Illegal drug trade: Encyclopedia II - Illegal drug trade - Soft drugs

Illegal drug trade - Soft drugs

Many people do not find the hard/soft drug distinction useful, as it is the drug users' behavior that is the most important determinate of harm, not the choice of drug: all drugs can be harmful if misused. A more useful distinction ranks drugs according to their toxicity and addictive potential. However, the legal treatment of drugs still seems influenced by perception rather than fact, so this article will group the discussion accordingly.

"Soft" drugs are generally drugs which are perceived to have less potential for causing physical or mental health damage to the user than "hard" drugs. History may play a part in a society's perception of what is a soft drug; for example alcohol and tobacco are both very addictive and known to cause health issues, but are legally traded in many more juridictions than other soft drugs. Occasional attempts to make alcohol and tobacco illegal have lead to situations such as the United States Prohibition period, which are instructive to study regarding how illegal trade immediately organized around the controlled substances. Conversely, changing societal views have led to suggestions of further decriminalizing other soft drugs.

For the purpose of this article, the following drugs will be considered soft drugs:

• Anabolic steroids
• Cannabis
• Ecstasy (MDMA)
• Ketamine
• LSD
• GHB
• PCP
• Psilocybin mushrooms

Illegal drug trade - Anabolic steroids trade

For detailed information on anabolic steroids, see the article Anabolic steroids

Illegal use of anabolic steroids, a class of hormones, is primarily to improve the muscular system of the human body for either increased performance (for example by athletes) or better bodybuilding results.

Anabolic steroids are not known to be chemically addictive, but can be psychologically addictive for people with body dysmorphic disorders.

The societal and health risks of regular anabolic steroid use is debatable, but a few jurisdictions (the US, Canada and Sweden) now consider anabolic steroids controlled substances; in the US it is a Schedule III controlled substance because it is a low abuse risk, has legitimate medical uses, and is has low physical dependency effects. Furthermore, the US Congress passed the Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 2004 to further clarify which related substances were considered controlled.

Many international sports organizations, and now (after intense government pressure) most American professional sports organizations, are taking increasingly tougher stands against athletes who use anabolic steroids as performance enhancing drugs. While this will presumably decrease the illegal trade related to athletes, there is still a very high demand for anabolic steroids from amateur bodybuilders.

Anabolic steroids need sophisticated pharmaceutical processes and equipment to produce, so are generally produced by legitimate pharmaceutical companies.

In the 1990s most of the US producers such as Ciba, Searle and Syntex stopped making and marketing anabolic steroids within the US. However, in many other regions, particularly Eastern Europe, they are still produced in quantity. European anabolic steroids are the source of most medical grade anabolic steroids sold illegally in North America.

However, anabolic steroids are still in wider use for veterinary purposes, and many illegal anabolic steroids are actually veterinary grade.

All the usual problems with illegal drug trades, including substitutions, cutting, diluting, and faking affect illegal anabolic steroids so that when it reaches distribution the quality may be questionable or possibly dangerous.

Since the anabolic steroids are produced in different countries than in which they are distributed, they must be smuggled across international borders. Like most significant smuggling operations, sophisticated organized crime is involved, often in conjunction with other smuggling efforts (including other illegal drugs).

Unlike cannabis and heroin, there have not been many high profile cases of individual smugglers of anabolic steroids being caught.

The majority of illegal anabolic steroids are distributed by interested parties (i.e. bodybuilders and athletes who themselves are users), rather than organized crime gangs.

The anabolic steroids are often dealt by contacts made at fitness centers and on athletic teams. Steroid users are fairly easy to recognize and therefore initial contact is generally easy.

Anabolic steroids can be distributed in either pill or injectible forms. The pills look like any other medical pills, but have the drawback that metabolising them is known to cause liver damage. Injectible steroids are generally distributed in vials, either a type that needs to be broken open or with rubber stoppers through which the needle draws the fluid. Pill form needs to be taken about every few days and injectible steroids need to be injected about once per week to maintain full effectiveness. Injections are intramuscular, not intraveneous.

