High Conspiracy

Thoughts on the drug trade.

George Carlin once said about driving:

"Have you ever noticed that people driving slower than you are all Idiots, and people driving faster than you are all Maniacs?"

          I find that people seem to have a similar attitude towards law and order. Any law that stops them from doing what they want is oppressive and damaging one of their “freedoms”. But any laws that stop others from doing something to them, is not enforced strictly enough; even if it’s the same damned law.

           The same people who buy or bought the occasional bag of pot to get high have the temerity to sit around and commiserate about what scum and vermin drug dealers are. These people know that there is a connection between their purchasing of these drugs and the presence and brutality of the people who supply them. Incredibly though, they are always willing to provide some convoluted “logic” that explains why their behavior is not a plague on society.

           Drug dealers are no worse than the people who patronize them. You want to end the drug trade? I offer you the time-tested laws of supply and demand. How many space heaters do you see for sale at the Wal-Mart in Phoenix, Arizona in August? The reality is this, if you use drugs, the demmand that you create is what causes the presence of drug dealers and leads to the violence. If no one shows up on the corner to buy the drugs, the dealers will certainly not be there to try to sell the drugs. Where there is no demand … you will find no suppliers. Suburban kids smoking the pot are no less culpable than the urban kids who sell it, and only when the law comes down equally harshly, will the drug problem in America begin to see resolution.

          If you are the lookout in a robbery and someone is killed ... even your accomplice, you can be charged with murder. Clearly, if you are involved in a robbery you do not intend for your partner to be killed. But the law stretches far enough to allow for that charge.

           My thought is this. If you purchase illegal drugs, you are a part of an overall conspiracy to violate drug laws (the underlying crime) If at any point, even years before or years later, your drug dealer is killed or kills someone else in the furtherance of this same conspiracy, shouldn't you be as liable for that death as the guy who drove the getaway car in a robbery-gone-bad? Every time some innocent person is gunned down in some drug related shooting, what would happen if everyone who ever patronized the shooter or his drug corporation was rounded up and given a sentence similar to that of the shooter? This would allow for brutally harsh penalties for the people who provide the one thing that assures the life of the drug trade ... demand.

          Would the reality of the connection between supply and demand finally crystallize then? And even if it did not, would we not still be slowly, methodically removing from our society, those who provide that demand that drives the drug trade?

 

 

 

Reviews

[Siobhan MacIntyre]

Unfortunately, our jail system wouldn't allow for putting all the users in beside the dealers. Hmmm...isn't there an island somewhere surrounded by sharks where we can drop them all off (and no, I don't mean Alcatraz).

I have seen the ravages of drugs on people I know, seen it tears apart families, seen it ruin young minds. My daughter's ex-boyfriend (the one who fell from the bridge last year) was drunk and high when he climbed out on the understructure of that bridge. I'd like to find the ever-lovin' a*****e who got him started on drugs to start with, because that person contributed to his death as surely as Dustin himself.

As always, your point is clear and concise, and I'm happy to say I'm with you 100% on this one.

[Babbette Francis]

I think the answer to this is to build jails/prisons and lock the doors on illegal drug abusers and dealers after and only after they legalize pot. Love, peace and rock-n-roll man! ; )

[Kristina Moulaison]

Talk about stiring the pot! This one did make me laugh with it's black and whiteness. You have a gift.

[Linda Stinson]

Wow! Tough cookie here. I am sure glad this is your thoughts, if not I might not be long for this world. I could be jerked off the street for something I did twenty years ago. Yes, I think that would make a person think twice. I really do think that your thoughts do exist though, it goes by a new name nowadays, better know in our court systems today as a "sealed indicment." lol
Supply and demand, got some horror stories to tell myself on that subject. Most are still open wounds, they bleed.:(
Beautifully written. I will admit, I never looked at it from that point of view. Very interesting. I love it when I learn new things. Thanks.

[Jd Young]

People must take responsibility for their own actions, although I do agree with your views. But how many laws can we make before we find ourselves imprisoned yet free at the same time... Oh wait we are.

And on the whole Marijuana thing... Smoking a joint is much different than smoking crack, snorting cocaine, or injecting heroine and if you think that I am mistaken then please go to a stoner or somebody you know that smokes weed and call them a drug addict or a loser and I promise you, your face might become a punching bag.

There is man's law and there is God's law(If you're a believer). The hypocrisy of our society is an everlasting continuum. Its amazing how we get IDed for cigarettes and alcohol, but a child no older than fifteen can go out and score a bag of coke right from the nearest corner.

I learned to stop caring about society, especially the morality and values of our society when we sent thousands of soldiers to Iraq before sending food to the homeless, giving money to those in need, and let a president tear us down to the point where I cant even drive my car down a neighborhood street without seeing a foreclosure sign.

[Spoken]

you know what i find odd... why is it that when prohibition came to be and the underground alcohol business boomed we went back on our laws and made it legal once again, yet clearly drugs (marijuana in particular) is still thriving, readily available, and fully accessible to anyone really.. yet the laws still apply? Hypocritical to me.. what makes alcohol acceptible in this society? The answer: money. Alcohol is just as deadly and poisonous to the body as drugs. At least in the case of Marijuana it can actually be used for medical purposes.. alcohol does nothing but destroy the body.

Or better yet... lets offer establishments to the public that you can go and drink and party and dance until 4 am.. but oh no you can't drive after you've drank.. that type of situation offered to the public only increases drunk driving.

i have never in my life heard of or seen in any way a person smoking pot drive a car and get into an accident. Honestly.. they are safe drivers in my experience.. more likely to go slower than the speed limit.. b/c they're paranoid of getting pulled over! lol.

I'm not saying i'm for the legalization of any drug... i'm saying I think it's complete hypocritical nonsense and quit discusting for our government to create laws for one drug but allow others, like alcohol and tobacco, as if they do not cause the same effects/reactions, just for the sake of economics. It's like god saying... murder is a sin and punishible by an eternity in hell... but go kill your son to prove your belief and love for me.

BTW not everyone in the drug business is violent. It depends who you get wrapped up with and where you are. Big cities and suburbs I cant speak for and you are probably right, but small town is a lil' different.