We present findings from a qualitative study of 80 women and men who sold Ecstasy in private settings. In this paper we explore Ecstasy sellers' identity processes and pathways to dealing. Interviewees believed “real dealers” sold in public settings to people they did not know and relied on drug sales as their main source of income. We found that 76% of the sample resisted the dealer identity due to the stigma associated with dealing, Ecstasy's benign reputation, selling in private settings, and customer bases that comprised mainly friends. The majority of the sample “drifted” into dealing and did not consciously decide to sell. Additionally, most interviewees did not implement precautionary sales strategies that characterize drug dealing operations described in our own and other investigators' research on drug markets. Ecstasy sellers created new, more positive identity constructions for themselves, which is also an important focus of this paper.

Background-Little is known about how users build and share knowledge concerning the highs and lows of Ecstasy and the role that Ecstasy sellers play in the exchange of this information.

This article presents selected findings from a qualitative study of Ecstasy sellers and their sales practices, knowledge of distribution networks, buyer-seller relationships, and self-reported drug use. In-depth interviews were conducted with 80 men and women who had sold five or more hits of Ecstasy five or more times in the six months prior to the interview. Study participants described their perceptions of the various types of Ecstasy they had distributed or used themselves. The participants had experience with a variety of Ecstasy labels, from the popular “Blue Dolphin” tablets to the powdered form called “Molly.” We tracked pill brand mentions on Ecstasy-related websites to compare with interviewees’ descriptions of Ecstasy brands. This study examines Ecstasy sellers’ ideas about the role of brand names in Ecstasy markets and their relationship to their beliefs about different types of Ecstasy’s purity and quality. We demonstrate that considering Ecstasy branding increases our understanding of buyer and seller relationships.

No abstract