5 ms·

Those prison sentences are surprisingly light for the crime. I guess it still pays to deal drugs

s1artibartfast 5y ago
The article says the captain was paid 50k euros per trip. I wouldn't call that a good deal for risk, both from the law and the cartels
netizen-936824 5y ago
It shouldn't be a crime in the first place. Persecuting people for the substances they decide to consume is what harms people more than drugs themselves. If people had a place they could easily purchase tested and regulated drugs we wouldn't have so many overdoses. In the past most overdoses were produced by changes in potency of the supply due to differences in cutting or manufacture. Now alongside that issue is the one of fentanyl and analogs being added to the supply. Regulation would solve these issues instead of ruining people's lives with punishment based on puritanical ideals
- schleck8 5y ago
  It's way more complicated than this. Most drugs are highly addictive, and when theoretical legal supplies deny addicts access to them, they'll turn to illegal means. No matter how clean the substance is.
  - netizen-936824 5y ago
    Okay so if its legal why are they getting denied? We already have extremely addictive substances that are legal (ethanol and nicotine) and nobody is really being denied those but people still smuggle them across state lines from places with lower prices (sometimes to sell for profit) And of course then if someone is attempting to obtain something which they are denied by law, it is no longer legal so by definition it is illegal The statement you make is rather circular and doesn't say much.
    - schleck8 5y ago
      >Okay so if its legal why are they getting denied? So that a mentally instable person doesn't overdose when depressed or an adult resells it to minors?
      - netizen-936824 5y ago
        This is an assumption about a system that does not exist. There is no framework for evaluating people like this and we don't know what a legal system would look like. We can't analyze a system that does not exist, but we can look at our current framework for alcohol and tobacco. I'm not saying these are optimal either, the current system does have issues but making things entirely illegal/prohibited would not solve these issues in any way. (Cannabis is usually readily available in most high schools in the US) There will always be the risk of kids going through an intermediary for substances like what happens with alcohol and tobacco now, but basically never do you see people being denied their purchases. There are circumstances in our current system where an adult goes I to a store and is not allowed to purchase because they have a minor with them in the store. In these cases there are many more stores they can go to, usually within walking distance. This is essentially a non issue. For mental health on the other hand its the same way, you can overdose on alcohol and there are depressed people who attempt suicide using alcohol (usually combined with other substances) and these people I have never heard of being denied their purchases. The only way I could see a denial happen is if they got a little too personal with the cashier and told them how they feel or what they plan to do.
- toomanybeersies 5y ago
  Alcohol and tobacco are legal, but you'll still land in prison if you get caught smuggling 20 tonnes of either.
  - bigyikes 5y ago
    But nobody smuggles 20 tonnes of either because it’s legal.
    - technick 5y ago
      Only reason I can think of smuggling Alcohol (Whiskey) would to be avoiding taxes on it.
      - devilbunny 5y ago
        Which are a substantial part of the cost for both alcohol and tobacco. When I was an undergrad in Virginia (home of Phillip Morris), a pack of cigarettes was selling for about $3.50 in today’s dollars - and that's for a brand like Marlboro or Camel. IIRC retail in NYC is about $20 these days. That’s a huge incentive.
    - toomanybeersies 5y ago
      Tobacco smuggling is big business in Australia. Mostly because a regular pack of cigarettes costs $40 these days, compared to $15 for a pack of bootlegged Indonesian Marlboros. For the 2020 financial year, Australia imported 11,064 tonnes of legally cleared (taxed) tobacco. The government estimates there was 770 tonnes of untaxed tobacco successfully grown/imported, or 6.2% of all tobacco smoked in Australia. [1] Recently a guy was handed almost 2 years of house arrest for importing 10 million cigarettes [2], which is roughly 10 tonnes, give or take. There's plenty more cases where entire containers full of cigarettes have been seized. [1] https://www.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/Research-and-statistics/In-detail/Tax-gap/Tobacco-tax-gap https://www.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/Research-and-statistics/In-... [2] https://www.acic.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases-and-statements/man-sentenced-illegally-importing-10-million-cigarettes https://www.acic.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases-and-stat...
- hemloc_io 5y ago
  Yep I’ve always thought it quite silly that the USA is spending/has spent something like billions to keep drugs away from Americans. Yet if you go to any high school or college across the country you can still buy whatever drug you want lol. If a pimply 16 year old skater kid can get drugs after all this effort maybe we should give up. It’s not like anyone who wants to do them can’t… look at all the overdoses
- TedShiller 5y ago
  I don’t know if it should be legal, but making it illegal is clearing not working
technick 5y ago
Yea it does, I knew a guy at my last job (Charter) who would drive stuff from Chicago to Denver, twice a year and get paid $20k each time. It was always with a one way u-haul rental and the cash was delivered to him weeks after the drive. He asked if I wanted to ride along and I couldn't say no quick enough.

