Social supply plays a key role in bottom level cannabis markets. In outlining how social supply of cannabis differs from commercial market exchange, existing studies have argued that social supply is typically driven by two cultural logics: reciprocal gift-giving and sharing. Importantly, researchers have depicted sharing as a sub-version of a more generalized pattern of reciprocation and/or described sharing as a type of transfer that is motivated by altruism on the part of the giver. However, in this article, we argue that if we are to develop a more nuanced understanding of the sharing aspects of social supply, we need a more refined understanding of sharing. Based on interviews with 38 young cannabis users from Denmark, this article draws on recent anthropological theories of sharing and the concept of “demand sharing” in demonstrating how social cannabis supply is driven both by reciprocal logics, but also by hitherto overlooked sharing logics that cannot easily be captured by the categories reciprocity or altruism. More specifically, we analyze the important role played by receivers in facilitating sharing processes. We outline how diverse “receiver demands” are often the precondition for creating the social pressure that leads those who have, to allow others to take. In this way, this article contributes to a more detailed understanding of the complex transfer processes fueling social supply of illicit drugs.

Traditionally, research on illegal drug supply has mainly focused on marginalised urban populations, whose lives and dealing practices are shaped by social exclusion, poverty, ethnic inequalities and cultures of violence. This article contributes to the small but growing body of research that focuses on drug sales among society's more privileged groups by individuals who, aside from using and supplying illegal drugs, live largely law-abiding lives. Based on 32 interviews from Denmark, the article analyses socio-economically mainstream young adults' gradual drift into and out of profit-generating drug sales. We use the findings to argue that much bottom-level drug supply can be conceptualised as 'recreational drug sales' -that is, best understood not as a social aberration, but rather as an interwoven aspect of mainstream society, insofar as it is sporadic, experimental and leisure-based in nature, and often does not challenge sellers' involvement in the labour market/educational system or their identities as 'respectable' citizens.

Intet resumé

In recent decades, the selling and purchasing of illicit drugs has been increasingly mediated by use of communication technologies such as mobile phones and social media apps. While the risk of police intervention has traditionally restricted dealers’ use of advertisements to attract customers, the increasing technologization of retail-level drug markets has opened up new avenues for dealers’ use of proactive marketing. This article contributes to the understanding of current transformations of the retail-level drug market by providing insight into how drug dealers compete for and try to attract customers by use of strategic and targeted advertising. Based on an in-depth analysis of the textual and visual content of 99 illicit »drug commercials« circulated through SMS-based (Short Message Service) drug lines, we demonstrate how drug dealers draw on a number of psychological and cognitive techniques such as repetition, association, humour, hooks, slogans and storytelling, all of which are also found in legal marketing. We conclude by arguing that there is a need for more studies on how »drug commercials« affect drug users’ purchasing practices, including their choice of dealer.

Denne artikel er baseret på etnografisk feltarbejde og fokuserer på mad og spisning i relation til patienter med type 2 diabetes i Vietnams hovedstad Hanoi. Jeg tager udgangspunkt i to konkrete fortællinger om informanterne Mrs. Sau og Viet, hvis liv som velregulerede diabetikere kommer i konflikt med andre måder at investere mening i mad på. I artiklen sætter jeg fokus på officielle, nationale og internationale retningslinjer for diabetesbehandling, ernæring og det at ”være moderne”. Jeg diskuterer efterfølgende hvordan mine informanter forsøger at forholde sig til divergerende moralske og medicinske regimer i hverdagslivet i Vietnam. I denne sammenhæng er mad helt central og jeg viser hvordan den betydning, der knyttes til måltidet kan være mangfoldig, tvetydig og til tider kontrastfuld og krævende. Ydermere foreslår jeg at et teoretisk perspektiv på menneskers moraliteter, ´signifikante rutiner´ og hverdagserfaringer har et anvendelsespotentiale indenfor sundhedsfremme i Vietnam.