NCJ Number
158427
Journal
Contemporary Drug Problems Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Pages: 141-178
Date Published
Unknown
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the political economy of the illicit drug market in the United States focuses on the motivation for drug-dealing careers among lower-class populations and the historical basis for this type of structural deviance, as well as the effectiveness of drug policies.
Abstract
The analysis questions the legal and medical models of social control that currently dominate drug policies, noting that they suggest that drug abuse is caused mainly by factors within individuals themselves. The discussion suggests that current policies are a failure because they ignore certain political and economic characteristics of the drug market and their causal relationship to the perpetuation of the drug problem in the United States. It notes that the irregular economy has traditionally flourished in large cities inhabited by people who are poor, powerless, and immigrant and ethnic minorities. This situation has resulted in part from racism, moral entrepreneurship, and a conservative interest in maintaining the prevailing distribution of power and wealth. The existing political structure has profited from the drug market through the corruption of some police and politicians and the function of the drug market as a source of employment for the poor. The scarcity of legitimate opportunities and the flourishing illegal markets have meant that minorities and immigrants have tended to assume the major risks in these enterprises. Other segments of society have patronized these markets, while the poor and ethnic minorities have been identified with crime. Ignoring the economic and political functions of the drug markets in the continuing drug problem will probably make any given enforcement or treatment strategy ineffective. Reference notes