Addicts renting their cars in exchange for drugs

Oct 22 2007

A growing number of crack cocaine users are renting their cars in exchange for drugs, according to criminologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Justice Sciences.

In their new study, published in the advance access edition of The British Journal of Criminology online, the researchers say these transactions, known as “rock rentals,” are becoming more prevalent.

The researchers found that on average, addicts loaned their cars for three to four hours in exchange for drugs, although some loaned out their cars overnight or over a weekend. Most addicts reported being selective, renting only to family members and friends who sold drugs, or to dealers they trusted. Addicts also reported that they believed that renting was a cheaper alternative to cash payments and that it protected them from violence and humiliation at the hand of drug dealers, the researchers said.

UAB criminologists Heith Copes, Ph.D., and Rod K. Brunson, Ph.D., interviewed 30 respondents incarcerated in two prisons in Louisiana. Nineteen respondents admitted to renting cars belonging to addicts in exchange for drugs. This revelation led the researchers to interview 27 subjects who were addicted to crack cocaine but not incarcerated to understand how rock rentals were conducted.

“The prevalence of the practice was acknowledged in interviews with both police and inmates who had not participated in them [rock rentals],” the researchers said.

While some borrowers said they have stolen cars belonging to addicts, most borrowers, as well as addicts, said they honored the rental agreements to protect future drug transactions. One reason for the growing popularity of rock rentals is that crack cocaine is cheap to produce. Consequently, the distribution of crack cocaine is in reach of street-savvy youths who may not own cars, the study said.

Future studies are planned to examine the implications of rock rental on police policies as well as on the study of addiction and behaviors related to addiction. Craig J. Forsyth, a researcher at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, also contributed to this study.