Drugs, Addiction and Crime Flashcards
What are the key readings?
Who looked at the traditional typologies?
Dorn et al
What are bulk wholesellers? (Dorn et al)
Drug market
Criminal diversifers and sideliners
Opium wars
Air America
What are the opium wars?
What are mid/low level wholesalers (Dorn et al)?
Non-users, sell to other sellers and users
Often independent
What are street dealers? (Dorn et al)
Less well organised. Drift in and out of supply (habit?)
Runners, user-dealers, working on behalf of dealer?
How does Stevens (2011) challenge traditional views of the drugs-crime link?
Stevens argues the relationship between drugs and crime is complex and bidirectional, influenced by socio-economic factors.
Who looked at domestic drug distribution?
Black (2020)
What did Black find?
Pyramid= retailers, local wholesaler, national wholesaler and importer
What is a retailer?
Sells drugs to street level to users
What are the characteristics of the retailers?
Mix of junior members of OCGs and USGs as well as user dealers
Commodities often dealt together
High vol of transactions
What are local wholesalers?
Buys and sells drugs in bulk within one city/region
What are the characteristics of the local wholesalers?
Often several links in the supply chain in this stage
Significant intelligence gaps on this stage of the market
What are national wholesalers?
Buys drugs from one city/reguons and sells to another city/region
What are the characteristics of the national wholesalers?
Large no of OCGs and also urban street gangs
Deal in range of different commodities
What are importers?
Arranges supply of drugs into the UK and sells to national wholesalers
What are the characteristics of the importers?
Small no of OCGs who tend to have international links
Often deals in a single commodity
More likely to use professionals
Why are drug markets described as diverse and shifting?
Drug markets are not homogenous but consist of various actors and structures that adapt to social, technological, and legal changes.
Who looked at the role of gender in drug markets?
Denton & O’Malley 1999
What is the role of gender in drug markets, according to Denton & O’Malley (1999)?
Gender shapes trust and business practices in drug markets, with unique roles and experiences for women in the illicit economy.
What are the advantages of app-mediated drug supply?
Immediacy and convenience
What is the role of social media apps in drug distribution?
Apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Wickr, Kik, and WhatsApp are used for:
Ephemeral messaging
Visual advertising of substances
Convenience and immediacy in transactions
Give examples of the immediacy and convenience
Brokering drug deals without street dealers or complex cryptomarkets
Variety of substances available
Perceived security via ephemeral messaging (e.g., Snapchat, Wickr)- burn on read
Visual evidence of drug quality- pictures to provide legitimacy
Who created the heterogenous drug market?
Coomer 2006
What is the heterogenous drug market?
Different individuals, with different backgrounds operating at different levels of the drug market will produce different levels of corresponding behaviours – can make violence more likely
What is the reality of drug markets?
Players can include (for example middle class dealers, women dealers, social suppliers, ethnic markets (Coomber 2015)
Plus separate markets: Youth cannabis markets barely touch the drug market
Who created the tripartite framework?
Goldstein
What are the tripartite framework?
Psychopharmacological
Economic-compulsive
Systemic:
What is systemic violence?
Violence within drug markets, influenced by the market’s structure and participants
What is economic-compulsive violence?
Driven by the need to fund drug habits, but nuanced factors such as poverty and social disadvantage also play a role
What is psychopharmacological violence?
Some individuals, as a result of short or long term ingestion of specific substances, may become excitable, irrational, and may exhibit violent behavior.
Who looked at heroin as an example for psychopharmacological violence?
Lindesmith 1941
What did Lindesmith find?
Rather than increasing aggression its pharmacological properties, as with marijuana, it in fact ‘suppresses hostility and aggression/
Who looked at cocaine and psychopharmacological violence?
Romero-Martinez & Moya-Albiol
What did Romero-Martinez & Moya-Albiol find?
Cocaine facilitates the expression of violence
Who objected to economic-compulsive violence?
Bennett & Holloway 2007
Moyle & Coomber 2015
What did Bennett and Holloway say?
Ignores the influence of poverty and social disadvantage
What did Moyle & Coomber say?
Make nuanced decisions about ways to fund ‘habit’ - ‘most heroin users avoid violent acquisitive crime if viable non-violent alternatives exist’.
How is addiction defined by the World Health Organisation (2007)
A multifactorial health disorder characterised by compulsion, loss of control, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, strong desire to use, and dependence despite adverse consequences.
What is the neurological approaches to addiction?
How changes in brain chemistry can contribute to addictive behaviours.
What is the social approaches to addiction?
What is the disease model?
Addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease characterised by compulsive drug-seeking and use despite harmful consequences.
What are the implications of addiction models for treatment and criminal justice responses?
Each model (disease, social, neurobiological) influences approaches to treatment, policy, and legal frameworks, with some prioritising rehabilitation over punishment.
What is the Rat Park experiment?
Demonstrated that social integration reduces addiction, suggesting addiction is linked to social isolation and dislocation.
Who looked at addiction as poverty of spirit?
Alexander 2009
What did Alexander say?
Scientific medicine has failed: cure/prevention/pain. No consensus on what it is – continues to increase!
Individual phenomenon but patterns in societal prevalence
Does not deny individual differences but argues that social determinants MORE important
Reshape society through social integration and meaning – there then would not be a need to fill void.
Who looked at heroin in addiction?
Lalander 2001
How does Lalander (2001) view heroin use in terms of addiction’s function?
Heroin use provides a meaningful life structure with daily routines and goals, offering users a sense of purpose and community
How does Gabor Mate (2008) define addiction?
Addiction is any behaviour that provides pleasure or relief, causes negative consequences, and cannot be given up, often rooted in emotional pain or trauma.
What is the “moral economy” of heroin use, according to Wakeman (2016)?
Heroin use fosters like-mindedness, peer support, and a sense of community among users, forming a unique subculture
What is the impact of sensationalist media coverage on public perceptions of drug markets?
Sensationalist headlines exaggerate violence and foster an “us vs them” narrative, distorting the complexity of drug markets and addiction.
