2025/07/15 by Eirik Jerven Berger, Silje Anderdal Bakken · 1 voice
Computer Science · Medicine · Social Sciences · #Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance #Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies #HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
paper · doi:10.1177/00016993251356344
openalex publication_date 2025/07/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Social relationships are a fundamental part of illegal drug markets. However, drug market categorizations, such as online/offline, open/closed, and public/private, overshadow the everyday purchase and sale of illegal drugs. Highlighting the significance of social relationships reveals the complexity and fluidity of real-life drug market activities. By using the economic sociological theory, we bridge the gap between online and offline drug market research by merging two datasets of qualitative interviews, focusing on Norway's physical and online drug markets. Combined the data consist of in-depth interviews with 100 market participants. We find that market relationships vary on a continuum between being fully digital to fully physical. Moreover, participants’ positions on this continuum are not fixed on one market category. Individuals’ participation is determined by several interconnected factors, including social networks, risk and trust, and drug and street culture. Hence, despite technological advancements and new possibilities, the purchase and sale of illegal drugs take place on a digital–physical continuum determined by social and relational factors.