Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Google Map of Drug Charges

Toronto Drug Charges


Our favourite Canadian newspaper, the Toronto Star, features a regular Map of the Week column on its website. This week's map shows the average annual drug charges per 1,000 residents in Toronto from 2004-2008.

The Star have produced a heat map using shaded polygons to give the reader a quick overview of the frequency of drug charges in different neighbourhoods. The Star says that the map shows a "familiar check-mark shape extending diagonally down though the west end, through the downtown and up again through Scarborough". This same pattern has emerged on The Star's Homicide Map and the home addresses of Toronto's Provincial Inmates Map.

However, as The Star points out, the map doesn't reveal if the charges relate to residents of these areas or to people from outside who are visiting the area to buy drugs.

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