The Drugs Business
| Published date | 01 September 1991 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059103800308 |
| Date | 01 September 1991 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
139
The
Drugs
Business
Russell
Webster’s
Pittsburgh
perspective
Just
as
in
England,
drugs
have
become
such
a
political
hot
potato
that
it
is
almost
impossible
to
work
out
if
’the
problem’
is
growing
or
shrinking.
When
the
latest
nationwide
figures
came
out,
Republicans
claimed
they
represented
a
massive
success
for
the
public
education
offensive;
Democrats
scoffed
and
said
things
were
worse
than
ever.
For
once
it
seems
that
both
sides
might
by
right;
kids
do
seem
to
be
getting
the
message
about
’saying
no’,
but
the
continued
availability
of
cheap
crack
is
creating
an
explosion
of
addicts
amongst
the
21-35
generation.
Juvenile
probation
officers
see
the
outcome
of
this
paradox
in
the
grow-
ing
numbers
of
14-18
year
old
cocaine
dealers.
Most
of
these
kids
don’t
use
themselves -
junkies
are
the
lowest
form
of
cool
-
and
so
are
not
selling
bits
and
pieces
to
maintain
their
own
habits
as
their
English
counterparts
might.
Rather
they
are
street
life’s
equivalent
to
the
1980’s
phenomenon
of
junk
bonds
brokers.
They
go
about
their
work
in
the
same
supercharged
way,
their
earnings
grow
in
a
similarly
exponential
fashion
and
risks
are
the
same:
high,
but
higher
still
for
the
consumer.
As
drug
dealing
becomes
more
and
more
visible,
it
has
become
more
sophisticated
at
resisting
arrest.
Although
one
man
(dealers
are
over-
whelmingly
male)
operations
still
ex-
ist,
typically
a
4
man
crew
would
work.
A
touter,
often
only
12-14,
stands
on
the
street
corner
with
a
pocketful
of
quarters.
Punters
connect
with
him:
the
quarter
is
to
call
the
dealer’s
bleeper
The
beeper
allows
the
dealer
to
keep
on
the
move
and
do
his
business
over
the
phone.
A
third
guy
will
take
the
money,
a
fourth
delivers
the
crack.
In
this
way,
drugs
and
profits
are
rarely
found
on
any one
person.
Because
the
market
is
expanding,
kids
will
often
be
fronted
by
older
(early
20s)
dealers
who
will
furnish
an
ounce
of
crack
and
ask
for
$1500
back,
anything
above
this
is
the
kid’s
to
keep.
It
doesn’t
take
long
to
expand
your
business
in
this
way.
The
usual
economic
rules
apply:
com-
mercial
spin-offs
arise,
people
make
a
living
from
robbing
dealers
of
their
money,
and
hostile
takeovers
are
becoming
common.
Money
is
earned
quickly
and
in
vast
quantities.
Most
of
it
gets
pumped
into
the
economy
in
a
typically
90’s
way;
spent
on
consumer
perishables;
clothes
mainly,
jewellery,
renting
out
limousines;
all
the
trappings
of
success.
Many
baseheads
are
poverty
stricken
women
who
will
barter
sexual
acts
for
drugs.
Imagine
the
distortion
of
values
for
your
average
16
year old
who
already
has
everything
prescribed
by
the
American
dream:
money,
clothes,
cars,
fame,
sex.
The
dynamics
of
poverty
and
racism
remain
fundamental;
crack
use
is
spreading
through
the
suburbs
and
all
of
America
but
still
has
its
strongholds
in
poor,
inner
city,
project
areas.
Many
of
these
kids
use
their
money
to
pull
their
families
out
of
generational
poverty-
it’s
not
easy
to
turn
your
kid
in
when
he’s
taking
you
off
the
bread
line
for
the
first
time.
Kids
who
have
been
thrown
out
of school
and
labelled
failures,
find
something
that
they
are
good
at.
They
are
com-
mercially
astute,
do
advanced
maths,
converting
drug
prices
between
metric
and
imperial
systems.
These
commer-
cial
skills
are
highly
valued
in
America;
like
Wall
Street,
despite
all
the
bad
publicity,
their
market
remains
distinctly
bullish.
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