Lifestyle/background
In today’s world we see a lot of crimes that deal with drugs. In this website Tessie Castillo a journalist has talked on the phone with a man named Casper to understand how drug dealers choose their lifestyle. Casper started selling drugs and using them at age fifteen. He would even sell drugs in his highschool parties. Eventually he was arrested and served time in prison. Casper told the journalist Castillo
Once I realized I could do something simple like sell drugs and make money without having to punch a clock or have anyone tell me what to do, that was the lifestyle that I wanted. I wanted to be my own boss (Castillo. 2019).
As we can see he decided to choose this lifestyle of being a drug dealer in order to be his
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People that are adventurers are more likely to act in criminal acts because they find pleasure when it comes to committing a crime. “Dealing can help people to create the type of life they want as one of excitement, where they are 'tough', or where they break outside of society and its restraints” (Lighthouse, 2023b). This is another reason why some people might decide to live a lifestyle of selling drugs. They might also encounter peer pressure which leads them to also engage in criminal behavior. When people have friends or family that are selling drugs and they pressure people to engage in this type of criminal activity they themselves feel obligated to participate in this type of activity. This type of activity can be seen more in drug dealers that have a gang. Having a gang that sells drugs is more dangerous because the members in the gang can threaten their own people if they decide to not engage in criminal …show more content…
“By 2015, the drug was responsible for killing nearly 13,000 people in the U.S. alone.” (Lpc, 2023) Heroin is a drug that can become very addicting and cause changes both physically and mentally. As discussed previously heroin is being cut or laced with other dangerous substances to produce a bigger high and more money. In the research it was found that, “ the drug was mixed with sugars, powdered milk, starches, quinine, or other bulking agents. (Lpc, 2023) This is why one needs to be aware of what they buy, one bag might not contain the same substances as another. This is why people get overdosed because the substances that are mixed with heroin are unknown. As stated in the article, , “but they are often much more potent and can lead to a treacherous slowing of several physiological processes such as breathing. Some of these substances are used for medical reasons, while others are not approved for human consumption at any time”. (Lpc,
Reformulation did not help diminish preexisting OxyContin addictions but provoked people to seek out their fix through stronger means. Opioid pills paved the way for street drugs such as heroin. Black tar heroin was appealing to many OxyContin addicts as it was incredibly cheap, yet potent; and most of all, satisfied their opioid cravings. CDC data suggests that “people who misuse prescription opioid painkillers are 40 times more likely to become addicted to heroin than those who do not misuse prescription opioids” (Wickramatilake et al. 171). Consequently, America saw an en-masse departure from pills to heroin which began permeating wealthy suburbs, high schools, and other locations previously assumed to be “safe” from street drugs.
He was still a teenager when he would steal things to support his drug habits. “At one point,
This is a summary taken from “Saying Yes” by Jacob Sullum; Chapter 8; “Body and Soul”. An ever-present theme in Sullum’s book is what he calls “voodoo pharmacology”—the idea, promoted in large part by the government, that certain drugs have the power to hijack people and enslave them in an inescapable prison of craving and compulsion. Sullum seeks to show that this idea is a myth, that only a tiny percentage of illegal-drug users become addicts, whereas the vast majority of people who use illegal drugs live normal, productive, loving lives. The book is filled with valuable insights derived from deconstructing government statistics about drugs and drug use. Sullum shows how even the most vilified drugs, such as heroin and crack cocaine, are
A primary reason which provoked Dude to get involved in drug trading was the ludicrous amount of money he could make from such a young age. At age fourteen Dude was selling dope, making $1500 a week, this led to irresponsible and hedonistic spending. This hedonistic spending gave meaning to Dude’s life, pleasures such as food, females, and the mall, were all major focuses of his life. Dude recalls spending $400 a week on overpriced rent and $50 on food even when he wasn’t hungry (Bergmann 2008:109); this impulsive spending may suggest a shaping of an unstable and turbulent economic life and poor financial responsibility for Dude in future
As a REACH member, I had the privilege of witnessing a support group for substance abusers and alcoholics. One man, in particular, spoke of his addiction to cocaine. I listened to his speech that described his introduction to the substance, the hardships he faced, and his slow but successful recovery. I, though, had one question in mind: to what measures will users and even sellers go for drugs? Sudhir Venkatesh’s Gang Leader For a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets answers my question.
