Buying and Selling Crack: Transactions at the Retail Level and the Role of User-Sellers

To assess key characteristics of the retail crack market and the role of users as buyers and sellers, data from a survey inside and outside institutional setting among 1,039 crack users in the three largest Dutch cities were analyzed to explore their role in the crack market as buyers and sellers. O...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of drug issues 2014-01, Vol.44 (1), p.56-68
Main Authors: Oteo Pérez, Alberto, Benschop, Annemieke, Korf, Dirk J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cities
Cocaine
Drug trafficking
Drug use
Ethnicity
Law Enforcement
Markets
Medical research
Merchants
Netherlands
Profits
Purchasing
R&D
Research & development
Sex
Suppliers
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Summary:To assess key characteristics of the retail crack market and the role of users as buyers and sellers, data from a survey inside and outside institutional setting among 1,039 crack users in the three largest Dutch cities were analyzed to explore their role in the crack market as buyers and sellers. Of the total number of users, 42.3% bought crack in public places, 39.6% through home delivery, and 13.9% at dealer’s addresses. Near one-third reported participating in selling drugs, defining themselves as “go-betweens” (21.4%) or “dealers” (9.2%). User-sellers and nonselling users did not differ with regard to gender and ethnicity. Cluster analysis resulted in three distinct types of user-sellers (freelancers, assistants, and amateurs), each characterized by time spent selling drugs, type of drugs sold, and earnings. Amateurs seem quite similar to what scholars have labeled “social dealers” in recreational drugs markets. This study suggests the need for a more differentiated law enforcement policy toward drug-selling users.
ISSN:0022-0426
1945-1369
DOI:10.1177/0022042613491105