accessed [date]).
State laws
Further reading
Scholarship on drug-induced homicide law by other authors. Each title links to the full text, which is freely readable.
America’s Favorite Antidote: Drug-Induced Homicide in the Age of the Overdose CrisisUtah Law Review, 2019
Empirical analysis of publicised drug-induced homicide cases, documenting rapid growth in prosecutions, racial disparity in enforcement, and the routine misclassification of friends, partners and family members as “dealers”.
From Overdose to Crime Scene: The Incompatibility of Drug-Induced Homicide Statutes with Due ProcessDuke Law Journal, vol. 70, p. 659, 2020
Argues that drug-induced homicide statutes cannot be reconciled with constitutional due process requirements.
Drug-Induced Homicide Laws and False Beliefs About Drug Distributors: Three Myths That Are Leaving Prosecutors MisinformedAmerican Criminal Law Review, vol. 60, no. 4, 2023
Identifies three empirically false beliefs about drug distribution that shape prosecutorial decisions in overdose deaths.
Drug-Induced Homicide: Challenges and Strategies in Criminal DefenseSouth Carolina Law Review, vol. 70
A guide for defence counsel mounting a defence against drug-induced homicide charges.
Drug-Induced Homicide: A Comprehensive Statutory ProposalNortheastern University Law Review, 2023
Argues current statutes are drafted too broadly to distinguish culpable parties, and proposes a replacement framework.
Purely Local Tragedies: How Prosecuting Drug-Induced Homicide in Federal Court Exacerbates the Overdose CrisisDrexel Law Review, vol. 13, no. 1
Argues the Commerce Clause does not support federal prosecution of co-users who share drugs, and that such charges undermine local overdose response.
Data and practitioner resources
Health in Justice Action Lab — Drug Induced Homicide
Northeastern University’s project tracking drug-induced homicide prosecutions nationally, with case data and a defence toolkit.
NACDL — Drug Overdose Homicide Resources
Practitioner resources collected by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Prescription Drug Abuse Policy System — Drug Induced Homicide Laws
Dataset of drug-induced homicide statutes by state, with effective dates and provisions.
Fair and Just Prosecution — Drug-Induced Homicide brief
Policy brief written for elected prosecutors. PDF.