Saturday, April 16, 2011

Drugs: Are We Better off Legalizing Them? (Part 2)

Money was further distributed to uphold ties between groups that bought you a free pass in the otherwise fatal streets of LA. And these guys weren’t necessarily drug dealers but included an assortment of criminals be they robbers, “jackers” etc. Other major costs ranged from reserves to pay bonds to financing lawyers to hiring the so-called small timers involved in the intricacies of running a drug operation.  To these individuals, seeing such profitable business is a huge enticement to enter this world.
But the thing that economists don’t necessarily take into consideration that Rick can point out is pretty simple if you think about it. Drug dealing is different from any other job you could ever have. High risk jobs normally demand high compensation but to starting dealers, life in gangs is a slow transition from life at home so any compensation can be seen as a lot. Furthermore, the life involved and processes becomes a culture unto its own that can be more engaging than it is dangerous. The result, even if you weren’t paid as much as Rick, even if you were broke and hunted, it was a life that some just wanted to live.
The simple solution is to legalize these substances but that would spike addiction. So the choice really is would we rather have higher crime or more people addicted to drugs? But there is a third option and that is to destroy the motivation to use or sell drugs in the first place. And that’s what Ross addresses now by talking to youth and others about the life after prison or lack thereof if you’re killed. It’s not an easy task but it may be the only option in a business that’s otherwise economically and socially irresistible.

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