Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, August 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 206-214).

The purpose of this study is to examine three factors relating to drug arrests using secondary data analysis. First, ethnic characteristics of a dealer were analyzed according to the location from where they sold their product. Next, possible factors associated with a police officer using force at the time of a drug arrest were also analyzed. Finally, factors associated with a gun being present at the time of a drug arrest were also analyzed.

This thesis is an ethnography of drug dealers. Working from a Chicago School Symbolic Interactionist approach (Mead, 1934; Blumer, 1969), nineteen interviews were conducted with current and former drug dealers. I inquired into their careers (initial involvements, continuities, disinvolvements, reinvolvements) of participation in selling drugs. The data analysis is primarily located in three chapters – Chapters Five, Six, and Seven. Chapter Five considers people’s involvements in selling drugs as well as dealers’ interpersonal exchanges with their customers. In particular three processes are considered in Chapter Five: initial involvements in drug sales,expanding the customer base, and making sales. Chapter Six discusses dealers’ relationships with suppliers as well as dealers who become involved in supplying activities. This chapter discusses the matters of: making contacts with suppliers, working with suppliers, and becoming suppliers. Chapter Seven examines some of the identity allures and problematics of being a drug dealer as well as instances of disinvolvement and reinvolvement in drug dealing. This includes considerations of: striving for respectability, encountering regulatory agencies, and the problematics of disentanglement.

This thesis is an ethnography of drug dealers. Working from a Chicago School Symbolic Interactionist approach (Mead, 1934; Blumer, 1969), nineteen interviews were conducted with current and former drug dealers. I inquired into their careers (initial involvements, continuities, disinvolvements, reinvolvements) of participation in selling drugs. The data analysis is primarily located in three chapters – Chapters Five, Six, and Seven. Chapter Five considers people’s involvements in selling drugs as well as dealers’ interpersonal exchanges with their customers. In particular three processes are considered in Chapter Five: initial involvements in drug sales,expanding the customer base, and making sales. Chapter Six discusses dealers’ relationships with suppliers as well as dealers who become involved in supplying activities. This chapter discusses the matters of: making contacts with suppliers, working with suppliers, and becoming suppliers. Chapter Seven examines some of the identity allures and problematics of being a drug dealer as well as instances of disinvolvement and reinvolvement in drug dealing. This includes considerations of: striving for respectability, encountering regulatory agencies, and the problematics of disentanglement.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

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The aim of this study was to explore, through social workers' perspectives, the reasonsbehind the engagement of young adults in digital drug dealing in Sweden. The researchpurpose was also to explore the costs that digital drug dealing had brought to the lives ofthese young adults. As part of the study's qualitative approach, three professionals withexperience meeting this population were interviewed using semi-structured questions.The sample consisted of three social workers who hold experiences within the field ofsubstance abuse and have encountered digital drug dealers. Findings revealed that socialproblems had an impact on motivating young adults into digital drug dealing. The effectsof economic hardships and lack of integration and acculturation acted as stress factorsthat led young adults to cope in an illegal manner. Other motivations were young adults'need for financial gratitude and sensations of power. The development of social media,in addition, had facilitated the process of such decision-making. As a result, the costshave forced offenders to deal with internet blackmail, paranoia, and feelings of guilt.Moreover, the costs included offenders’ engagement of further criminal activities such asweapon possessions and physical violence. The findings were then connected to thechosen theoretical framework consisting of both strain and rational choice theories

Based on six-years ethnographic research, this thesis provides an in-depth account of a contemporary British drug market. The study follows a group of twenty-five friends, termed The Lads, during their transition from late-adolescence (16-22) through to early adulthood (22-28). This was a critical stage in their life course; it was a time when many had begun advancing into the world of work and business entrepreneurship, in search of their chosen career. Yet it was during this time that two key developments occurred: bulk volumes of illicit drugs became available to The Lads through credit and the UK experienced several years of economic recession and stagnation. The economic constraints The Lads encountered during this time prompted many to become involved in the trafficking of illegal drugs. Though their entry into the markets was not necessarily motivated out of absolute need or poverty, the experience of low-paying salaries, the loss of work and income, and the inability to secure legitimate investment capital, all made drug dealing an alluring source of untaxed revenue, available as and when needed. This study assesses the practices of this cohort of closed-market drug dealers, who capitalised on their expansive social networks as a means of trafficking a variety of illegal substances at the time of these two developments. During the course of the research their involvement came to span several stages of the supply chain, including: mid-level wholesale brokerage, import/export, wholesale, and retail (i.e. to the end-users). The study addresses various structural elements of their trade, including drug purchasing and selling, the assessment and mitigation of risks in relation to law enforcement, and the use of informal credit (i.e. ‘fronting’) as one of the principle facilitating factors of The Lads’ various trade networks. A variety of data collection methods were employed over many years to garner a depth of understanding and appreciation difficult to achieve in the study of active offenders. The data comprises of life narratives, observations, interview data and economic data. The findings offer some new insight into: the kinds of people who deal drugs; what characteristics they share; how they function as traders; what motivates them to either enter or exit the trade, and what social structures influence their offending careers?These young men were not the archetypal drug dealer: they were neither predatory nor territorial. They were ambitious and hard working. Drug dealing was simply a shortcut to the lifestyle they aspired to; it was a source of capital; a means of funding their studies; a ‘means to an end’. To these young men, drug dealing was just another form of work: a bad job that paid a good salary.

