Dorm Room Dealers
Who do I picture when I hear the term "drug dealer"? Well, the first thing that pops into my head is a poor, ratty looking junkie, selling drugs off the street and sketchily behind alley ways, in order to get their own fix or make some extra cash. I think of them as dangerous, possessing not only the need for the drug or the greed for money, but one who has grown accustomed to the hardships of the street life and willing to go to any lengths to protect what's theirs, including but not limited to violence. Basically, my views and internal stereotypes of drug dealers were the opposite of the subjects of "Dorm Room Dealers".
"Dorm Room Dealers" completely disproves my views of the typical drug dealer. Mohammed and Fritsvold follow not your stereotypical drug dealers. Their research process followed middle and upper class collegiate students, many of which were business majors, providing an insider's perspective into the college drug-dealing network that no one would have thought even existed. Unlike the stereotypical impression of a drug dealer, these students would not end up in jail, prison, etc. after finishing their run with drug dealing, but mainly with efficient and respectable "white collar" jobs upon completion of college. Their research process took place for about 6 years, interviewing college drug dealers mostly in Southern California, whose networks were in driving range with the US-Mexico border. The authors explored these affluent students drug networks, their base of supply, and their motives behind the greed that drove this drug dealing desire.
A perfect example of how this text disproved my stereotype of a drug dealer was when the authors described the encounter between Brice and Dallas on the very first page. Dallas, under the influence of some sort of substance, stormed into Brice's house and demanded money from his drug-dealing partner. Now, before reading on I automatically assumed a drug-dealing dispute where money and drugs were involved would turn to violence possibly involving a robbery, guns, etc. But, instead this book disproved my stereotype right away as Dallas threatens to call Brice's father as a threat rather than violence. What drug dealer threatens to call someone's parents? This was not only amusing but completely shocking as well, on the very first page of "Dorm Room Dealers", my stereotypes of drug dealers was squashed.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Comparative Drug Policy Analysis
The Netherlands
To provide some background information, The Netherlands has last recorded to have a population of ~16.8 million people with the average age of the population being around 42 years of age (OECD, 2014). Economically, The Netherlands' gross domestic product (GDP) is $760 Billion with a GDP Per Capita (indicative of the annual performance of a country relative to their population size) of $41,500, which is actually four times higher than the world's average GDP Per Capita. As of 2011, the health expenditures account for 12% of the GDP and the life expectancy of the average person in The Netherlands is ~81 years old. In terms of pharmaceutical use in 2010, The Netherlands had 56% of adults take at least one prescription regularly, while 15% of adults were taking at least four prescriptions regularly. In comparison, the U.S. has the highest drug usage, drug prices, and spending on drugs. According to the OECD Health Statistics of 2014, 11.9% of the GDP in The Netherlands was allotted towards health spending, putting The Netherlands at second for health spending after the United States. It has been reported the health spending within The Netherlands has been slowly increasing despite the economic crisis of recent years.
Dutch policy on drugs evolved differently than it did in other countries. Unlike other nations during the 19th Century, The Netherlands didn't have soldiers becoming addicted to drugs so that was not an issue and there was little research or concern about addiction to drugs within their society. Two factors eventually led to the evolution of the Dutch drug policy; modern medicine and the profiting Dutch colonial drug operations that were taking place.
Drug culture is a big part of the Netherlands, especially when it comes to tourism. People travel from all over to see and visit the "coffee shops" of the Netherlands that are able to legally sell cannabis (up to 5 grams), considered to be a "soft" drug according to Dutch drug policy (Fact Rover, 2014).
The Netherlands is considered to be a major transport location for drugs that enter into Europe. The country serves as a final destination of opium from Afghanistan on what is known as the "Balkan Route". The opium is then used to make heroin and supply Europe with. In addition, The Netherlands is considered to be not only a notable consumer of illicit drugs but also a producer of such drugs like amphetamines and synthetic drugs especially known for Ecstasy.
Drug culture is definitely prominent within the country. Surveys show an increasing trend of cannabis, with inhalants being the second most popular drug among students (aged 15-16).