The article says the captain was paid 50k euros per trip. I wouldn't call that a good deal for risk, both from the law and the cartels

netizen-936824 5y ago

It shouldn't be a crime in the first place. Persecuting people for the substances they decide to consume is what harms people more than drugs themselves. If people had a place they could easily purchase tested and regulated drugs we wouldn't have so many overdoses. In the past most overdoses were produced by changes in potency of the supply due to differences in cutting or manufacture. Now alongside that issue is the one of fentanyl and analogs being added to the supply. Regulation would solve these issues instead of ruining people's lives with punishment based on puritanical ideals

schleck8 5y ago
It's way more complicated than this. Most drugs are highly addictive, and when theoretical legal supplies deny addicts access to them, they'll turn to illegal means. No matter how clean the substance is.
- netizen-936824 5y ago
  Okay so if its legal why are they getting denied? We already have extremely addictive substances that are legal (ethanol and nicotine) and nobody is really being denied those but people still smuggle them across state lines from places with lower prices (sometimes to sell for profit) And of course then if someone is attempting to obtain something which they are denied by law, it is no longer legal so by definition it is illegal The statement you make is rather circular and doesn't say much.
  - schleck8 5y ago
    >Okay so if its legal why are they getting denied? So that a mentally instable person doesn't overdose when depressed or an adult resells it to minors?
    - netizen-936824 5y ago
      This is an assumption about a system that does not exist. There is no framework for evaluating people like this and we don't know what a legal system would look like. We can't analyze a system that does not exist, but we can look at our current framework for alcohol and tobacco. I'm not saying these are optimal either, the current system does have issues but making things entirely illegal/prohibited would not solve these issues in any way. (Cannabis is usually readily available in most high schools in the US) There will always be the risk of kids going through an intermediary for substances like what happens with alcohol and tobacco now, but basically never do you see people being denied their purchases. There are circumstances in our current system where an adult goes I to a store and is not allowed to purchase because they have a minor with them in the store. In these cases there are many more stores they can go to, usually within walking distance. This is essentially a non issue. For mental health on the other hand its the same way, you can overdose on alcohol and there are depressed people who attempt suicide using alcohol (usually combined with other substances) and these people I have never heard of being denied their purchases. The only way I could see a denial happen is if they got a little too personal with the cashier and told them how they feel or what they plan to do.
toomanybeersies 5y ago
Alcohol and tobacco are legal, but you'll still land in prison if you get caught smuggling 20 tonnes of either.
- bigyikes 5y ago
  But nobody smuggles 20 tonnes of either because it’s legal.
  - technick 5y ago
    Only reason I can think of smuggling Alcohol (Whiskey) would to be avoiding taxes on it.
    - devilbunny 5y ago
      Which are a substantial part of the cost for both alcohol and tobacco. When I was an undergrad in Virginia (home of Phillip Morris), a pack of cigarettes was selling for about $3.50 in today’s dollars - and that's for a brand like Marlboro or Camel. IIRC retail in NYC is about $20 these days. That’s a huge incentive.
  - toomanybeersies 5y ago
    Tobacco smuggling is big business in Australia. Mostly because a regular pack of cigarettes costs $40 these days, compared to $15 for a pack of bootlegged Indonesian Marlboros. For the 2020 financial year, Australia imported 11,064 tonnes of legally cleared (taxed) tobacco. The government estimates there was 770 tonnes of untaxed tobacco successfully grown/imported, or 6.2% of all tobacco smoked in Australia. [1] Recently a guy was handed almost 2 years of house arrest for importing 10 million cigarettes [2], which is roughly 10 tonnes, give or take. There's plenty more cases where entire containers full of cigarettes have been seized. [1] https://www.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/Research-and-statistics/In-detail/Tax-gap/Tobacco-tax-gap https://www.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/Research-and-statistics/In-... [2] https://www.acic.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases-and-statements/man-sentenced-illegally-importing-10-million-cigarettes https://www.acic.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases-and-stat...
hemloc_io 5y ago
Yep I’ve always thought it quite silly that the USA is spending/has spent something like billions to keep drugs away from Americans. Yet if you go to any high school or college across the country you can still buy whatever drug you want lol. If a pimply 16 year old skater kid can get drugs after all this effort maybe we should give up. It’s not like anyone who wants to do them can’t… look at all the overdoses
TedShiller 5y ago
I don’t know if it should be legal, but making it illegal is clearing not working

technick 5y ago

Yea it does, I knew a guy at my last job (Charter) who would drive stuff from Chicago to Denver, twice a year and get paid $20k each time. It was always with a one way u-haul rental and the cash was delivered to him weeks after the drive. He asked if I wanted to ride along and I couldn't say no quick enough.