An Analysis of Alternatives to New York City's Current Marijuana Arrest and Detention Policy.

During the 1990s, the New York Police Department (NYPD) instituted a policy of arresting and detaining people for minor offenses that occur in public as part of their quality-of-life (hereafter QOL) policing initiative. The number of NYPD arrests for smoking marijuana in public view (MPV) increased from 3,000 in 1994 to over 50,000 in 2000, and have been about 30,000 in the mid 2000s. Most of these arrestees (84%) have been minority; blacks have been 2.7 more likely and Hispanics 1.8 times more likely to be detained than whites for an MPV arrest. Minorities have been most likely to receive more severe dispositions, even controlling for demographics and prior arrest histories.This paper examines the pros and cons of the current policy; this is compared with possible alternatives including the following: arrest and issue a desk appearance ticket (DAT); issue a non-criminal citation (violation); street warnings; and tolerate public marijuana smoking. The authors recommend that the NYPD change to issuing DATs on a routine basis. Drug policy reformers might wish to further pursue changing statutes regarding smoking marijuana in public view into a violation (noncriminal) or encourage the wider use of street warnings. Any of these policy changes would help reduce the disproportionate burden on minorities associated with the current arrest and detention policy. These policies could help maintain civic norms against smoking marijuana in public.

Civic norms and etiquettes regarding marijuana use in public settings in New York City.

This paper shows that active police enforcement of civic norms against marijuana smoking in public settings has influenced the locations where marijuana is smoked. It has subtly influenced the various marijuana etiquettes observed in both public and private settings. The ethnographic data reveal the importance of informal sanctions; most marijuana consumers report compliance with etiquettes mainly to avoid stigma from nonusing family, friends, and associates-they express limited concern about police and arrest.

Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches: Case Studies of Prescription Pill Use and Misuse among Marijuana/Blunt Smoking Middle Class Young Women.

Recent survey research has documented important increases during the 2000s in the misuse and abuse of several prescription drugs (Vicodin, Percocet, Codeine, Dilaudid, Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, Adderall, Ritalin, among others). This article focuses upon the patterns of pill use and misuse among young women who are middle-class white and college-educated, and they are also experienced marijuana users who report recreational consumption of other illegal drugs. The ethnographic data provides insights about various ways and reasons that such prescription pill misuse occurs among 12 college-educated, (upper) middle-class, white/Asian women in their 20s who were involved in a major ethnographic study of marijuana and blunts. Three patterns of pill use were observed: recreational; quasi-medical; and legal medical; shifts among these patterns of pill use was common. Few reported that their pill use interfered with their conventional jobs and lifestyles; they concealed such use from their employers and coworkers, and from non-using friends and family members. None reported contacts with police nor seeking treatment specifically for their pill misuse. Many reported misusing prescription pills in conjunction with illegal drugs (marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy) and alcohol. Pills were used as a way to enhance the euphoric effects of other drugs, as well as a way to avoid the negative side effects of illegal drugs. Some reported pill use as a means for reducing expenditures (and use of) alcohol and cocaine. The implications suggest a hidden subpopulation of prescription pill misusers among regular users of marijuana and other illegal drugs. Future research should include users and misusers of various pills to better understand how prescriptions pills interact with illegal drug use patterns.

Retail marijuana purchases in designer and commercial markets in New York City: sales units, weights, and prices per gram.

