Editors’ ChoiceThe burgeoning recognition and accommodation of the social supply of drugs in international criminal justice systems: An eleven-nation comparative overview
Section snippets
Background
In 2000, the Police Foundation published its inquiry into the United Kingdom’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and in it raised the issue that too many of those prosecuted for supply offences did not resemble the type of supplier that the Act was initially designed to capture and prosecute (Coomber & Moyle, 2013). Specifically, the report distinguished between ‘dealers proper’, whose supply activity was essentially commercial in nature and characterised by a more serious culpability, with supply ‘for
Methods
The absence of research that seeks to provide an analysis of the place of social supply in international criminal justice systems might be in part related to the difficulties in accessing this data in unfamiliar contexts. Apart from obvious language barriers, social supply practices may not always be defined as such or may be only recognised informally, with little explicit discussion of its parameters or characteristics in official documents. For these reasons, data presented in this paper are
Discussion
From Europe, to North America, Hong Kong and Australia, empirical research suggests that there is a distinctive socially situated supply practice, separate from commercially motivated dealing that is commonly observed in drug using populations. While researchers have agreed on some of the key features of social supply (i.e. largely as not-for-profit distribution to non-strangers), in many ways, the parameters or scope of social supply in particular countries are shaped by the nature of the
Conclusion
Research on social supply has tended to focus on distinct milieus and communities, and there has to date been little consideration of social supply as an internationally relevant concept. Although this research can only provide a snapshot of the global picture, it offers some important contributions in regard to its applicability, acceptance and operationalisation in international criminal justice contexts. Data suggests that while researchers identified the presence of social drug supply in
Declarations of interest
None.
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2022, International Journal of Drug PolicyCitation Excerpt :The latter is a particular cause for concern. The lack of provisions that explicitly address the phenomenon, coupled with the relatively inflexible application of quantitative thresholds either in law or in practice, produces unfair results ‘which clearly affect sentence severity’ and ‘encourage disparity and disproportionality’ (Coomber et al, 2018, p. 99). Nevertheless, reform of the reverse-onus provisions related to traffic should go some way to protecting users who purchase amounts above those thresholds from unjust prosecution.
Distinguishing personal use of drugs from drug supply: Approaches and challenges
2022, International Journal of Drug PolicyCitation Excerpt :Although this commentary has focused on the differentiation between personal possession and supply offences, it is important to note that these are not necessarily distinct groups. Social supply and supplying to fund drug use are both behaviours that are documented in the literature (Coomber & Moyle, 2014; Coomber et al., 2018; Moyle & Coomber, 2015), and include people who both use and supply drugs. This creates further difficulties for any policy to accurately distinguish between personal possession and supply.
Legalization of recreational cannabis: Facilitators and barriers to switching from an illegal to a legal source
2021, Preventive Medicine ReportsSources of drug acquisition among females and males in the European Web Survey on Drugs
2020, International Journal of Drug PolicyCitation Excerpt :For those who tend to use dealers to acquire drugs, namely males generally and females who use habitually, they take on greater risk of contact with the criminal justice system relative to those who acquire through sharing. Even if dealers are friends (i.e. a social supply), individuals take this risk, as laws across countries do not make distinctions on this basis (Coomber et al., 2018). By contrast, acquisition for free or through sharing is more common for females relative to males, especially among females who consume at lower frequencies.
The price and mark up of pharmaceutical drugs supplied on the black market
2020, International Journal of Drug PolicyCitation Excerpt :Research on pharmaceutical markets has shown that drugs may be gifted, shared or traded with others for altruistic reasons and to build social capital (Hulme et al., 2019; Murphy et al., 2018). These findings contribute to the growing discourse challenging traditional notions of ‘drug dealing’ as a highly profitable venture (Bright & Ritter, 2011; Bright & Sutherland, 2017; Coomber & Moyle, 2014; Coomber & Turnbull, 2007; Coomber et al., 2018, 2016; Grigg, Lenton, Scott, & Barratt, 2015; Lenton, Grigg, Scott, & Barratt, 2016, 2015; McKetin, McLaren, & Kelly, 2005; Murphy et al., 2018; Potter, 2009; Taylor & Potter, 2013; Werse & Bernard, 2016), and implies that people may become involved in supply for reasons other than financial gain. Indeed, the median gross revenue from diversion and supply in our sample per cycle was merely $30 per month, which comparatively is considerably lower than the Australian minimum wage that is currently $3117 per month (Australian Government, 2019).