Dope Sniffers in New York City: An Ethnography of Heroin Markets and Patterns of Use

• NCJ Number: 178159
• Journal: Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 1999 Pages: 271-298
• Author(s): Xavier Andrade; Stephen J. Sifaneck; Alan Neaigus
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 28 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA09920
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

This article examines the drug-use patterns of non-injecting heroin users (NIUs) or "dope sniffers" and their relationship to the heroin markets on the Lower East Side of New York City.

Abstract

The study is based on ethnographic research with 23 NIUs during 1996 and 1997. The study ethnographically explores the shifting dynamics of the retail heroin markets on the Lower East Side, how these market conditions affect NIUs' routes of administration and patterns of use, and the ways in which NIUs adapt to illegal heroin markets that are experiencing increased levels of repression and enforcement. Findings show that heroin markets have been highly adaptable in response to a changing environment characterized by increased and aggressive police enforcement activities aimed at limiting the heroin supply. Two major changes in heroin markets in response to this environment are important for their possible impact on increasing the number of heroin users: a potential expansion of the market through mobile communications devices, such as pagers and cellular phones, and a tendency to extend retail selling directly into the suburbs. These factors are part of a longer trend toward the decentralization of heroin markets and a shift from dealer- centered (the user goes to the dealer) to user-centered (the dealer goes to the user) markets. Most of the heroin users who participated in this study demonstrated a varied range of responses to cope with restrictive conditions in the heroin markets. Responses among NIUs varied, including periods of total abstinence, moderated or reduced levels of consumption, and resorting to alternative drugs already part of established patterns of consumption. This variation in response suggests that disruptions in heroin markets may not inevitably lead to transitions to injecting, at least in the short term. Further, users tend to gain access to markets through a variety of mechanisms, which take advantage of the increasing flexibility of suppliers. 18 notes and 53 references