NCJ Number
128785
Date Published
1990
Length
32 pages
Annotation
Information from a group of drug dealers and users in Detroit formed the basis of an analysis of methods used by local crack dealers to distribute cocaine at the retail level and the principles of management and organization underlying these methods with emphasis on the use of the crack house.
Abstract
The research used data from the transcripts of anonymous interviews of clients at a treatment facility. Findings revealed three methods by which crack cocaine is distributed at the retail level: the street-corner or walk-up sales system, the runner and beeper system, and the crack house. The crack house is the most popular method for distribution and includes several styles of operation based on the quality and quantity of social interaction as well as the situation in which sellers posture themselves. At one extreme is an austere method with minimal social interaction; at the other is a tavern-style exchange location in which socialization often included exchanges of sex for drugs. Violence associated with crack sales comes from multiple sources, particularly the businesslike operations of crack distribution, the personal disorganization of the crack-consuming environment, and the character distortions that can accompany binges of crack consumption. Excerpts of interviews and 15 references