ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author focuses on his ethnographic research on local heroin markets and argues that the convention of separating the operation of illegal drug markets from drug addiction and the lifestyles of people addicted is unrealistic. He examines what changing this perspective might mean. In illegal drug markets, one feature is common: drug users often share information with and get assistance from their peers when buying or acquiring drugs. Research on the importance of illegal drug markets has long emphasized drug dealing, drug dealers, and/or drug dealing organizations. As local illegal drug markets are the mechanism through which drugs are supplied to users, it makes sense that this topic is central to supply reduction efforts. A local drug market is where buying and selling takes place. The chapter exclusively features a social behavior enacted by people addicted to heroin and how its relational elements support local market operations.