Illegal drug trade - Cannabis trade

For detailed information on cannabis, see the article Cannabis.

Marijuana and hasheesh are the main drug forms of cannabis, while hemp is the main industrial form.

Cannabis use is primarily recreational. Because it typically gives users a state of relaxation and non-aggression, it has been considered as a peace drug, especially among the hippie culture. Proponents for legalization of cannibis claim that its use benefits users and society.

However, long-term, regular use of cannabis is known to create health problems, for example lung disorders due to the smoking).

See Wiktionary Appendix of Cannabis Slang.

Cannabis is a plant and therefore production is relatively easy. The main distinction in production is whether it is grown indoors or outdoors.

Indoor cannabis production usually takes the form of "grow-ops" (i.e. growing operations) which are often suburban houses that are modified to become hydroponic hothouses. This often entails stealing electricity to power the grow lights and irrigation systems, and the heat and moisture often ruin the house as a living quarters. Immigrant families are often given housing at grow-ops in order to give the appearance of normalcy to the house to avoid reporting by neighbors. Law enforcement trying to detect grow-ops often look for unusual electricity consumption and also will use thermal imaging of rooftops to see if the house is hotter than expected. A collateral problem to grow-ops is that they are often done in rented houses, ruining the property of the landlords.

Outdoor cannabis production is typically done in plots that are hidden in forested or jungled remote areas. The forest services in many juridictions known for cannibis cultivation have active programs scanning for cannabis plots. In some cases the plots are so large that controlled fires are used to destroy the crop.

Once harvested, the cannibis is separated (into leaves, stems, seeds and buds) and cured to create smokable marijuana, or pressed to create hasheeh.

• Indoor is cannabis grown indoors. Sometimes pronounced "indoe", sounding much like the Latin endo-, which has a similar meaning when spoken as "indoe-weed". As a rule of thumb, indoor weed is (usually) better quality than outdoor because of the protection it gets inside, though there are obviously exceptions as this depends on a number of factors.
• Outdoor, sometimes pronounced "outdoe" or instead called exo- or ecto- (to contrast with endo), is cannabis that has been grown outdoors. Although it is almost always lower quality than indoor, some extremely potent strains in this class do exist, such as those grown in southern Mexico and Central America, as well as the famed Alaskan thunderfuck, which is grown in 24-hour natural sunlight.
• Hydro, also called hydroponic, is a separate method of growing, where the plants are grown in water and a medium routinely flushed with nutrients.
• Aeroponics, a relatively recent and perhaps still somewhat experimental hydroponic cultivation method in which no medium is used and the roots are directly exposed to water and nutrients. Some growers use fish aquariums housing feeder fish, whose waste provides the necessary nutrients. This technique is still very uncommon.
• Organic simply refers to the use of organic growing methods (including fertilizer, medium, and pest-control), which can also be used for hydroponic set-ups. If inorganic pesticides were used during the flowering phase of the plant's life cycle, then the smoked buds will sometimes pop and crackle, emitting bursts of sparks due to the chemicals present in the pesticides.

Due to the existence of different strains and different degrees of potency, along with varying degrees of anti-drug law enforcement in different jurisdictions, the wholesale price of marijuana varies widely. For example, it is not unheard of for low-potency Mexican "schwag" to be purchased in multi-ton quantities. These type of purchases are executed by large poly-drug criminal organizations that work with other national and international crime cartels. It is not uncommon for these crime cartels to employ a professional smuggler to assist with packing and shipping the contraband. The importers of these drugs tend to be associated with violence and often import other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. In the United States, the Mexico-US border is usually the source for these large wholesale transactions.

Higher-grade marijuana tends to trade on a much smaller scale due to the nature of the product — higher potency means that less must be smoked to achieve the desired effects. High grade marijuana typically originates in small scale domestic indoor and outdoor growing operations.

Certain types of cannabis that are unique to a particular area, such as Maui-wowie, hula-bud, may be shipped great distances due to popularity and demand.

