The use and distribution of illegal drugs is on the rise each year and has been a growing problem throughout the United States for decades. While many people obtain their drugs legally and with prescriptions, that is not the case for the majority of drug users. The reason that so many people continue to make and manufacture illegal substances is because of the overall demand. The one common thread between making, using, and concealing illegal substances is the drug paraphernalia.
Drug paraphernalia is any equipment, product, or material that is modified for making, using, or concealing drugs and is typically used for recreational purposes. The word itself often has a negative connotation because it is so overused in the criminal law field in expressions like “possession of drug paraphernalia”. There are two different categories of paraphernalia, which include products for a user and those that are dealer-specific products.
Some of the more common drugs like cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamines have a wide range of drug paraphernalia because they can be complicated to make and there is such a variety of ways to use them.
Some of the user-specific products include:
These are some of the products that one would find at a store that carries paraphernalia, but there is a whole other group of products that drug users make from ordinary, household items. This usually involves making something that looks ordinary into a drug using product, so it will never draw attention and if caught will not raise suspicion. Other types of drug paraphernalia could be a hollowed-out cosmetic case or fake pager, both of which can be used to hide illegal substances without drawing in any attention.
Dealer-specific paraphernalia can be anything from a plastic vial to hold a substance, guidebooks, fertilizer, or fluorescent lights for growing hydroponic marijuana, scales, zipper storage bags to spoons and foil for manufacturing methamphetamines. These refer to anything used by a seller or trafficker for preparing and distributing drugs. The different types of dealer-specific products is endless and can truly be just an ever day household item.
As long as there is such a high demand for illegal substances there will be a growing number of different types of drug paraphernalia.
