Bag Marking and Bag Buying: Observations on the Street Heroin Trade in New York City

• NCJ Number: 157852
• Author(s): P J Goldstein; D S Lipton; E Preble; I Sobel; T Miller; W Abbott; W Paige; F Soto
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 21 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01-DA01926; R01-DA-02355; LEAA-J-IAA-005-8
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Sale Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC. Paper presented at the American Society of Criminology Annual Meetings, Washington, D.C., 1981

Annotation

Data from three separate studies formed the basis of this analysis of the use of distinctive packaging and labeling of street heroin and other illicit drugs as a merchandising technique in New York City.

Abstract

Data were collected through field research study, interviews of 60 women, an ethnographic study of the economic behavior of more than 300 street opiate users in the East Harlem area, discussions with police officials, and a review of Drug Enforcement Agency reports. The rise of widespread bag marking resulted from three separate sequences of events. The first related to economic pressures in the heroin market starting in 1973. The second event was the enactment of tougher new drug laws that took effect in New York State on September 1, 1973. Heroin dealers perceived the need for greater security by advertising their merchandise through brand names rather than their own names or aliases. The third factor was the emergence of independent black dealers and their reported consolidation into a new syndicate with overseas heroin connections. Colored tapes were the first method of labeling street heroin. The transition to brand names occurred because the limited number of colors. Bag marking is spreading, but it is still confined to New York City. Footnotes and list of heroin labels