Drug Trade Sociology

Lee D. Hoffer’s “Junkie Business: The Evolution and Operation of a Heroin Dealing Network” is an ethnography that details the buying and dealing of the highly addictive drug, heroin, in the particularly homeless area of Denver, Colorado called “Larimer” from 1995 to the year 2000. The majority of the book focuses on the partnership of two heroin dealers, Kurt and Danny, and examines their daily lifestyles and the transitional periods they faced during their operations. On a much broader level, Hoffer wanted to characterize the heroin dealing occurring on the consumer-oriented side of the heroin dealing business, as well as understand the evolution of Kurt and Danny’s operations. Hoffer’s virtually unlimited

According to this article the young dealers employed by the cartels operate in unlicensed addiction treatment facilities. Essentially the cartels are targeting already troubled youth at a very vulnerable time. “Mexican officials and youth advocates said they fear that the rampant criminality is producing a generation that venerates cartel barons and views trafficking as a form of rebellion—as well as an escape from poverty.” (Booth and Fainaru 2) This quote is an example of the cartel praying on the weak and disenfranchised. It is very easy for a young person to view criminal activity as a viable source of income when no other options are presented to them. The authors of this article carefully describe how the strength of the cartel is exploited and used to recruit youth that have no other options.

Societies define both the meanings of drugs and drug experience, with the definitions differing radically among different societies as well as subcultures and subgroups within the same society. Social groups and cultures define what kind of drug taking is appropriate, for example, alcohol use might be seen as appropriate among one group and inappropriate among other groups, such as among women and men. They also define which drugs are acceptable and which are not. Society also spell out the social situations that are approved for drug use and which are not. The definition of the reasons people take drugs or engage in such behaviors can be summed using the sociological paradigms, structure functionalist, conflict, and symbolic

Crack users range from the Wall Street stockbroker to a homeless person living in Central Park, but by and large this evil drug called crack had its biggest impact on New York’s inner city minority population. A New York doctor, Dr. Mark Gold who is the person who set up and helps run the not for profit organization called 800-COCAINE, a hotline set up to help addicts and perspective users answer questions about the drug and also offers counseling and drug intervention services; suggested that his findings showed that, “occasional users of crack quickly increased, the amount and frequency of crack use until total dependency was achieved.” Men and women who were once law abiding citizens and honest people were now robbing and stealing to pay for the drug, and many who once enjoyed good health were now suffering from a variety of physical and mental aliments springing from their cocaine abuse. Crack brings along with its amazing high, some ominous dangers. Dr. Robert Maslansky is the director of New York City’s Bellevue Hospital

Contributing to these drug issues throughout America are multiple street gangs, drug cartels and drug lords. These groups to transport illegal drugs into America, to sell them illegally on the streets, for a very hefty profit. High crime profiled states and cities such as, New York, Baltimore, Maryland, District of Columbia, and Chicago host some of America’s most notorious gangs, cartels, and drug lords. The purpose of this research paper is to analyze the life of a notorious Baltimore drug lord, by the name of Anthony Ayeni Jones, and how a life of drugs effected his personal life, caused criminal actions, and resulted in court trials and a life sentence in prison.

Residents who come from low income levels are more likely to agree that “Drug dealing can be a good way for people to raise themselves out of poverty” (Wallisch and Spence, 2006, p. 296). Although most residents are aware that drug trafficking is connected with corruption and violence, their economic deprivation has created community norms that tolerate the economic advantages brought by drug trafficking. Individuals who chose to be drug users are more aware of the availability of drugs and chose to live in neighborhoods of higher drug

Since 1941 there has been a major surge in drug dealing through proof of arrest rates. This is pretty clear since the amount of arrests has increased by a monumental 50% since then. Statistics show the escalation of arrests from1941-1990. From 1941-1950 there were 0.3 arrests; 1951-1960 0.7%; 1961-1970 7.9%; 1971-1980 36.9% and from 1981-1990 54.2%. Today, nineteen years later, these arrest rates

Introduction - Use of psychoactive substances for recreational purposes is not a radically new social issue. In fact, history tells us that almost every society had their own pharmacopeia of herbs, potions, and substances that not only contributed to healing, but also allowed the user to escape reality (Schules 1992, 4-5). However, it is the contemporary use of psychoactive drugs purchased through illicit or illegal channels and used by persons neither prescribed nor in quantities larger than necessary that defines modern drug abuse (Robins 2006). Prior to World War I, substances like morphine, heroin, and cocaine were available in the major American cities, particularly those with active international ports. For instance, when Chinese immigrants were first imported to work in the mines and railroads during the early 1800s, they brought opium to America. It was the leisure class, who began to experiment with this drug, and, as in Europe, many major U.S. cities had so-called opium dens. In addition, there were a substantial number of "society women" who ended up addicted because their doctor prescribed this drug to deal with female histrionics or to "cure" an excessive sexual appetite (Johnson 2002). Within major cities, this problem began to spill over into other groups: prostitutes, child laborers, orphans, and even men and women of lower social classes seeking to escape the harshness of their lives (Courtwright 2002, 3-19). Between the widespread use and general

