ABSTRACT
The study of illicit drug markets is still in its infancy. Most of the early work originated in the United States (Preble and Casey 1969; Redlinger 1974; Johnson et al. 1985). Since then, a pool of epidemiological and ethnographic knowledge has evolved in several European countries. A number of studies have attempted to examine how distribution takes place, the manner in which transactions are negotiated, and the way illicit heroin markets function (Ingold 1984; Lewis et al. 1985; Dorn and South 1987; Fraser and George 1988; Power 1990; Arlacchi and Lewis 1990a,b).