In terms of drug legality, the country's "White Paper" of 1995 contains the drug policy, differentiating between what they consider "hard" or "soft" drugs as well as outlining four main objectives of the country's drug policy: (i) to prevent drug use and to treat and rehabilitate drug users; (ii) to reduce harm to users; (iii) to diminish public nuisance caused by drug users; and (iv) to combat the production and trafficking of drugs" (EMCDDA, 2014). The Netherlands Opium Act amended in 1976 was the foundation of the country's drug legislature as it defined dealing/possession of drugs, production, and drug trafficking as criminal acts. Hard drugs are considered schedule 1 drugs, yet if someone is found with .5 grams of a hard drug they will no be prosecuted. Small quantities of drugs are not prioritized. 5 grams constitutes the threshold for the amount of cannabis an individual can have on their person. The Dutch drug policy aims to separate illicit drugs ("hard") from cannabis ("soft"). By doing so the governmental policies separates the markets of drug use and the drug users that participate in such, the "acceptable risk" drug user and the "unacceptable risk" drug user, prioritizing the latter.
The Dutch legality of "soft" drugs up to a certain threshold is evident of the lenient structure of their drug legislation compared to that of the United States. In the Netherlands cannabis products are considered "soft" drugs as noted above and can be purchased in "coffee shops" legally. Yet, in the United States cannabis is considered a Schedule 1 drug federally.
The effects of drug use has had an affect on society leading to increase in robberies and drug selling, influencing the creation of the measure Placement in an Institution for Prolific Offenders, constituting mainly problematic drug users. This program requires a combination of imprisonment and behavior therapy, which usually takes place outside of prison. This is interesting because in comparison to the United States and past administrations with the "War on Drugs" efforts, most governmental drug legislation has not been very treatment oriented within the US, yet this piece of legislation from the Dutch government shows more of a pro-treatment stance rather than imprisonment.
Statistically both the life time prevalence and past year prevalence of marijuana use are higher among Americans than adults in the Netherlands. In 2009, 41.5% of adults in the USA claimed to have prevalence of marijuana throughout their life compared to the 25.7% of adults in the Netherlands (Drug War Facts, 2014). Meaning almost double the adults in the US used marijuana throughout their life span compared to those in the Netherlands where drug policies are actually more lenient! That is interesting; perhaps by decriminalizing and not prohibiting cannabis, less people had a desire to use it.
References:
Drug War Facts. (2014). Netherlands Compared with the United States. Retrieved from: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/netherlands_v_us#sthash.mWMbFOR9.dpbs
EMCDDA. (2014). European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction: Netherlands. Retrieved from: http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/country-overviews/nl
Fact Rover. (2014). Netherlands Government. Retrieved from: http://www.factrover.com/government/Netherlands_government.html
OECD. (2014).OECD Health Statistics 2014: How does the Netherlands Compare. Retrived from: http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Briefing-Note-NETHERLANDS-2014.pdf
To provide some background information, The Netherlands has last recorded to have a population of ~16.8 million people with the average age of the population being around 42 years of age (OECD, 2014). Economically, The Netherlands' gross domestic product (GDP) is $760 Billion with a GDP Per Capita (indicative of the annual performance of a country relative to their population size) of $41,500, which is actually four times higher than the world's average GDP Per Capita. As of 2011, the health expenditures account for 12% of the GDP and the life expectancy of the average person in The Netherlands is ~81 years old. In terms of pharmaceutical use in 2010, The Netherlands had 56% of adults take at least one prescription regularly, while 15% of adults were taking at least four prescriptions regularly. In comparison, the U.S. has the highest drug usage, drug prices, and spending on drugs. According to the OECD Health Statistics of 2014, 11.9% of the GDP in The Netherlands was allotted towards health spending, putting The Netherlands at second for health spending after the United States. It has been reported the health spending within The Netherlands has been slowly increasing despite the economic crisis of recent years.
