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Let's look at this a different way. How many people dealing drugs are doing so because they feel they don't have better prospects. How much does drug abuse cost
by LargeWu 6y ago
Let's look at this a different way. How many people dealing drugs are doing so because they feel they don't have better prospects. How much does drug abuse cost society?
If society took the money they put towards policing, treatment, etc., and prevented that problem in the first place by just giving cash handouts, could it save both money and suffering?
I don't know the answer, but I'm pretty sure just reflexively looking at top-line costs isn't the way to improve society.
- nitrogen 6y agoThe only ex-dealer I've met was doing it because he could make $800 in an hour in semirural southern California. It's hard to convince someone making easy, risky money to switch to making less, hard, but sure money
- dsr_ 6y agoA government can make it harder, increase the risk, or lower the profitability. For example, if you register heroin addicts and supply them with clean heroin on a regular basis, you destroy the market for heroin. If you legalize and regulate cocaine like tobacco, you can destroy billions of dollars worth of criminal activity.
- phone8675309 6y agoThe for-profit prison industry, who use incarcerated people as labor for pennies an hour, has enough political sway in this country that I have reluctantly accepted that these reforms are essentially never going to happen in my lifetime.
- asdff 6y agoIn places like Alabama prisoners aren't always paid. Slavery still exists as a punishment in this country.