Heroin Addict Habit Size in Three Cities: Context and Variation

Abstract

The field of heroin addiction research has never had a reliable figure for the size of the average heroin habit. Four ethnographers were asked to conduct research in three U.S. cities to explore this question. While they were able to calculate averages that fit well with a standard pharmacology reference, they found the high variance around the estimates more significant. Each ethnographer constructed a model to show how the dynamics and contexts of the street markets suggest that any average is more an artifact of statistical calculation rather than a reflection of an addict's actual situation at any given point in time.