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Money laundering is part of the criminalization of victimless drug use. That's why they were created, and that's how they're used. Nothing more, nothing less.
by jnbiche 13y ago
Money laundering is part of the criminalization of victimless drug use. That's why they were created, and that's how they're used. Nothing more, nothing less.
Money laundering laws are almost never used to track down under the table payments to corrupt politicians or business leaders, as you seem to imply. It's always linked to the drug trade, or occasionally "terrorism" (which may or may not involve actual terrorists).
Do you really think it's a good idea to criminalize non-violent, victimless drug use? If so, then we'll agree to disagree.
It not, then I suggest you look into the history of money laundering laws and how they are applied. They're not doing what you seem to think they're doing.
- mh- 13y agovictimless drug use organized crime? human trafficking? [..]
- SpaceRaccoon 13y agoConsequences of drugs being illegal, no?
- lclarkmichalek 13y agoYes, because when all drugs were legal, slavery wasn't a thing, right? No one has ever been sold into prostitution for a reason that doesn't relate to drugs.
- SpaceRaccoon 13y agoNo, because drugs being illegal pushes the drug trade into criminal hands. I don't do drugs (often) but I don't see why revenue should go to criminal cartels and war lords when it can be controlled and regulated by government, especially if the government is able to charge taxes- and I'd imagine, seeing how rich drug dealers are, that they can bring in a lot of tax revenue and still keep it less than street price.
- runeks 13y agoThe reason people are sold into prostitution in Western countries is because of restricted immigration. If they go to the police, they get escorted back to where they came from - so they don't.
- jnbiche 13y agoMost modern organized crime is a result of drug trade. So yes, it's all related to victimless drug use, as I said. In the case of human trafficking, or murder/assault by organized crime, the answer is pretty clear, at least to me. You charge and convict them of crimes like murder and kidnapping, crimes which have been part of our criminal code for centuries.
- drjesusphd 13y ago> Most modern organized crime is a result of drug trade. So yes, it's all related to victimless drug use, as I said. I'm sorry, this is just ridiculous.
- f00_ 13y agoPlease tell us why. Drugs make up an extremely large part of the income of most criminal organizations, some completely funded by it.
- wil421 13y agoMost traditional organized crime groups were focused more on vice than drugs. Vice being gambling, prostitution/human trafficking, and loan sharking. Recently crime syndicates have started to develop malware and card skimmers. The drug trade is a portion of organized crime.
- runeks 13y ago> Most traditional organized crime groups were focused more on vice than drugs. Vice being gambling, prostitution/human trafficking, and loan sharking. I find it interesting that all the areas that you mention are sources of revenue for organized crime are either illegal or restricted activities. * Gambling: illegal many places. * Prostitution: illegal many places. * Human trafficking: heavy regulation on immigration (if the trafficked women were to go to the authorities to report it, they'd be transported back to their country of origin) * Loan sharking: illegal many places (a ceiling is put on the interest rate one can legally charge) Imagine if we didn't criminalize the above, and allowed free immigration: would there be anything left for organized crime to make money on?
- rpearl 13y agoIf one could walk into a store and purchase pharmaceutical-grade recreational drugs (manufactured by a company), as one might purchase alcohol or cigarettes, then there wouldn't be drug-related organized crime or human trafficking.
- sukuriant 13y ago"then there wouldn't be drug-related organized crime or human trafficking." Citation needed. I'm sorry, I cannot believe without a lot of proof that human trafficking and drugs are so intimately related that the latter would not exist without the former.
- CamperBob2 13y agoIt's legal to sell alcohol. Do you see a lot of human trafficking related to alcohol sales?
- ceejayoz 13y agoBullshit. There aren't a bunch of pedophiles out there going "gee, if I could just get my hands on some heroin I'd stop raping three year olds"...
- SpaceRaccoon 13y agoThe point is that drugs are a primary income for criminals- that is, people who are criminals for a living.
- rpearl 13y agoYou have failed to parse my sentence. Of course there would still be human trafficking. There would not be (drug-related human trafficking.) There would not be (drug-related organized crime.)
- ceejayoz 13y agoIn that case, bullshit again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_smuggling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_smuggling
- the_watcher 13y agoMakes me think of The Wire. Lester Freeman following the money always ended up killing the case.
- rayiner 13y agoQuite wrong about the history. Vigorous drug enforcement took off in the 1980's. The Bank Secrecy Act was passed in 1970, the same year as RICO. The target was the Mafia and other criminal organizations that are a lot scarier than Silk Road.
- camelite 13y agoYour comment makes sense to me only if you replace 'use' with 'distribution', though it becomes self-contradicting in the process.
- Aqueous 13y agoYou realize that this argument justifies anything even tangentially related to the drug war because they are just the side effect of the 'criminalization of victimless drug use' right? This includes the thousands of people who are beheaded each year by the Mexican/Colombian cartels, which, if you look at it this way, can be blamed on the US government's 'criminalization of victimless drug use'. The US government's policy might be stupid - but the cartels are also evil, and we should do as much as possible to try to curb these kinds of atrocities. Look the drug war is terrible, drugs should de-criminalized and treated like a health problem as they are in Europe. However, you can recognize this while recognizing that the people who traffic drugs tend to be engaged in some pretty reprehensible behavior, and money laundering is one of those things (along with human trafficking and gang violence.)
- jnbiche 13y agoI strongly agree that human trafficking and gang violence are not only reprehensible, but truly sickening. However, I strongly disagree with you that money laundering belongs in that group. I mean, if we're going to arbitrarily criminalize an activity that cartels and gangs engage in, why not criminalize their mobile phone usage? It's actively used in their criminal endeavors. And yes, I agree with you that most of these horrible groups and events are a side effect of the war on drug. Without all the power that drug money brings them (which results from the fact that drugs are illegal), they would just be local bullies and psychopaths -- the kind that local police forces can deal with. But because of money that results from the war on drugs, these groups have accumulated trans-national power to the extent that the build their own submarines. Study the history of the prohibition and the mafia power that grew from prohibition..
- slowmotiony 13y agoI live right in the center of europe and drugs are not treated like a health problem.
- Aqueous 13y agoIt was my understanding that at least in some parts of Europe, like the Netherlands, drugs were considered more of a health problem than a criminal problem.
- rtpg 13y agohttp://www.businesspundit.com/10-most-notorious-money-laundering-cases-of-the-20th-century/ http://www.businesspundit.com/10-most-notorious-money-launde... over half are not about drugs. The US also puts a lot of effort into freezing assets of people violating human rights.
- shotwell 13y ago> Money laundering is part of the criminalization of victimless drug use. That's why they were created, and that's how they're used. Nothing more, nothing less. Your claim made me curious. According to the American Banker's Association, the Bank Secrecy Act was motivated by fears over foreign bank schemes and crime (specifically, the ABA mentions white collar crime). The law also sought to correct practical problems, such as grocery stores failing to photocopy checks. I think this undermines your main point about drugs, along with the fact that the "war on drugs" started after the BSA was passed in 1970. http://www.aba.com/Compliance/Documents/07cbe87f05f94aa8b84faa573c790ba5AppendixC.pdf http://www.aba.com/Compliance/Documents/07cbe87f05f94aa8b84f...