Atlanta’s highways and the drug trade (sale, high crime)

[arjay57]

A very interesting post.

A new Forbes list names Atlanta the sixth most dangerous U.S. city with a population over 200,000. An article from 2009, also in Forbes, gives a clear reason for Atlanta’s high crime rate: it’s a major drug trafficking hub.

From the recent Forbes piece:

“Atlanta has become the East Coast distribution hub of the violent Mexican cartels that now dominate the drug trade…Consequently, the Atlanta area has started to see an increase in violent crimes…”

The US Justice Dept website has a detailed review of Atlanta’s prominence as a drug trafficking hub and the increase in street gangs because of it. Obviously, the city needs to renew its effort to fight drug trafficking here if we want to see the level of violent crime reduced.

One thing that comes up repeatedly in reports of Atlanta’s status as a hub for drugs is its network of highways. They offer easy routes for traffickers in and out of the city. Yet another downside to a transportation system focused so heavily on moving a high volume of cars.

More....

Atlanta's highways and the drug trade

[atltechdude]

Of course it is, which is why marijuana needs to be legalized. That's the drug most people want and it is less harmful than tobacco which is legal. If it cannot be bought in a store people will get it where it is available which right now is from cartels.

"fighting drug trafficking" is a useless futile effort because it will not reduce the demand and as long as the demand is there someone will fulfill it.

It's time for government to realize that policing what people put in their bodies is what needs fixing.

[MattCW]

My dad is on the night shift, and going in, he'll see a lot of cars pulled over in the emergency lane, sometimes two together. Our guess is that there is a drug deal going down. On my morning commutes, I never see that many vehicles stalled or in a wreck so what is it that causes far more vehicles, out of a far smaller population of vehicles to "stall" or have wrecks??? It's hard to enforce though as most patrol officers are patrolling solo and I doubt anyone would want to approach a suspected, and possibly armed, drug deal alone.
Legalization isn't the answer. If marijuana suddenly becomes legal, then what about cocaine? Maybe legalize heroine next? Oh, and we can legalize opium after that! Drugs serve no purpose in society; neither does tobacco, but at least its damaging effects are long-term, you don't get spaced out and high off tobacco. Alcohol gets you drunk, but at least drunkenness is fairly obvious, and field-testable. Other than laziness, there's no reason to allow drugs like these in our society.

[atltechdude]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Legalization isn't the answer. If marijuana suddenly becomes legal, then what about cocaine? Maybe legalize heroine next? Oh, and we can legalize opium after that! Drugs serve no purpose in society; neither does tobacco, but at least its damaging effects are long-term, you don't get spaced out and high off tobacco. Alcohol gets you drunk, but at least drunkenness is fairly obvious, and field-testable. Other than laziness, there's no reason to allow drugs like these in our society.

Cocaine, and Heroin use would drop if Marijuana was legalized.

Makes absolutely no sense that it should be illegal if tobacco remains legal. And what's wrong with getting spaced out and high? Some people like that. Who are you to make that moral judgement for someone else?

[FlyiMetro]

When a drug bust happens in Atlanta do they mostly get weed or coccaine? I don't think crack is doing as well as it did between 87-94...curious if users still even buy crack or if they moved over the meth.

[ATLTJL]

Cocaine, and Heroin use would drop if Marijuana was legalized.

I don't see the logic in this train of thought.

Atlanta has long been the heroin capital of the southeast. It may not be grown, processed, or even come into the country here, but like legitimate products, it comes here to get distributed. I was always told that Vine City/Bluffs is the epicenter of this activity.

Crystal meth is also widely trafficked through Atlanta.

I don't know that much about cocaine or marijuana.

The reason drugs and even marijuana are not legalized is because it is a bit of a Pandora's box issue. People can make all kinds of arguments, but the bottom line is nobody really knows what would happen if drugs were legalized. One thing that is known is that when something is legalized, use goes up. Aside from that, the sociological effects are impossible to know. The problem is, if it turns out that the effects are very harmful, it is very difficult to close Pandora's box and make the drugs illegal again. We learned that with Prohibition.

So the biggest argument not to legalize drugs is not to say that it would definitely be horrible. It's more to say that nobody really knows what would happen and if it turned out to be horrible, we'd be stuck with it.

[atltechdude]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I don't see the logic in this train of thought.

The reason is because Marijuana is the most popular drug. If it were legal people could buy it in a store. As it is people have to get it from pushers who are selling everything under the sun, and will also try to get you to buy other stuff.

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

The reason drugs and even marijuana are not legalized is because it is a bit of a Pandora's box issue. People can make all kinds of arguments, but the bottom line is nobody really knows what would happen if drugs were legalized. One thing that is known is that when something is legalized, use goes up. Aside from that, the sociological effects are impossible to know. The problem is, if it turns out that the effects are very harmful, it is very difficult to close Pandora's box and make the drugs illegal again. We learned that with Prohibition.

That's some profoundly unsound logic for making a legal decision. A lot of what ifs and hypotheticals. Look at Jamaica. A place with widespread heavy generational use. There have been studies on it there. Their society is doing fine.

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

We learned that with Prohibition.

What we learned from Prohibition is that banning something does not erase the demand for it, nor curtail it's availability if people want it. That's why it failed, and that's the same reason the "War on Drugs" is failing today.

Marijuana will be legal within the next 20 years. It's likely that at least one or two states will legalize it on Nov 6th (3 states are holding referendums on statewide legalization). Younger people overwhelmingly support it being legal. Among everyone, it has reached a majority opinion. http://www.gallup.com/poll/150149/re...marijuana.aspx

[ATLTJL]

I don't have a dog in this fight, as I don't really care if marijuana is legal or not.

However, if you want to talk about profoundly unsound logic, comparing the U.S. to Jamaica is about as unsound as it gets.

Jamaica is one of the most dangerous places on earth. It has an extremely high murder rate. Besides, marijuana is illegal there, so how is the comparison even valid?

I always find it humorous to see the crazy arguments and statistics that the marijuana legalization crowd comes up with. I actually had a guy tell me one time that marijuana smokers are as persecuted as Jews during the Holocaust.

Here's a newsflash: already nobody cares if you smoke weed. Just be smart. If you don't know where to get it, you aren't looking very hard. If you get caught with it, you are a fool. Even though marijuana is illegal, its use is already widespread and commonly accepted. I can see how legalization might make sense as just a principle, but I don't get why some people are so vocal about it. Do you really think your life is going to change drastically if it becomes legal? Is it that hard to get now? Too expensive? Aside from the moral high ground, what's the actual advantage to legalization? And I mean for you personally, not the idea that it can be taxed because I know you don't actually care about that, it's just an excuse. For you personally, how would your life change if it was all of a sudden legal? Let's assume it is legal the same way in places like the Netherlands where you still can't just smoke in the street or buy it at 7-11.

[KingJohn]

Wow..This is another reason why I would never live in Atlanta....

Harrisburg and Indian PA never had ANYTHING like this..I can't believe people are still trying to defend Atlanta-AFTER THIS REPORT? I've dealed with masked and armed thieves before, but mexican drug cartels?! I pray for the Police force in Atlanta that they will be alright when they confront these Cartels.

[cittic10]

Originally Posted by atltechdude

The reason is because Marijuana is the most popular drug. If it were legal people could buy it in a store.

And if it was sold in stores, it would be as safe as a pack of marlboros, thousands of carcinogenic and addictive chemicals.


I'm for decriminalizing posession, consumption and growing your own but... I'm against legalizing the sale of it.

People can just grow their own and it would put an end to the cartels in a hurry- my opinion.