Heroin is made from a poppy plants. Chinese may be an influence on psychosocial factors for heroin use. Some of the popular street names for heroin are: big H, H, junk, skag, horse, smack, thunder, hell dust, nose drops. The short-term effects of heroin will appear a little after one dose and disappear in a few hours. Effects of heroin overdose will include the following: slow and shallow breathing, hypotension, muscle spasms, seizures, coma, and possible death.
(Ribay, 281). Therefore, Jun turned to drugs because of the lack of money, leading to addiction, which caused him to start selling drugs to feed his drug addiction. This happened to most people who got killed. When they have no choice but to turn to drugs to relieve their hunger, they become addicted. Their addiction leads them to start selling.
Throughout the last few years a very dangerous drug has burst into mainstream attention, heroin. All throughout the country, there are numerous people suffering from addiction to the drug, and even dying. Heroin is a highly addictive drug that is relatively cheap and in many places, easy to find. In many big cities, it seems that almost everyone knows someone who has been on heroin, or a mutual acquaintance of a user. Numerous organizations have their opinions on how to stop the epidemic from spreading before it reaches an even vaster number of people.
The history of this problem started in the late 1960’s when recreational drug use was on the rise with the middle class in America. From 1968-1969 the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was founded, studies linked crime
Underlying Causes: The increase in the sale of opioids is considered to be the root of the opioid crisis, as the drugs have been proven to be highly addictive. An addiction to prescriptive opioids, however, can lead to an addiction to synthetic, illegal opioids, such as heroine or fentanyl, which are less expensive and easier to acquire. In fact, in their journal article, “Associations of nonmedical pain reliever use and initiation of heroin use in the United States” Pradip Muhuri and associates discovered that “the recent (12 months preceding interview) heroin incidence rate was 19 times higher among those who reported prior nonmedical prescription pain reliever (NMPR) use than among those who did not (0.39 vs. 0.02 percent)” (Muhuri et. al). In other words, abusing prescription opioids significantly raises the chances of abusing illicit drugs, such as heroin.
Also ”gangs offer protection and governance in places where established institutions fail, and that it makes sense for prisoners to join them,” (Skarbek). This is the main reason people join gangs they are forced to in order to insure their safety. The reason the leaders of the gang allow people to join and keep the safe is explained here ”Gangs can trade far more effectively than lone inmates. Prisoners listen when they threaten violence; members can ease trade from the outside after their release. Consumers, in this case buyers of drugs, benefit too.
The continuous use of narcotics results in addiction, and financial struggles due to the costly upkeep. “Financial problems are one of the major side effects of drug and substance abuse” (Buaggett, 2015). Addicts cannot adequately take an active role in the economic activities, as the use of drugs inhibits the abilities of the users to earn a daily living. Due to the instability of finances, this would result in selling personal belongings to continue funding the substance of choice, and depending on the addicts living situation, this could lead to losing their house or being removed from their current housing. While being under the influence, an addicts voice of reason is jeopardized, resulting in criminal activities which raise the chances of being apprehended by the law enforcers, as well as, heavy fines are imposed.
When people take these synthetic heroin pills, they do not feel as though it is a drug addiction as much as it is a way for them to deal with pain, over-stimulation, and as a tranquilizer. Today, we are currently facing an epidemic with drug addiction and continuously trying to solve the problem with a war on drugs. “The U.S. spends about $51 billion a year enforcing the war on drugs, and arrests nearly 1.5 million people for drug violations, according to Drug Policy Alliance, a drug policy reform group” (Ferner). Since the United States spends so much money on this epidemic, the numbers should start to go down, but it is instead doing the opposite. It is easy to figure out the numbers through doctors, “Increases in prescription drug misuse over the last
Drug dealing provided the necessary income for them to be able to survive. Thus, these types of experiences would future alienate them from mainstream society and drive them into the underground economy of crack, the only place where they can go to make money, and regain a certain sense of dignity and
Prescription drugs (opiates only) have caused over 165,000 deaths within the last 15 years and is currently on the rise. Over 2 million Americans in 2014 were addicted to Opiate prescription narcotics. The most troubling fact is listed directly on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website: “As many as 1 in 4