How to Spot a Drug Dealer

Everyone has heard about the epidemic of drug abuse and addiction going on in this country right now. Everyday people die from overdoses or violence related to the drug trade. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the illicit drug trade costs the United States 193 billion dollars every year. 11 Billion dollars of that is for health care alone. The illicit drug trade has a negative impact on all aspects of society. In fact, the only people that seem to benefit in any way from illicit drugs are the drug dealers. This means that to reduce the drug trade, people need to know how to spot a drug dealer.

Suspicious Behavior

Drug dealers operate outside of the law, and therefore are likely to engage in suspicious and secretive behaviors. These are the things that you need to be on the lookout for, if you are going to spot a drug dealer. Some of these include:

hanging around outside schools and clubs, coming and going at strange hours, and only while it’s dark, having a lot of people visiting their home at all hours, displaying unexplainable wealth, avoiding police and other authority figures, approaching people randomly on street corners, at bus stops, or outside of alleys, and offering drugs for purchase or trade.

All of these things indicate secretive or drug dealing behaviors, and should be taken seriously.

Race, Age, and Gender

Drug dealers take part in suspicious behavior.

There are a lot of things that people consider to be indicators of criminal activity, but really are not. Race, age, and gender being foremost among them. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately the same percentage of each major demographic participates in drug crime. This means that you cannot reliably base suspicion of drug dealing on:

how old someone is, whether they are male, female, or transgendered, whether they are black, white, Hispanic, Asian, or other races, what religion they practice, if any, and where they come from.

Basing a suspicion on any of these characteristics is not only unreliable, but also discriminatory. There is a reason that police officers may not use these characteristics for the purpose of profiling a criminal type.

What Can You Do About It?

Obviously, if you believe someone is dealing drugs you should contact a law enforcement agency and report your suspicions. If you know a dealer because you are using drugs, the best thing you can do is get help. There are a number of treatment and rehabilitation options available to you. And, not only will you be getting your life back on track, you will be helping to clean up your area. Drug dealers only want to make money. Stop giving it to them, and they will go away.

If you cannot seem to find a way to get away from your drug dealer perhaps it is time to seek help. For more information on getting away from drugs call us at 1-800-895-1695.