Quote:
Originally Posted by 60-minutes-II
right, but finding anoter type of crime would be difficult as it would be harder to make easy money. Some gangbangers might actually might get their act together....it's a possibility.
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Many of the Prohibition gangsters started legit businesses with the money they made from bootlegging once Prohibition ended. Some of those businesses are very huge today. Joseph Kennedy was already moderately well off before he engaged in bootlegging - but his involvement in rum running made him wealthy enough to buy a movie studio and establish himself in politics. The Bronfman family fortune originates from Prohibition era bootlegging, and Al Capone's younger brothers were able to land the 7 Up bottling franchise for Chicago because of their access to plenty of water from making illegal "hooch" even after Capone himself went down. (Big Al made sure that his family was protected from any potential problems with the law ; he had the power to do so, and made sure his brothers weren't involved enough in his business to be potential targets for prosecutors). This isn't even mentioning some smaller businesses.
I suspect some of today's gang members, if drugs were legalized, would turn to legit business.
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