University of Law Enforcement Sciences
Abstract: (13 Views)
Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to explore the drug retailers and to explain the individual, social, and structural processes influencing their entry into, continuation in, and outcomes of drug dealing activities. While numerous domestic and international studies have addressed the policing, legal, or therapeutic aspects of drug-related phenomena, the everyday lives of drug retailers, from their own perspectives, have received far less attention. Method: A qualitative research design grounded in grounded theory methodology was adopted. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 11 active drug retailers in Alborz Province (cities of Karaj and Fardis) and analyzed using coding techniques. Findings: The findings revealed that entry into drug retailing is often driven by economic pressures, unemployment, addiction, and peer network influences. The continuation of this activity is reinforced by social opportunities, weak institutional control, the presence of a stable consumer market, and the acquisition of distribution and communication skills. Drug dealing occurs within a complex interaction of social, economic, legal, and psychological conditions, forming a dynamic cycle. Retailers adopt various strategies to survive and interact with clients and peers, while continuously negotiating decisions about their future, including the possibility of exiting the trade. Conclusion: Drug retailing is shaped by the interplay of instrumental rationality, structural pressures, and social disorganization. Effective intervention and reduction strategies require multidimensional policy approaches that address the social, economic, and psychological dimensions of this phenomenon.
Purpose: This study aimed to explore the drug retailers and to explain the individual, social, and structural processes influencing their entry into, continuation in, and outcomes of drug dealing activities. While numerous domestic and international studies have addressed the policing, legal, or therapeutic aspects of drug-related phenomena, the everyday lives of drug retailers, from their own perspectives, have received far less attention. Method: A qualitative research design grounded in grounded theory methodology was adopted. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 11 active drug retailers in Alborz Province (cities of Karaj and Fardis) and analyzed using coding techniques. Findings: The findings revealed that entry into drug retailing is often driven by economic pressures, unemployment, addiction, and peer network influences. The continuation of this activity is reinforced by social opportunities, weak institutional control, the presence of a stable consumer market, and the acquisition of distribution and communication skills. Drug dealing occurs within a complex interaction of social, economic, legal, and psychological conditions, forming a dynamic cycle. Retailers adopt various strategies to survive and interact with clients and peers, while continuously negotiating decisions about their future, including the possibility of exiting the trade. Conclusion: Drug retailing is shaped by the interplay of instrumental rationality, structural pressures, and social disorganization. Effective intervention and reduction strategies require multidimensional policy approaches that address the social, economic, and psychological dimensions of this phenomenon.
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