Moral expectations in the Edgewater drug community is based on sharing, fairness, and justice (6). This type of economy is perfect for small communal societies, where their motto is to get mutual aid in order to avoid the free rider problem. Members of the community pool their money together to purchase heroin, and

The combination of segregation, concentration, and unjust treatment by police has caused an imbalanced focus of the drug war towards African Americans. Due to a large number of businesses and factories moving to the suburbs taking those privileged enough to move with them, concentrations of poor, black communities appeared throughout inner cities without the presence of jobs and resources to nourish them (Wilson, 1996). These areas, which are vulnerable to decay and poverty, are more likely to experience

Many sociological studies fail to provide an accurate picture of substance abuse in a society for a number of reasons. In treatment or survey interviews, substance abusing individuals frequently misrepresent or misreport their frequency of use. Those living in poverty are often more transient in their housing than those of middle and upper classes and may, therefore, be excluded from many types of household surveys. Often, statistical information is gathered from treatment facilities; however facilities do not all report into a national database and a large number of addicts never seek services. One final problem with the validity of studies involving substance abuse and poverty is the isolation, in many studies, of one or more drugs. Many researchers have focused on drugs, such as crack-cocaine or heroin and not marijuana or powder cocaine (Jacobson and Ensminger, 2011). While it is difficult to obtain valid data on the actual rate and incidence of substance abuse in poverty ridden communities, researchers have been able to isolate some negative effects of substance abuse and correlate them to socio-economic status.

The disappearance of decent paying manual work since the early 1970's leaves unskilled, uneducated individuals vulnerable to poverty. This is when selling drugs, an alternative to enduring grinding poverty, has been a common enough response as the income gap had widened. This has increased the violence and crime rate of society.

Drug trafficking has been an ongoing epidemic in the United States, as well us other countries for an unimaginable amount of time. Illegal drugs varying from heroin and cocaine are primarily the main drugs that get smuggled in the United States from South America. Even marijuana and methamphetamine have been popular in the drug smuggling “industry”. These gangs go to a variety of different extents to get the job done. Drug trafficking increases the violence levels These drugs have been smuggled through the Southwest Border since the 1970s and are attempting to expand the distribution of those drugs into eastern U.S. markets. The countries of drug production have been seen as the worst affected by prohibition. In many countries worldwide, the illegal drug trafficking can be directly linked to high violent crimes. This is especially true in third world countries, but has still been seen as an issue for many developed countries all over the world. Drug trafficking increases the risk of violence and crime due rise of addiction along with an increase of death. It also effects the along with correctional system effects.to its high costs, Nearly all of the heroin produced in Mexico is destined for distribution in the United States. Organized crime groups operating from Mexico produce, smuggle, and distribute various illegal drugs after trafficking them across the US border. Trafficking groups that operate from Mexico tend to avoid penalties by their stealthy methods of smuggling

We learn from the book that the number of drug dealers has a correlation with the loss of jobs of East Harlem residents. Losing jobs prevents people from providing basic needs to themselves and their family. Most of the residents who live in El Barrio are Latino such as Porto Ricans, Mexicans, and Dominicans. Latina/os are a key population in which to study substance abuse. Given their levels of poverty, minority status, and residential concentration in areas with wide drug and alcohol distribution, Latina/os are considered at risk for substance abuse (Verissimo, Gee, Ford & Iguchi, 2014). As stated by Philippe, the main point of this book is not about substance abuse, it is about his first hand experiences with the culture and poverty of East Harlem. It is about the struggles that people there have to go through in order to survive in an extremely poor area of one of the riches city in the world..

When I first had any thoughts about the war on drugs I believed that this issue had nearly been completely eradicated due to the tireless efforts of law enforcement. One of my preconceived ideas was that the individuals involved in this trade lacked any autonomy of what they were doing to their societies. But one thing that I never doubted was that those in charge of these drug-dealings were cunning and calculated people. Through applying various sociological concepts such as; the influence of race, ethnicity, bureaucracies, among other sociological ideas one can see that there is more to the war on drugs than people selling narcotics and people buying narcotics. An important sociological term to familiarize oneself with to understand this