Dope Sniffers in New York City: An Ethnography of Heroin Markets and Patterns of Use

Abstract

This article examines the use patterns of non-injecting heroin users (NIUs) or ‘dope sniffers’ and their relationship to the heroin markets on the Lower East Side of New York City. The study is based on ethnographic research with 23 NIUs during 1996 and 1997. The paper ethnographically explores 1) the shifting dynamics of the retail heroin markets on the Lower East Side, 2) how these market conditions affected non-injecting heroin users' routes of administration and patterns of use, and 3) the ways in which NIUs adapt to illegal heroin markets experiencing increased levels of repression and enforcement.