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I watched a documentary about Drug dealers and smugglers operating in Baltimore. They interviewed one dealer who said, ever since Freddie Grays incident and th

I watched a documentary about Drug dealers and smugglers operating in Baltimore. They interviewed one dealer who said, ever since Freddie Grays incident and the riots, the city has been busy passing laws that make Crime overall and selling drugs much easier. One of his favorite new laws said that Police couldn't do undercover sting operations anymore. He said the drug business is booming.

crankylinuxuser 8y ago
Hmm. So would legalization stamp out most of the problems? If possessing/using drugs weren't a crime, then people would have less to say "I'm already breaking the law, fuck it" You'd knock out most organized crime cause you cut their money from them. If the city was willing to sell at cost (seriously, morphine and oxy isn't expensive to make at all), it would also destroy that economy, and potentially free some back in the hands of the people. And at the bottom, it also looks to me is poverty and suffering, and people using drugs to buy a short while not thinking about it.
- peterwwillis 8y ago
  No, illegal drugs are just a small part of the problem. If every drug were legal there tomorrow you'd still have entire communities that have no access to a good education, healthy food, jobs, transportation, or affordable housing. Imagine an impoverished village in a 3rd world country, no natural resources, and constant violent tribal disputes. Whether drugs are legal there or not doesn't make a huge difference.
- 5166cc9c39fa61 8y ago
  > If the city was willing to sell at cost (seriously, morphine and oxy isn't expensive to make at all), it would also destroy that economy, and potentially free some back in the hands of the people. There is a proposal for heroin buyers clubs in British Columbia that has a lot of support: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/heroin-buyers-club-safe-supply-1.5027479 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/heroin-buyer... Legalization not only cuts down crime (from both drug dealers and drug addicts), it prevents overdose deaths and reduces occurrences of medical emergencies and hospitalizations. The city can also collect taxes on the drugs.
  - DenisM 8y ago
    This was already tried in Switzerland, with promising results: https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2018.6b15 https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi... Most notably, drug dealers lost financial incentive to hook new users up on the drug, so no new users anymore.
    - NavyNuke 8y ago
      Edit: deleted
      - leetcrew 8y ago
        uhh, care to explain? as written, it's kinda hard to read this post charitably.
        NavyNuke 8y ago
        It was an error in my reading comprehension and understanding of English. Post has been deleted since it wasn't conveying what I wanted.
      - exolymph 8y ago
        I didn't downvote you and I hope that my comment comes across as more similar to a vuln disclosure than a threat. Your employer is listed in your HN profile. Assuming that you actually work for that company, you should be careful making such comments, even if your intent is completely benign. When I was a reporter (I'm not anymore) I trawled HN comments for stories. It is not inconceivable that some Gizmodo-esque rag might write "[Redacted] Employee Making Racist Comments on Tech Forum" or whatever.
        NavyNuke 8y ago
        Ah, I wasn't trying to be racist in my post. But I see now how that could be read in a bad way.
linkmotif 8y ago
What’s the documentary?
- thorwasdfasdf 8y ago
  It was on Netflix. I can't remember the name, maybe "Dope" or something with the word "Drugs" in the title. It was interesting because they showed perspectives from both sides. They interviewed drug dealers on one side, and also interviewed police officers on the other side too.

crankylinuxuser 8y ago

Hmm. So would legalization stamp out most of the problems? If possessing/using drugs weren't a crime, then people would have less to say "I'm already breaking the law, fuck it" You'd knock out most organized crime cause you cut their money from them. If the city was willing to sell at cost (seriously, morphine and oxy isn't expensive to make at all), it would also destroy that economy, and potentially free some back in the hands of the people. And at the bottom, it also looks to me is poverty and suffering, and people using drugs to buy a short while not thinking about it.

peterwwillis 8y ago
No, illegal drugs are just a small part of the problem. If every drug were legal there tomorrow you'd still have entire communities that have no access to a good education, healthy food, jobs, transportation, or affordable housing. Imagine an impoverished village in a 3rd world country, no natural resources, and constant violent tribal disputes. Whether drugs are legal there or not doesn't make a huge difference.
5166cc9c39fa61 8y ago
> If the city was willing to sell at cost (seriously, morphine and oxy isn't expensive to make at all), it would also destroy that economy, and potentially free some back in the hands of the people. There is a proposal for heroin buyers clubs in British Columbia that has a lot of support: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/heroin-buyers-club-safe-supply-1.5027479 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/heroin-buyer... Legalization not only cuts down crime (from both drug dealers and drug addicts), it prevents overdose deaths and reduces occurrences of medical emergencies and hospitalizations. The city can also collect taxes on the drugs.
- DenisM 8y ago
  This was already tried in Switzerland, with promising results: https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2018.6b15 https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi... Most notably, drug dealers lost financial incentive to hook new users up on the drug, so no new users anymore.
  - NavyNuke 8y ago
    Edit: deleted
    - leetcrew 8y ago
      uhh, care to explain? as written, it's kinda hard to read this post charitably.
      - NavyNuke 8y ago
        It was an error in my reading comprehension and understanding of English. Post has been deleted since it wasn't conveying what I wanted.
    - exolymph 8y ago
      I didn't downvote you and I hope that my comment comes across as more similar to a vuln disclosure than a threat. Your employer is listed in your HN profile. Assuming that you actually work for that company, you should be careful making such comments, even if your intent is completely benign. When I was a reporter (I'm not anymore) I trawled HN comments for stories. It is not inconceivable that some Gizmodo-esque rag might write "[Redacted] Employee Making Racist Comments on Tech Forum" or whatever.
      - NavyNuke 8y ago
        Ah, I wasn't trying to be racist in my post. But I see now how that could be read in a bad way.

linkmotif 8y ago

What’s the documentary?

thorwasdfasdf 8y ago
It was on Netflix. I can't remember the name, maybe "Dope" or something with the word "Drugs" in the title. It was interesting because they showed perspectives from both sides. They interviewed drug dealers on one side, and also interviewed police officers on the other side too.