With lockdown growing more restrictive, and guidelines becoming tough across the south east of the UK. People are finding it difficult to cope with life, from family life to work life some have resorted to things which the laws of the UK prohibits. I engage with the world of drugs within parts of London and Luton to ask questions of why, how, and what they are dealing with. Some following a path of drugs for aesthetic basis, to others dragged into it from the lack of guidance. I link these situations with how the tory government has worked with the UK public in these distressing times.
“Drought season” has approached as drug dealers struggle to gain stock for what they call business. With county lines struggling to shift drugs across London and county boarders, suppliers are failing to gain stock to distribute to dealers. Lockdown has made it very difficult for dealers to transport cannabis.
“It has been difficult to come across as many suppliers are short on stock and much of the cannabis isn’t good grade.” Says “J”. A “roadman” as the gen-Z population would call him. He follows the roads beyond Luton to cities such as Birmingham and Manchester to purchase cannabis. This becomes increasingly difficult to acquire with tier 4 in place. with it being so smelly and police patrolling the streets more it becomes riskier to acquire stock. J sees it as “applaudable rather than a gateway to drugs”. As Marijuana is categorised as a depressant “I see it much better than dealing MDMA or coke, it makes one feel calm and collective rather than violent and loud”. Marijuana is a class B drug which doesn’t have much of a sentencing compared to class A, making it less of a risk to deal with. It is seen as a very fluid income as many people smoke it day to day. J says, “having a trap phone ringing nonstop is the most satisfying thing, I never have to worry about not being able to make money because I know everyone will come to me”. J is one of the many to be selling cannabis within Luton, but he covers a wide area – a whole postcode to be specific. He has a very strong reputation and has “hundreds of calls daily”. When asked why he does what he does, he says “I was never good at school I got kicked out most of my schools, I met people who put me on, and I built my line up to a business for myself. I have no regrets”
On the other end, dealers like “Julius” a supplier of psychedelics, such as MDMA and LSD, which are supplied from labs using the dark web. These drugs are acquired from Amsterdam which are shipped “very discreetly”. “money hasn’t been a problem this lockdown, the cash flow has seen an increase” according to Julius with an expected increase over the Christmas period. People have been ordering bulk special deals in order to use and sell for themselves, and with the use of discreet packaging his business has been getting much more credibility than others. With new year’s special deals and increase in demand Julius has been very busy dealing with finances. When asked why Julius works in this trade, he says “the work isn’t morally right, I see that. But what can you do when people don’t want to work with a council estate boy in the depths of London?”
The dealers down the chain who purchase stock from people such as Julius then go on to sell the drugs to what they call “cats”, these are regular customers who often purchase large amounts. The cost for things such as MDMA or ecstasy is at 80 pence per pill if bought in a bulk of 1000 for £800, and with each pill selling for £10 the profits are immense. With other class A drugs such as cocaine; the profits stretch further with 0.3 grams known as “tickets” selling for £30. The job of dealing can work as a day job with these figures, and you can see how appealing it is to sell drugs, but is it worth the trouble? From law enforcement to even gang involvement, a few dealers have got themselves in trouble where nobody can help.
For a lot of dealers, the path they have paved hasn’t always ended in riches. One dealer I spoke with who wishes to stay anonymous, spoke to me about why he took a break from dealing. With increasing pressure from law enforcement, he was almost faced with 3 years of jail time on the charges of conspiracy but was graced with a suspended sentence and community service. But that wasn’t the worst of all, his life was endangered after being kidnapped from his own home by a gang, who stole his money and supply. He was “lucky enough to escape as they fled the car in fear of police” this wasn’t the only thing, he was robbed multiple times in separate occasions, which made him question, “is the money worth this hassle”. Lesson almost learnt; he went back to the life after a 1 year break, but at a smaller market. Picking and choosing “who to sell to and who to trust”. and why he started again? is because he was made redundant during the start of Covid-19 the company wasn’t able to offer furlough as he started his new job a couple of days too late. Since he couldn’t find anyone else hiring, he went back to dealing class A, which he sees as better than a casual job “from the immense profits to meeting new people”.
Lockdown has created a mass redundancy, which is expected to push 2.6 million by mid 2021 according to the government’s economic watchdog, it has forced some people to turn to dealing such as 20-year-old “Em” I met within north London, she has been made redundant during the early stages of corona and has turned to dealing substances such as LSD in order to keep the taps running. Em used to work for a recruitment company but was later made redundant, she now sells LSD to a lot of people majority of them being software engineers which they say “help to pioneer focus and creativity”
The lines put forth by the government have created a border to restrict dealers from flourishing, but then it all comes down to what is being sold and how much of an audience one has, so for some it has alleviated them to create more profit. Allowing them to push through and create different lockdown lines.