On the United States' Pacific coast, a cannabis "superhighway" of sorts exists, along which most exotic strains are traded, anti-cannabis laws are relatively relaxed or are not as actively enforced, and large numbers of growers reside.

At the northernmost end of this "highway" is Alaska, where "northern lights" and "Alaskan thunderfuck" are produced. Further south is British Columbia, home of the famous BC bud, which comes in a wide array of qualities and forms, the most desired of which is the hydrochronic, or hydroponically grown chronic. South of British Columbia is Washington, which is the home of the annual Hempfest, has an extremely high number of local growers, and imports massive quantities of hydrochronic from British Columbia, "Maui-wowie" and "hula-bud" from Hawaii, "Thai-sticks" from Thailand, "yellow cab" from Idaho, and red-hair bud from southern Mexico via California and Oregon. Washington is also famous for its chemo-bud grown at the University of Washington. At the southernmost end is Mexico, which, although known mainly for its low-quality "dirt weed", facilitates the trade of highly potent strains from southern Mexico and Central America into the United States.

Cannibis is generally sold by weight with a dose starting at an eighth of an ounce. In the majority of cases, a local grower will give cannabis to "distributors". Each distributor will take between a quarter ounce and one pound and then divide it up and sell it to street-sellers or to informal networks of like-minded users.

Note that while this is relatively standard jargon, any of these terms may have related, sometimes more specific, sometimes more generic, and very often overlapping meanings in both regional jargons and slang. Each of these terms also has a stunningly large array of slang synonyms. While the vernaculars of stoners vary greatly from region to region and group to group, and range from simplistic and poorly defined slang to locale- or clique-specific jargons with enormous vocabularies and even more greatly stratified, complex terminologies with more specific and exacting definitions, the terms outlined below are almost universally understood, albeit generic and necessarily somewhat ambiguous.

See Wiktionary Appendix of Cannabis Slang.

Illegal drug trade - Ecstasy MDMA trade

see: Ecstasy article

Illegal drug trade - Ketamine trade

For further development

Illegal drug trade - LSD trade

LSD (also known as Acid) is a highly potent hallucinogen which is synthesized artificially. The availability of LSD in the United States dropped sharply circa 2000, when two distributors alleged by the government to have been manufacturing 95% of all LSD available in the US were captured (see LSD). Unlike other drugs, the production of LSD is very complicated and involves obtaining highly controlled precursors. It is said that someone with a PhD in organic chemistry could produce LSD, but anybody with less education and experience would have a very difficult time synthesizing a decent product. Historically, LSD was distributed not for profit, but because those who made and distributed it truly believed that the psychedelic experience could do good for humanity, that it expanded the mind and could bring understanding and love. Most of the main distributors traveled with the Grateful Dead until Jerry Garcia's death.

LSD is produced in a liquid form which is then sprayed or soaked onto sheets of absorbent paper for distribution. The paper is then cut into small, square pieces called "tabs" for distribution. Each producer often prints interesting graphical elements onto the paper as a sort of a logo and to emphasize the psychedelic drug culture typified by LSD users.

The tabs of LSD are used by placing them in the mouth and letting the active ingredients come off the paper and be absorbed by the membranes of the mouth and tongue. Other moist areas of the body can be used, with people sometimes placing them on the eyes or even genitals.

There is almost no chance of overdose on LSD, as users would have to consume almost their entire bodyweight in LSD, but some people may have psychotic episodes, including self-harm or suicidal actions, in addition to the expected, desired psychedelic experience. The mood and the environment of the user can greatly affect the experience, and people who are worried or fearful can have paranoid delusions.

Other risks to users include substitutions (the most dangerous being PCP) or being cheated by tabs with no active LSD.

Illegal drug trade - GHB trade

Illegal drug trade - PCP trade

For further development

Illegal drug trade - Psilocybin Mushroom trade

The trade of Psilocybin containing mushrooms (virtually always psilocybe cubensis) is a profitable, but less common one. While Psilocybin mushrooms can be found in the wild, this is not the typical method through which they are acquired, especially for sale. This method is highly inefficient and very few people are confident enough to be able to positively identify them and even fewer are actually right. The people who sell Psilocybin mushrooms typically grow the mushrooms themselves, which is why they are less commonly found, but highly profitable as it is generally 100% profit for the seller or a seller and growing partner splitting profits 50% each.

