ABSTRACT
The trade in illegal drugs in Dublin is a vast enterprise involving substantial amounts of money. Many of the customers and dealers are chronically addicted drug users. This highly illegal arena of economic and social action is regulated by the threat and use of violence. Profit-oriented drug dealers use violence as a tool to enforce payment of debt and to deter predation. The addictive and hedonistic drives of problematic drug users create debt accumulation amongst user-dealers and their suppliers. Dealers can use a variety of methods to enforce debt payment. This chapter therefore examines the relationship between the profit-oriented drug dealer and his drug-using customers, and examines the role of violence in debt collection. The intimidation of families is an unfortunate debt enforcement methodology employed by some such dealers in Dublin. A detailed case study of one family who was targeted by such methods is provided.
