NCJ Number
178161
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 1999 Pages: 323-340
Date Published
1999
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Interviews with low-level drug dealers in New York City show that the monetary costs of distributing drugs are modest; hence, the proportion of sales revenue retained by these sellers is a useful indicator of their earnings.
Abstract
Data for this study were obtained from the "Natural History of Crack Distribution/Abuse" project, an ongoing large-scale ethnographic study designed to develop a systematic understanding of crack-selling and drug careers. The project observed more than 1,500 crack sellers and distributors in the field. Approximately 300 were interviewed at least once between 1989 and 1996. Approximately one-third of these had a second interview at a later date as well. There were four distinct types of sellers, with systematic differences across types in the proportion of sales revenue retained. Entrepreneurs who owned the drugs they sold retained the largest share (approximately 50 percent). Independent consignment sellers retained less (approximately 25 percent). Consignment sellers who operated within fixed selling locations or "spots" retained still less (10 percent), and the sellers who were paid hourly to sell from spots retained the smallest proportion (3 percent). These differences might explain variation in reports of sellers' earnings and may have significant implications for the relative ability of enforcement against spots and enforcement against sellers operating outside of spots to drive up drug prices and suppress drug use. 3 tables, 1 figure, 2 notes, and 25 references