Dealing with Privilege

Cannabis, Cocaine, and the Economic Foundations of Suburban Drug Culture

David Crawford

Dealing with Privilege: Cannabis, Cocaine, and the Economic Foundations of Suburban Drug Culture focuses on the careers of nine successfully retired drug dealers, offering a contrast to sociological, criminological, and other depictions of drug dealing as a realm of the desperate, dangerous, and poor. David Crawford tells the great untold story of drug dealing in America, where white, middle-class dealers are unlikely to suffer the enforcement of drug laws. Contrary to media portrayals, Crawford argues that suburban drug sales are not oriented around money making but friendship and fun. Using economic anthropology, classic sociology, and neuroscience to analyze the life trajectories of these dealers, Crawford touches on issues of crime, race, culture, aging, gender, privilege, illegal drugs, and the limits of conventional economics as a framework to understand economic behavior.

Lexington Books

Pages: 178 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4985-9816-3 • Hardback • June 2019 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-9818-7 • Paperback • March 2023 • $39.99 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / General, Political Science / Public Policy / Social Policy, Social Science / Substance Abuse, Social Science / Culture, Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations

Dealing with Privilege

Cannabis, Cocaine, and the Economic Foundations of Suburban Drug Culture

Hardback

Paperback

Summary

Dealing with Privilege: Cannabis, Cocaine, and the Economic Foundations of Suburban Drug Culture focuses on the careers of nine successfully retired drug dealers, offering a contrast to sociological, criminological, and other depictions of drug dealing as a realm of the desperate, dangerous, and poor. David Crawford tells the great untold story of drug dealing in America, where white, middle-class dealers are unlikely to suffer the enforcement of drug laws. Contrary to media portrayals, Crawford argues that suburban drug sales are not oriented around money making but friendship and fun. Using economic anthropology, classic sociology, and neuroscience to analyze the life trajectories of these dealers, Crawford touches on issues of crime, race, culture, aging, gender, privilege, illegal drugs, and the limits of conventional economics as a framework to understand economic behavior.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 178 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4985-9816-3 • Hardback • June 2019 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-9818-7 • Paperback • March 2023 • $39.99 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / General, Political Science / Public Policy / Social Policy, Social Science / Substance Abuse, Social Science / Culture, Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations

Author

David Crawford is professor at Fairfield University.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Cannabis and Coca, Chemistry and Culture

Chapter 2: Cities and Suburbs

Chapter 3: Dealing with Privilege

Chapter 4: Ambivalent Economics

Chapter 5: Gendered Ambivalence: Cocaine, Money, and Manliness

Chapter 6: The Culture of Cultivation

Chapter 7: Ambivalence Renounced: Growing Up and Out of Dealing

Chapter 8: The Rise and Demise of Cocaine Culture