Dutch policy on drugs evolved differently than it did in other countries. Unlike other nations during the 19th Century, The Netherlands didn't have soldiers becoming addicted to drugs so that was not an issue and there was little research or concern about addiction to drugs within their society. Two factors eventually led to the evolution of the Dutch drug policy; modern medicine and the profiting Dutch colonial drug operations that were taking place.
Drug culture is a big part of the Netherlands, especially when it comes to tourism. People travel from all over to see and visit the "coffee shops" of the Netherlands that are able to legally sell cannabis (up to 5 grams), considered to be a "soft" drug according to Dutch drug policy (Fact Rover, 2014).
The Netherlands is considered to be a major transport location for drugs that enter into Europe. The country serves as a final destination of opium from Afghanistan on what is known as the "Balkan Route". The opium is then used to make heroin and supply Europe with. In addition, The Netherlands is considered to be not only a notable consumer of illicit drugs but also a producer of such drugs like amphetamines and synthetic drugs especially known for Ecstasy.
Drug culture is definitely prominent within the country. Surveys show an increasing trend of cannabis, with inhalants being the second most popular drug among students (aged 15-16).
In terms of drug legality, the country's "White Paper" of 1995 contains the drug policy, differentiating between what they consider "hard" or "soft" drugs as well as outlining four main objectives of the country's drug policy: (i) to prevent drug use and to treat and rehabilitate drug users; (ii) to reduce harm to users; (iii) to diminish public nuisance caused by drug users; and (iv) to combat the production and trafficking of drugs" (EMCDDA, 2014). The Netherlands Opium Act amended in 1976 was the foundation of the country's drug legislature as it defined dealing/possession of drugs, production, and drug trafficking as criminal acts. Hard drugs are considered schedule 1 drugs, yet if someone is found with .5 grams of a hard drug they will no be prosecuted. Small quantities of drugs are not prioritized. 5 grams constitutes the threshold for the amount of cannabis an individual can have on their person. The Dutch drug policy aims to separate illicit drugs ("hard") from cannabis ("soft"). By doing so the governmental policies separates the markets of drug use and the drug users that participate in such, the "acceptable risk" drug user and the "unacceptable risk" drug user, prioritizing the latter.
The Dutch legality of "soft" drugs up to a certain threshold is evident of the lenient structure of their drug legislation compared to that of the United States. In the Netherlands cannabis products are considered "soft" drugs as noted above and can be purchased in "coffee shops" legally. Yet, in the United States cannabis is considered a Schedule 1 drug federally.
The effects of drug use has had an affect on society leading to increase in robberies and drug selling, influencing the creation of the measure Placement in an Institution for Prolific Offenders, constituting mainly problematic drug users. This program requires a combination of imprisonment and behavior therapy, which usually takes place outside of prison. This is interesting because in comparison to the United States and past administrations with the "War on Drugs" efforts, most governmental drug legislation has not been very treatment oriented within the US, yet this piece of legislation from the Dutch government shows more of a pro-treatment stance rather than imprisonment.
Statistically both the life time prevalence and past year prevalence of marijuana use are higher among Americans than adults in the Netherlands. In 2009, 41.5% of adults in the USA claimed to have prevalence of marijuana throughout their life compared to the 25.7% of adults in the Netherlands (Drug War Facts, 2014). Meaning almost double the adults in the US used marijuana throughout their life span compared to those in the Netherlands where drug policies are actually more lenient! That is interesting; perhaps by decriminalizing and not prohibiting cannabis, less people had a desire to use it.
References:
Drug War Facts. (2014). Netherlands Compared with the United States. Retrieved from: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/netherlands_v_us#sthash.mWMbFOR9.dpbs
EMCDDA. (2014). European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction: Netherlands. Retrieved from: http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/country-overviews/nl
Fact Rover. (2014). Netherlands Government. Retrieved from: http://www.factrover.com/government/Netherlands_government.html
OECD. (2014).OECD Health Statistics 2014: How does the Netherlands Compare. Retrived from: http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Briefing-Note-NETHERLANDS-2014.pdf
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