Le 17 octobre 2018, le gouvernement libéral du Canada a légalisé le cannabis à usage récréatif dans le but d’offrir un accès sécuritaire et contrôlé à un produit de qualité, tout en empêchant les criminels de jouir des bénéfices associés au commerce de la drogue. De telles modifications au cadre légal ont soulevé de nombreuses inquiétudes de la part du public, notamment à l’effet d’une augmentation potentielle de la consommation. Le présent mémoire répond à une autre préoccupation; celle de la prolifération du marché noir. À ce jour, on ignore comment les trafiquants de cannabis réagiront à la légalisation de la drogue qu’ils fournissent. Les quelques recherches existantes, basées sur des données officielles et autorapportées, ne font pas consensus quant à l’effet de la légalisation sur l’offre illicite de cannabis. D’ailleurs, aucune étude n’a été réalisée dans le contexte particulier de la légalisation du cannabis au Canada, alors qu’il s’agit d’une réforme sans précédent en Amérique du Nord. Ce mémoire adopte une approche novatrice en utilisant les « traces numériques » collectées sur le cryptomarché Dream Market, un marché virtuel anonyme consacré à la vente de drogues illicites, pour décrire et comprendre l’impact de la légalisation sur les vendeurs de marijuana canadiens actifs sur ce marché. Des modèles de régression nous ont permis d’estimer l’effet de la légalisation sur la disponibilité du produit, le nombre de vendeurs et les revenus générés par la vente de marijuana. Ces mêmes analyses ont été utilisées pour déceler la présence d’un déplacement tactique, de cible et de substance par les vendeurs. Cette étude montre qu’à court terme, la légalisation a eu un effet sur les activités des vendeurs de marijuana canadiens, mais cet effet n’est pas celui escompté au regard des objectifs de santé et de sécurité publique du gouvernement. Au cours du premier trimestre de la légalisation, l’offre canadienne de marijuana dans le cryptomarché a augmenté de manière significative. De plus, contrairement à ce qui avait été anticipé par le législateur, les revenus des vendeurs de marijuana canadiens n’ont pas subi de baisses significatives après la légalisation. Enfin, les vendeurs semblent avoir anticipé les impacts de la légalisation sur leur chiffre d’affaires à plus long terme et ont choisi de se positionner favorablement dans d’autres types de marchés. Plus spécifiquement, les vendeurs font davantage de publicité dans le marché américain et dans d’autres sous-marchés de drogues, principalement les stimulants, les produits dérivés du cannabis et les psychédéliques. / On October 17, 2018, the Liberal government of Canada legalized recreational cannabis with the goal of providing safe and controlled access to a quality product, while preventing criminals from enjoying the benefits associated with the drug trade. Such changes to the legal framework have raised many concerns from the public, including the effect of increased consumption. This master's thesis addresses another concern: proliferation of the black market. To this day, it is not known how cannabis traffickers will react to the legalization of the drugs they supply. The few existing studies based on official and self-reported data do not agree on the effect of legalization on the illicit supply of cannabis. In fact, no study has been carried in the specific context of the legalization of cannabis in Canada, although this is an unprecedented reform in North America. This thesis takes an innovative approach by using “digital traces” collected on the cryptomarket Dream Market, an anonymous virtual marketplace dedicated to the sale of illicit drugs, to describe and understand the impact of legalization on Canadian marijuana sellers active in this market. Regression models allowed us to estimate the effect of legalization on product availability, number of vendors, and revenue generated from the sale of marijuana. These same analyzes were used to detect the presence of tactical, target and substance displacement by vendors. Overall, this study shows that in the short term, legalization has had an effect on Canadian marijuana vendors’ activities, but this effect is not what would be expected in light of the government's public health and safety objectives. During the first trimester of legalization, the Canadian supply of marijuana in the cryptomarket increased significantly. In addition, contrary to what had been anticipated by the legislator, Canadian marijuana sellers’ incomes did not suffer significant declines after legalization. Finally, sellers seem to have anticipated the impacts of legalization on their longer-term revenue and have chosen to position themselves favorably in other types of markets. More specifically, sellers are advertising more in the US market and in other drug submarkets, primarily stimulants, cannabis products, and psychedelics.

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