The war on drugs usually neglects to mention the middle man. We know the majority of heroin comes from Mexico and South America, and that Afghanistan is a large cultivator of poppies. Most cocaine, meanwhile, comes from Bolivia, Columbia and Peru, and actually two-thirds of our marijuana is produced in Mexico. But the little guy— the drug dealer around the corner— is often the one with all the power.
Vice spoke to four small time drug dealers from the London area, to collect their perspectives on customer drug abuse, addiction and overdose.
Mo from Brighton— sells cocaine.
“…If they didn’t look too bad and could string a sentence together, I’d sell it to them, to be honest. If they don’t get it off me, they’ll only call someone else…. Because I’m a bit more expensive, my clients are generally older, so I don’t have to worry about some kid who doesn’t know what they’re doing. I do have people who buy too regularly, and of course, I worry about how they’re affected by it, especially if I’ve gotten to know them a bit.”
Aiden from London — sells prescription pills.
“I would get a runner to tell them to be careful if I knew the drugs were strong. And I would refuse to sell to anyone under 16. I’d even get the runners to ID them if they looked really young… I don’t want someone’s stupid mistake of ODing on my conscience. If someone had died taking my drugs, I would have 100 percent felt responsible. It would have played on my mind for the rest of my life.”
Lucy (Location Undisclosed) — sells heroin.
“I’ve introduced people to heroin. I don’t believe that all people that take heroin will go on to be full-blown junkies… However, some become engulfed in a heroin haze and will use until they lose everything… I’m clean now and am passionate about harm reduction. We need safer injecting, more funding into harm reduction, more funding for treatment centers. Not everybody who tries it will become dependent, but those who do—they need help. The government’s ways of tackling addiction do not work.”
Chris from Birmingham — sells pills and acid.
“Because of the sort of drug acid is, I think it’s up to buyers to understand what they’re in for. However, I gave as much advice as people needed because it can be so messy if you don’t understand it… I quickly stopped selling Xanax because people started wanting it for anxiety rather than just coming down from a trip. I’m not a doctor!”
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