There are several types of psilocybin-containing mushrooms, including:

• Psilocybe cubensis
• Psilocybe azurescens
• Psilocybe cyanescens
• Psilocybe mexicana
• Psilocybe subcubensis

Psilocybe cubensis is the most common, therefore popular, strain, perpetuated by its recommendation in most methods, including the PF Tek method, as being a relatively easy-starting strain.

Personal growing of mushrooms is extremely easy, thanks to the legal status of spores and mycelium (varies in different countries and states). One can purchase kits through the mail or internet that include everything one needs for personal growing. These grow kits are often used by amateurs, producing only enough for personal use and sharing with some friends. These amateur growers typically go on to create "Flushes" (When mushrooms cover the entire grow surface. Typically one container will grow 2-3 flushes before needing fresh mycelium containing material.) which produce 1 lb or more of dried mushrooms. The skills required for this profitable method of growing are generally learned in the amateur growing phase. The most common reason for failure at any scale is contamination of the material and containers that are to be inocculated by spores. The most common grow method is known as the PF Tek method, most other methods are based on this method which has been circulating on the internet for several years. The creator of this method is known as PF Tek and used to sell supplies and spore syringes, however PF Tek has since bowed out of this.

Most of the supplies needed for mushroom cultivation (mason jars, petri dishes, scalpels, rye) can be easily obtained from many stores. Amateurs who actually take the time to research mushroom cultivation would not need to start off with a grow kit and can easily make their own grow space.

Because mushrooms can be grown indoors, they are generally grown within the same national borders as they are sold. There is little need for smuggling.

While mushrooms may be moved by organized crime, more often they are moved by informal affiliations of acquaintances and fellow users.

There have not been any high profile cases of mushroom traffickers being caught or prosecuted. In fact some state courts, such as in New Mexico, have ruled that growing mushrooms does not constitute "manufacturing" as defined by the drug trade statutes.

Mushrooms are generally distributed among acquaintances or by street dealers. They are sold in plastic bags containing either whole dried plants or crushed/powdered plants, and generally sold by weight. The potency of mushrooms can vary greatly depending on the growing conditions, and users run the risk of intaking a poisonous, mis-identified species or being cheated by substitutions or cutting of the mushrooms with other non-psychedelic varieties.

Illegal drug trade - Illegal alcohol trade

In a few predominately Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, alcohol is strictly forbidden by law. Many drinks such as absinthe are, or were until recently illegal to sell in many European countries. Absinthe remains illegal in the USA.

In the USA, there still are communities (called "dry" counties) with a ban of the sale of alcohol. Almost one-half of Mississippi's counties are dry. It is also illegal to transport unopened bottles of alcohol across any dry county line in the state.

As with any other controlled substances, there are corresponding illegal trades. To understand such trade, it is instructive to study the Prohibition period in US history (which is notable in being largely attributed to the growth of several large crime organizations, including the mafia, due to highly profitable bootlegging operations during the early 20th century).

Illegal drug trade - Illegal tobacco trade

The illegal trade of tobacco is motivated primarily by increasingly heavy taxation. When tobacco products such as name-brand cigarettes are traded illegally, the cost is as little as one third that of retail price due to the lack of taxes being piled on as the product is sold from manufacturer to buyer to retailer. Meanwhile, the sale of tobacco, legal or not, seems motivated almost entirely by addiction, with social/recreational motives being the cause of initial consumption.

The source of the illegally traded tobacco is often the proceeds from other crimes, such as store and transportation robberies.

Sometimes, the illegal trade of tobacco is motivated by differences in taxes in two jurisdictions, including smuggling across international borders. Smuggling of tobacco from the US into Canada has been problematic, and sometimes political where trans-national native communities are involved in the illegal trade.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Soft drugs", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki