Anthropology
Introduction
As noted by Dwyer, the production and consumption of non-medicinal drugs, especially heroin, has a huge impact in the society. Such drugs include the samples of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, caffeine, and unintended use of prescription drugs. The consumption of such drugs negatively impact our society as people lose their need to work, some commit crimes while others take their own lives. This fact is because the consumption of these drugs intends to change the normal functioning of the body. For example, the THC present in marijuana makes the user feel high and it may affect the way he or she thinks. As a result, the person may end up being lazy, increase depression levels, and even commit crimes. In our study, we shall review the impacts of heroin consumption as well as the issues that its sellers and consumers face at their everyday lives.
Issues raised by the study
Diverse drug users tend to share drugs for many reasons. As discussed by Dwyer in his chapter 1, some instances may arise that result in the drug users sharing their drugs. Even though the demand for such drugs is highly driven by supply and demand present in such markets, not all times the drugs circulation is driven by the need for money. One of the issues that is raised by this fact is why the drugs are then circulated. In the chapter 1 of their book (Fraser and Moore 2011), it is noted that these drugs can be shared due to several reasons. As this sharing was basically meant to occur as a gift, the drug “gifts” were shared either to maintain friendships through charity, a gift to substantiate, and a gift to introduce someone into the world of drug usage. Particularly, heroin usage by new drug addicts is not as a result of their access to these drugs but due to the fact that someone else introduces them to the drugs. A good example is explained by Dwyer and Moore as they indicate that heroin being shared as a gift to substantiate, it required a person not to be exactly a drug addict as he or she would end up sharing the substance (Tsuyuki et al. 2015) with the close friends and families.
Another fact is issue is that the world of heroin selling, sharing, and consumption is controlled by high levels of social relations. For example, very close friends share this drug out of the reason that they are mutual beneficiaries from one another. Thus, it is very difficult to share the substance with another unknown person. However, if one person had the drug and another person who is unknown to him or her wanted it, a trade would happen between the two as it is easy to close the process (Dwyer and Moore2010). However, loyalty between the drug dealers and the buyers is also controlled by the need to sell and buy the drugs. For example, the sellers are always concerned about their drugs being stolen as well as the users having the need of getting extra drugs at a lower price from their suppliers.
The final issue that arises in the world and marketplace for the heroin drug is social stigmatization. As Dwyer noted, he as not easily accepted into this society simply because he lacked the qualities that a user should have. However, after mastering the marketplace, he became aware that a person had to share most of his cigarettes as well as heroin with the friends. This action made him become a friend to the society.
How do they relate to the topics covered in class and weekly readings?
As we have studied in class, the usage and production of illicit drugs is highly controlled by cartels that may be difficult to trace down. This is because the drug users and their suppliers exist in their own world of secrecy and understanding how these drugs move is always difficult. In addition, social stigmatization of the users and non-users is always there (Fraser et al. 2017). For instance, the drugs non-users usually cut any associations with those thatuse the drug and term they as evil. By so doing, the users of these drugs also do cut their associations with the non-users as they see them as people who are out of their league (Hart and Moore 2014). It is for this reason that the drug users most commonly hang around each other.
The other relation that we have encountered is the issue of supply and demand of drugs. As the normal market operates, the supply of goods is usually controlled by the demand that is available in the market. This fact is also true in the world and marketplace for these drugs (Dilkes-Frayne and Duff 2017). As Dwyer indicates, the demand of cigarettes is usually high in the Vietnamese market, a fact that forces every person to share his or hers with the friends that are around them (Mjåland2014). However, the supply of these drugs may be hoarded by the people who sample them as a means of increasing the prices just as a monopoly market is controlled.
Complex social processes and relations that surround the production and consumption of drugs
Despite the fact that demand influences the supply of a commodity, this fact may not be true in the world of drugs production and supplies. Dwyer noted that he had to develop a social relationship with the Vietnamese in order to attain the trust in the heroin world. As such, the market is controlled bydeep levels of mutual relationships between the sellers and buyers. To start with, these drugs can be traded with no social interactions between the buyer and the seller particularly if the drug is not that much illegal (Lancaster 2014). A good example is cigarettes. However, if the drug is highly illegal, like heroin, the sellers and buyers must be aware of each other in order to do transactions. First, there may be a high level of trust between the sellers and the buyers as the sellers want to ensure that their drugs are not easily stolen buy their customers the same way buyers need to be loyal to their dealers so as to get these drugs at a cheaper price. Secondly, drugs can be shared as a gift to another person as a way of maintaining their friendship (Fraser and Moore 2011). This is one of the reasons that drug users usually form friendships with other users. Thirdly, the heroin drug consumption can be shared with other people as a gift to substantiate their relations. In this case, drugs as simply shared with those people who are close to one another especially relatives and friends. Finally, drugs can be shared as a means of introducing a person into the world of drugs. A good example is when a drug user is given drugs for free after he or she is freshly out of prison.
References
Dilkes-Frayne, E. and Duff, C., 2017. Tendencies and trajectories: The production of subjectivity in an event of drug consumption. Environment and planning D: Society and space, 35(5), pp.951-967.
Dwyer, R. and Moore, D., 2010. Beyond neoclassical economics: Social process, agency and the maintenance of order in an Australian illicit drug marketplace. International Journal of Drug Policy, 21(5), pp.390-398.
Fraser, S. and Moore, D. eds., 2011. The drug effect: Health, crime and society. Cambridge University Press.
Fraser, S., Pienaar, K., Dilkes-Frayne, E., Moore, D., Kokanovic, R., Treloar, C. and Dunlop, A., 2017. Addiction stigma and the biopolitics of liberal modernity: A qualitative analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy, 44, pp.192-201.
Hart, A. and Moore, D., 2014. Alcohol and alcohol effects: Constituting causality in alcohol epidemiology. Contemporary Drug Problems, 41(3), pp.393-416.
Lancaster, K., 2014. Social construction and the evidence-based drug policy endeavour. International Journal of Drug Policy, 25(5), pp.948-951.
Mjåland, K., 2014. ‘A culture of sharing’: Drug exchange in a Norwegian prison. Punishment & Society, 16(3), pp.336-352.
Tsuyuki, K., Surratt, H.L., Levi-Minzi, M.A., O’Grady, C.L. and Kurtz, S.P., 2015. The demand for antiretroviral drugs in the illicit marketplace: implications for HIV disease management among vulnerable populations. AIDS and Behavior, 19(5), pp.857-868.
