Levi’s 501s Symbol Analysis

Levi’s 501 jeans were a status symbol for the Xalisco Boys heroin dealers of the 1990s, and the ability for the dealers to acquire these high-quality pants represents the broader profit-driven drug market that propelled America’s opiate epidemic. Many of the Xalisco Boys were attracted to heroin dealing because of the opportunities for wealth and social advancement it offered. More important than the wealth itself was the ability to return home to Xalisco and showcase that wealth to the approving, admiring eyes of their friends and neighbors. One of the most significant and sought-after displays of wealth were Levi’s 501s, which were considered the “gold standard for men in Mexico’s ranchos in the 1990s.” Throughout Dreamland, Quinones emphasizes that capitalism was a major driving force behind addiction. Illegitimate and “legitimate” drug dealers—the Xalisco Boys and Purdue Pharma, respectively—systematically identified and sold their products to markets that would support their business and maximize profit. Levi’s 501s, the commodity most revered by the Xalisco Boys drug dealers, are therefore a symbol of the capitalism, business, and excess that fueled the opiate epidemic.