The dominant Australian approaches to the study of illicit drug markets are surveillance and criminological research. This paper outlines the main features of these approaches before presenting a critical discussion of some of their methods, assumptions, and modes of analysis. It argues that these approaches are limited in terms of their methods; reliance on neo-classical economic models; abstraction from local contexts; oversight of social, cultural, and political process; exclusive focus on commercial transactions; under-theorizing of the market; and narrow conceptions of drug market subjects. The paper concludes by beginning to outline an alternative framework that draws on the anthropology and sociology of markets and that may lead to more nuanced understandings of illicit drug markets. References (Published Abstract)