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While I agree with your points, I wonder if legalization temporarily boosts other types of crime, as former "criminals" seek other forms of easy money to mainta

by codex 13y ago

While I agree with your points, I wonder if legalization temporarily boosts other types of crime, as former "criminals" seek other forms of easy money to maintain their lifestyle and social status. Drug dealing is a form of gainful employment for many who have few other skills.

hadem 13y ago
So we should keep these drugs illegal so we can ensure that drug dealers have "jobs"...?
adventured 13y ago
American prohibition covered that ground. There's a short spasm by organized crime as they fight to stay alive, and then the system goes into cardiac arrest. Ideally you have a government that simultaneously hammers organized crime at the same time their funding is drying up.
tomjen3 13y ago
I have heard this argument a lot and I don't buy it, because if there were some other thing they could do to make more money easier than drugs why not do that now? I mean it is not like they couldn't stop trading drugs today if that is what they wanted.
- codex 13y ago
  Oh, I don't think other forms of crime would be easier; just that other forms of crime may be the next easiest thing to try.
  - tomjen3 13y ago
    Sure but in that case the value of the crime goes down (either because it doesn't make so much money or because it is harder or more dangerous) in which case (law of supply and demand) the supply of criminals goes down too. And which crimes should they go for? Guns aren't needed when you don't need to defend a territory. Smuggling would be an obvious next step, but what should they smuggle? Diamants? Counterfeit goods? Women? All those are much more difficult to smuggle than drugs and the price per kilo is much, much less so they would have to invent new ways of smuggling. At present drug prizes it makes sense to build one way semi-submercibles (or even submarines) to get the stuff from Columbia to the US, I doubt the risk is worth it if you are to smuggle counterfeit goods at a few dollars a pound.

by codex 13y ago

hadem 13y ago

So we should keep these drugs illegal so we can ensure that drug dealers have "jobs"...?

adventured 13y ago

American prohibition covered that ground. There's a short spasm by organized crime as they fight to stay alive, and then the system goes into cardiac arrest. Ideally you have a government that simultaneously hammers organized crime at the same time their funding is drying up.

tomjen3 13y ago

I have heard this argument a lot and I don't buy it, because if there were some other thing they could do to make more money easier than drugs why not do that now? I mean it is not like they couldn't stop trading drugs today if that is what they wanted.

codex 13y ago
Oh, I don't think other forms of crime would be easier; just that other forms of crime may be the next easiest thing to try.
- tomjen3 13y ago
  Sure but in that case the value of the crime goes down (either because it doesn't make so much money or because it is harder or more dangerous) in which case (law of supply and demand) the supply of criminals goes down too. And which crimes should they go for? Guns aren't needed when you don't need to defend a territory. Smuggling would be an obvious next step, but what should they smuggle? Diamants? Counterfeit goods? Women? All those are much more difficult to smuggle than drugs and the price per kilo is much, much less so they would have to invent new ways of smuggling. At present drug prizes it makes sense to build one way semi-submercibles (or even submarines) to get the stuff from Columbia to the US, I doubt the risk is worth it if you are to smuggle counterfeit goods at a few dollars a pound.