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19 Crime L. & Soc. Change 1 (1993)

handle is hein.journals/crmlsc19 and id is 1 raw text is: Crime, Law and Social Change 19: 1-15, 1993. © 1993 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Don't be your own best customer - Drug use of San Francisco gang drug sellers DAN WALDORF Home Boy Study, Institute for Scientific Analysis, 2719 Encinal Avenue No. A, Alameda, CA 94501, USA Abstract. In general, it is believed that most retail drug sellers, those who sell small amounts, use the drugs they sell and that drug sales is undertaken not only for the purpose of making money but to get the drugs they desire or need. In a few instances there have been accounts of groups who rationalized drug sales to maximize profits and as a result did not use the drugs they sold, but the literature on the topic of the drug use of sellers has been sketchy. This paper will report preliminary findings of a survey of 300 gang members in San Francisco about the drug use of gang drug sellers. These findings reveal that the majority of gang crack sellers, who are usually African-American, do not use crack themselves while the majority of marijuana, powder cocaine and heroin sellers do use the drugs they sell. In general, African-American gangs that sell crack in San Francisco have rules about the use of crack by sellers and believe that it is highly addictive drug that is bad for business and is contrary to a gang principle of being down for the hood and other gang members. Introduction Historically, it was believed that most retail illicit drug sellers, people who sold small quantities, were drug users who sold drugs because of a desire or need for supplies and that most low-level sellers were also users of the drugs they sold. Smugglers and high level dealers, most notably organized crime groups such as the Mafia and Columbian cocaine cartels, were believed not to use the drugs they sold. This notion about retail sellers continued until 1986 when Miecz- kowskit reported that retail drug sales for a group of fifteen adolescent heroin sellers in Detroit had become rationalized and that the group in an effort to maximize profit rejected heroin use. Simultaneously, street and rock house sales of rock cocaine or crack made a dramatic appearance in several cities - first in Miami, New York City and Los Angeles and eventually into the West and Midwest - and there were continuing reports that crack sellers had become highly organized and that many did not use the drug they sold. Since that time several researchers have endeavored to explore the notion with varying results and somewhat sketchy findings. In this paper we will report preliminary data of a study of drug sales of San Francisco gang members which should clarify some the issues for gang sellers in that city.

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