Entrepreneurs: Just taking care of business, the drug business

This chapter focuses on criminal entrepreneurs – some old and some new – who have increasingly been drawn to the illicit drug trade not only to satisfy demand (it is easy money), but also as a response to the political economy where their skill set is no longer valued and they either adapt or die. Throughout this chapter the data is used to argue that illicit drug dealing must be seen against the backdrop of economic austerity and a political economy of neoliberal consumer capitalism that prioritises and promotes individualism, entrepreneurialism, pervasive consumerism and compulsive (conspicuous) acquisition. Therefore, drug supply fulfilled a number of functions in these criminal entrepreneurs’ lives that largely revolved around finding viable and dignified employment. However, what was common across all of our respondents was their dedication to conspicuous consumption and buying ‘the nice things in life’. Drug dealing among this group was used to bankroll a luxurious and desirable lifestyle and buy the ‘ornamental trinkets that bestow existential significance and social distinction’.