# What do they call the kids who handle the drugs and money for dealers?



## Robert_S (Jun 25, 2011)

The dealers employ kids to stand on the corners, handling the money and drugs so they themselves don't get implicated. There is a term, but I can't recall it.

I thought it might be mule, but that's more of someone who carries over longer distances.


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## Rustgold (Jun 25, 2011)

Handlers?


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## Robert_S (Jun 25, 2011)

Maybe, but I thought there was street slang for them.


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## Nicky (Jun 25, 2011)

if you'd only asked this yesterday. I work in jail but i'm off till monday. There are literally thousands of dealers being housed on Riker's Island I could ask this question to.


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## Sam (Jun 25, 2011)

They're called 'peddlers'. As in they peddle the drug to prospective clients.


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## Cran (Jun 25, 2011)

_Pushers_


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## Custard (Jun 25, 2011)

I am pretty sure they are called 'peddlers'.


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## Robert_S (Jun 25, 2011)

Yes, your cat is cute.  I guess peddlers is it, though I'll either work with it or around it.


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## Candra H (Jun 25, 2011)

pushers


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## Ladyhawk (Jun 25, 2011)

I thought they were called pushers too.


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## Robert_S (Jun 25, 2011)

Pushers are the main dealer and the one that introduces kids/people to their first experience.  Gang dealers and other smart dealers who sell off the street often work through juveniles because juvenile offenses tend to be less harsh and their juvenile criminal record is sealed or at least not admissible when they turn 18 (at least what I've been told). Also, as long as the arrested juvenile doesn't roll over on them, they are safe.

I used to watch a lot of exposition type news shows.


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## garza (Jun 25, 2011)

The pusher works above street level. The street dealers work for him. The kids you are talking about aren't selling, just holding. They turn into dealers when they learn the trade and start selling. In some countries they may be called molestados or abusós when they do double duty as street prostitutes, or sometimes when they don't but it's assumed they do. The term prostituto is generally reserved for those who are only prostitutes. Those associated with drug dealers may work one way daytime, holding drugs and money, the other way at night, usually targeting North American, European, or Japanese tourists. Their earnings go to the dealer they are associatd with, who gives them a percentage of the money and a small piece of candy. Failure to report earnings can result in termination of the relationship with prejudice.

Edit - I may have written some of those shows, especially if they were about Asia or Central America. You are right that the pusher is often the one who introduces a new user to the product, usually a freebie, but then steps out of the picture.


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## Cran (Jun 26, 2011)

I guess things have changed in the quarter century or so since I was a youth worker and crisis counsellor; that, or words have different meanings in different countries or jurisdictions.

All pushers were dealers; not all dealers were pushers.
A pusher was the lowest level dealer in the drug hierarchy; also called the street seller, street dealer, or candyman; often the trade was used to support a habit. 
A young (teenage or high school) pusher was sometimes called a juggler. 
Anyone below the pusher was simply a runner (delivery boy), a tout (introducer), or a steerer (mostly coke and H). 

That was the generic trade; some terms for street sellers were drug-specific.


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## garza (Jun 26, 2011)

Everyone has offered a different set of definitions, so every time and every venue must have its own street language for the drug trade. That shouldn't be surprising, since every time and every venue has its own street language for everything else.


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## Olly Buckle (Jun 26, 2011)

remember the song "God damn the pusher man". According to that the dealer was a man with a bunch of grass in his hand, but the pusher had sold his soul.

Anyway, I would call those kids "Runners".


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## Candra H (Jun 26, 2011)

We called them by their names mostly, and never went near kids on street corners because they weren’t to be trusted. We’d go to people on word of mouth recommendations along the lines of “Such and such deals such and such and it’s good stuff”. Not that I was a junkie or anything but we just didn’t go around calling people by labels.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use the term peddler, not even the police. Dealer, handler, runner, courier, mule, pusher but never peddler. I associate that with someone who peddles their wares from a handcart, usually within the context of some medieval fantasy novel. I dunno. Maybe things are different elsewhere so I’m just giving what I know and remember. And for the purpose of fiction, depending on the story being told and from who’s pov, I figure pusher is the op’s best option because the kids are selling the drugs not delivering them which is what a runner does.


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## Jinxi (Jun 27, 2011)

As far as I know they are called traffickers? I could be wrong though.


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## Nicky (Jun 27, 2011)

okay I went to work and asked all the real drug dealers in my facility aboard Riker's Island as promised.


*Pitcher* or *Connect*: person who directly handles the drugs but may not necessarily collect the money as it would implicate a 'sale' of criminal or controlled substance has been made. Many of the the teens to twenty something crowds currently use the term 'Pitcher' as the thirty somethings and above dealers use the term 'Connect'. It should be noted that the pitcher or connect may sometimes collect money also because these days the law has gotten wise to their practices and much more stricter and trickier laws have been put in place. I'm told it no longer matters if you ask the buyer if they're a cop and if they say no and still turn out to be a cop the intrapment laws of old no longer apply and you can still be arrested.

*Lookout*: person who stands outside and watches for rival gang members, police, or generally unknown people to the neighborhood.

*Steerer*: Person who brings in the customer like "_Yo, my man! You looking for smoke? Come with me!_" The Steerer then leads the person to the Pitcher or the Connect. The Steerer will also sometimes collect the money from the customer before sending them inside to see the Pitcher or the Connect and use a prepaid cell phone to call ahead and tell them what to have ready on the scale or bagged up.

*lieutenant*: Person who collects the money and oversees the whole operation. The lieutenant never handles any drugs directly. Keep in mind this term only seemed to be popular with young New York City gang members, particularly those who belong to 'the bloods'. Many of the Non gang drug dealers or older crowd told me this is a term the 'young kids' use.


Well, i hope this helps.


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## Monkey Doctor (Jun 28, 2011)

I agree with Olly. In my uunderstanding they are the 'Runners'. I saw a documentry by Loius theroux about crime in Philadelphia and I think they are called 'Runners' here too...


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## garza (Jun 29, 2011)

Nicky - Good research. You should be a reporter. A person writing an article about the drug sub-culture in present-day New York would find your information valuable.

But the street-corner drug culture tends to be very localised. On the streets of Belize City, San Salvador, Nairobi, or Bangkok you will hear other terms. In many urban areas of developing nations the drug trade and the sex trade tend to be closely interwoven and words describing a person's place in society may have double meanings.


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## Cran (Jun 29, 2011)

*garza* makes the point twice - and I agree - the actual terms applicable will likely depend on which substances, where, and when, things are taking place. 

Alternatively, if reader comprehension is more important, then either an explanation or a simple translation to the terms familiar to the target reader.


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## Dropkick (Jul 23, 2011)

I'd say runner as well.


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## Bloggsworth (Jul 23, 2011)

Mules carry, peddlars* sell on the street, pushers push(promote) the selling of drugs in larger quantities - Hence the popular gate or door sign - *No hawkers or Peddlars *designed to deter door to door salesmen. I think mules would be the best word to use, or you could use *muletta* which is Italian for a mule, but sound as if it might be a small mule - You never know, you might introduce a new usage into the language!






*Peddler is the American spelling.


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