This paper documents the bifurcation of the market for commercial marijuana from the market for designer marijuana in New York City. Commercial marijuana is usually grown outdoors, imported to NYC, and of average quality. By contrast, several varities of designer marijuana are usually grown indoors from specially bred strains and carefully handled for maximum quality. The mechanisms for marijuana sales include street/park sellers, delivery services, private sales, and storefronts. Retail sales units vary from 5 dollars to 50 dollars and more, but the actual weights and price per gram of retail marijuana purchases lacks scientific precision. Ethnographic staff recruited marijuana purchasers who used digital scales to weigh a purposive sample of 99 marijuana purchases. Results indicate clear differences in price per gram between the purchases of commercial (average 8.20 dollars/g) and designer (average 18.02 dollars/g) marijuana. Designer purchases are more likely to be made by whites, downtown (Lower East Side/Union Square area), via delivery services, and in units of 10 dollar bags, 50 dollar cubes, and eighth and quarter ounces. Commercial marijuana purchases are more likely to be made by blacks, uptown (Harlem), via street dealers, and in units of 5 dollar and 20 dollar bags. Imported commercial types Arizona and Chocolate were only found uptown, while designer brand names describing actual strains like Sour Diesel and White Widow were only found downtown. Findings indicate clear divisions between commercial and designer marijuana markets in New York City. The extent that these differences may be based upon different THC potencies is a matter for future research.

Social constructions of dependency by blunts smokers: Qualitative reports.

Concerns about the risk of cannabis dependence have been renewed in recent years by changing patterns of consumption, including increased levels of use, easier access to high-potency strains of cannabis and the rising popularity of blunts (tobacco cigar shells filled with cannabis). Such concerns have been reinforced by a number of studies suggesting that cannabis dependence, as measured by DSM criteria, has indeed increased. However, there are reasons to question these findings. First, the studies may not accurately reflect users' experiences, for a number of methodological and conceptual reasons. Equally important, they do not examine the practice of smoking blunts, which exposes cannabis users to nicotine and has obvious implications for dependence (and other health problems). In this paper we reveal social understandings of dependence by analysing in-depth interviews with 92 users of blunts and cannabis in other forms in New York City. We also discuss ethnographic observations of these users and others that reveal practises and norms relevant to the risk of cannabis dependence. We find that users' experiences and descriptions do not correspond to official dependence criteria and that some use practices, such as smoking blunts in groups, promote moderate consumption rather than compulsive use. Respondents also associated nicotine with dependence, suggesting that research on cannabis dependence should be designed to include blunt smoking.

Cigars-for-blunts: choice of tobacco products by blunt smokers.

An important part of blunt (marijuana in a cigar shell) smoking is the ritual of the preparation process and the selection of tobacco product for the blunt. This article explores reasons for selection from the different tobacco products available in the legal commercial market. Based upon three years of ethnographic research with 92 focal subjects, the analysis focuses upon the practical, subcultural, and symbolic reasons that blunt smokers give for choosing tobacco products (cigars for blunts-CFBs) employed in the blunt preparation process. The blunt ritual also functions within the marijuana subculture to differentiate blunt smokers from joints/pipes smokers. This analysis explores the reasons users give for selecting among the most popular inexpensive cigar brands (Dutch Masters, Phillies Blunts, and Backwoods) all owned and marketed by a single cigar conglomerate. Blunt chasing--the smoking of a cigarillo or cigar following a blunt--is an emergent phenomenon that further expands the market for tobacco products among blunt smokers. Recently, many different flavors have been added to these tobacco products in order to attract young and minority blunt consumers.

"GETTING HIGH AND GETTING BY": DIMENSIONS OF DRUG SELLING BEHAVIORS AMONG AMERICAN MEXICAN GANG MEMBERS IN SOUTH TEXAS.

This article discerns the role that Mexican American gang members play in drug markets, and the relationship between gang members'drug use and drug selling in South Texas. A four-part typology based on the two dimensions of gang type and gang member emerged from this qualitative analysis of 160 male gang members: Homeboys, Hustlers, Slangers, and Ballers. Major findings include the following: (1) many gang members are user/sellers and are not profit-oriented dealers, (2) gangs commonly do extend "protection" to drug-selling members, and (3) proximity to Mexican drug markets, adult prison gangs, and criminal family members may play important roles in whether these gang members have access and the profit potential to actually deal drugs. This research contributes to our complex intersections between gangs, drug using, and drug selling.