Evaluating the Social Structure of a Local Heroin Market

描述（由申请人提供）：由NIDA资助的研究指出了研究药物滥用作为个人在其环境中的行为的重要性。虽然药物滥用者的直接环境受到了相当大的研究关注，但对间接环境影响的考虑较少。了解当地毒品市场的结构和吸毒者在这些市场中的活动，有可能扩大预防干预措施。这项实验研究代表了一种新的分析视角，了解这一较少探索，但非常重要的，药物滥用方面的一个基于计算机的社会模拟本地海洛因市场的基础上，已经收集的人种学数据集。通过模拟一个海洛因交易市场，目的是证明方法是可行的，可以产生有意义的结果。该项目的长期目标是利用模拟作为未来非法市场模拟的模板，最终导致“模拟经济系统”的发展。“模拟当地海洛因市场将有助于研究人员和政策制定者了解吸毒者的自组织行为，并确定这些系统的结果。该实验项目的具体目标是： 1.构建一个计算机应用程序，根据申请人先前收集的有关该市场的18个月人种学数据模拟当地海洛因交易市场，以及在该市场内运营的中级海洛因交易组织。 2.实验与计算机应用和操纵其参数和组件。 3.严格记录仿真建模过程： a.指出毒品交易研究方法的优点和缺点。 B.建议如何设计未来的研究，以促进模拟其他药物相关的行为。 4.传播模拟结果、项目信息和编程说明，以鼓励和促进在非法药物使用行为研究中使用该技术的进一步研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Research funded by NIDA points to the importance of studying drug abuse as the behavior of individuals in their environments. Although direct settings of drug abusers have received considerable research attention, less consideration has been given to indirect environmental influences. Understanding the structure of local drug markets and drug user's activities within these markets has potential for expanding prevention interventions. This experimental research represents a novel analytic perspective for understanding this less explored, yet extremely important, dimension of drug abuse with a computer-based social simulation of a local heroin market based on an already collected ethnographic data set. By simulating one heroin dealing market, the objective is to demonstrate that methods are feasible and can produce meaningful results. The long term goal of this project is to utilize the simulation created as a template for future illegal market simulations eventually leading to the development of a "simulated economic system." Simulating a local heroin market will be useful to researchers and policymakers to understand the self-organizing behaviors of drug users and identify the outcomes of these systems. The specific aims of this experimental project are to: 1. Construct a computer application that simulates a local heroin dealing market based on 18 months of ethnographic data previously collected by the applicant about this market, as well as a mid-level heroin dealing organization that operated within it. 2. Experiment with the computer application and manipulate its parameters and components. 3. Rigorously document the simulation modeling procedure: a. To note the strengths and weaknesses as a method for research on drug dealing. b. Recommend how future research can be designed to facilitate simulating other drug related behaviors. 4. Disseminate simulation results, project information, and programming notes to encourage and facilitate further research using this technology in the study of illegal drug use behaviors.