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It's long been known by people who play the drug game that the authorities only care about lining their own pockets. This is an anecdotal story, but could be "

It's long been known by people who play the drug game that the authorities only care about lining their own pockets. This is an anecdotal story, but could be "New Yorker level" vetted if someone tried. About 20 years ago my friend John was living in Salt Lake City, Utah -- where he grew up -- and had rented a house in CA for the sole purpose of growing pot in. He spent almost 5 years bringing about 50-100lbs of high potency pot into Utah in his Prius 2-3 times per month, making countless trips back and forth, before his first contact with the authorities. They pulled him over about a block away from his house and told him they had been watching him and knew what he had in the car -- about 50lbs of pot in duffel bags. He was arrested and charged with... wait for it... failing to pay taxes on the marijuana. He was out of jail within 6 hours. His lawyer told him he had three choices: pay the taxes, to the tune of about $350k, or fight it, or plead guilty. He wrote a check for $350k and never heard from the authorities again. He continued to do this for another 10 years and was never bothered again. Strictly pot. You may wonder how he was able to write that check without raising eyebrows. A few of his clients were business owners who had him on the payroll (taxes and all) to pay for their regular supply of pot. Plus he was "an independent artist" and filed 1099-Ts every quarter via his accountant. Through these methods he made plenty of money on paper, and obviously lived very cheaply (in an apartment). He has still never had a real job and retired at 35, with no record what so ever.

foobarcrunch 10y ago
American police currently behave as a paramilitary, occupying mafia just slightly less terrible than anarchy.
- gotthemwmds 10y ago
  I hope no one is wondering why the DEA made the unconscionable act of not re-classifying marijuana as a Schedule II drug. There are so many tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people whose livelihood is tried up in arresting people for drug crimes that shouldn't be illegal in the first place. Think about all those DEA agents making $100k a year plus their pensions, all those judges and public defenders, all those private prisons full of people doing possession charges. All those local cops employed to keep an eye on them during probation. It's absolutely disgusting and ruins peoples' lives on a daily basis, but totally expected behavior in a society that only cares about money (aka capitalism). I am sort of surprised there isn't a lot more backlash against the DEA for this horrible move last week, but then again, the pro-pot legalization movement isn't all that impressive either. The most annoying thing about marijuana is fucking idiot stoners representing the brand. edit: and don't even get me started on the huge amount of needless deaths in northern Mexico directly caused by the War on Drugs. Go read 2666 if you want a sliver of an idea of how bad it is there. But hey, to the average American, they are brown people so they don't care. Disgusting.
  - saiya-jin 10y ago
    > The most annoying thing about marijuana is fucking idiot stoners representing the brand. this so much - most people associate pot with braindead pathetic existences in the fringe of society, who are the loudest of the crowd. i've met senior software engineers, doctors, managers of all levels and so on doing it recreationally, for decades and having a normal life. those using alcohol for similar relaxing effect after hard day ended up in worse state, and it costed them much, much more in long term
- HalfwayToDice 10y ago
  Thank you for your reasoned thoughtful comment. You find the smartest people on HackerNews!
bertil 10y ago
I mean… That sounds like what a lot of people want (for pot).

foobarcrunch 10y ago

American police currently behave as a paramilitary, occupying mafia just slightly less terrible than anarchy.

gotthemwmds 10y ago
I hope no one is wondering why the DEA made the unconscionable act of not re-classifying marijuana as a Schedule II drug. There are so many tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people whose livelihood is tried up in arresting people for drug crimes that shouldn't be illegal in the first place. Think about all those DEA agents making $100k a year plus their pensions, all those judges and public defenders, all those private prisons full of people doing possession charges. All those local cops employed to keep an eye on them during probation. It's absolutely disgusting and ruins peoples' lives on a daily basis, but totally expected behavior in a society that only cares about money (aka capitalism). I am sort of surprised there isn't a lot more backlash against the DEA for this horrible move last week, but then again, the pro-pot legalization movement isn't all that impressive either. The most annoying thing about marijuana is fucking idiot stoners representing the brand. edit: and don't even get me started on the huge amount of needless deaths in northern Mexico directly caused by the War on Drugs. Go read 2666 if you want a sliver of an idea of how bad it is there. But hey, to the average American, they are brown people so they don't care. Disgusting.
- saiya-jin 10y ago
  > The most annoying thing about marijuana is fucking idiot stoners representing the brand. this so much - most people associate pot with braindead pathetic existences in the fringe of society, who are the loudest of the crowd. i've met senior software engineers, doctors, managers of all levels and so on doing it recreationally, for decades and having a normal life. those using alcohol for similar relaxing effect after hard day ended up in worse state, and it costed them much, much more in long term
HalfwayToDice 10y ago
Thank you for your reasoned thoughtful comment. You find the smartest people on HackerNews!

bertil 10y ago

I mean… That sounds like what a lot of people want (for pot).