Why is the illegal drug trade so violent? (drugs, racism, independent)

[murksiderock]

Me and my mother had an interesting discussion a few hours ago, and I thought it would be cool to bring it here...

I think there are several "simple explanations", but I want people to think outside the box. There are plenty of illegal lifestyles--identity theft, counterfeit money, etc--but no other illegal industry is rife with killing like drugs are. It's not like illegal narcotics are in short stock or even terribly hard to get; there's enough money to be had than for constant killings or attempted killings, right?

As a former drug dealer, I'll reserve my comments for later. Appreciate all opinions!

[GregW]

I think it is because of a couple of things. First, the trade does not have any independent law to enforce contracts and, second, the criminal nature attracts people that have a more violent nature. According the book "Feakonomics" the drug trade is a huge "Amway" type scheme with the huge markup of prices. apparently the only shortage in the drug trade is in sales territories and these are, without law, worth fighting over.

[Cape Cod Todd]

It's all about the money. The very nature of drugs draws a seedy underworld to it both in the users and the pushers.
Most drugs being illegal has driven them underground and on the street anything goes.
The drug trade is all about supply and demand.
Mix the need, the money and the Wild West attitude and there will be blood.

[IM90046]

Identity theft and creating counterfeit money both are crimes that one can act alone in. So no people to fight with lol
Also, these two crimes generally have more mature, intelligent criminals. The drug trade employs many children off the streets, and many poor people from 2nd world countries who probably didn't have many other lucrative options.

[Unsettomati]

Originally Posted by murksiderock

Me and my mother had an interesting discussion a few hours ago, and I thought it would be cool to bring it here...

I think there are several "simple explanations", but I want people to think outside the box. There are plenty of illegal lifestyles--identity theft, counterfeit money, etc--but no other illegal industry is rife with killing like drugs are. It's not like illegal narcotics are in short stock or even terribly hard to get; there's enough money to be had than for constant killings or attempted killings, right?

As a former drug dealer, I'll reserve my comments for later. Appreciate all opinions!

The illegal drug trade is a multi-tiered enterprise - operators/managers, producers, distributors, sellers. This results in two significant factors.

First, you have a great deal of interfacing between criminals involving large-money transactions. This results in frequent opportunities for one side to rob the other, thus making a big score. Violence is used as both a means to this end as well as a deterrent to it.

Second, the large scale of these operations means that they're generally undertaken by gangs. Gangs compete with each other, and their currency is violence. Further, the nature of the business is turf - territory in which to sell. Violent conflict over control of turf is inherent and continual.

Beyond that, here's a couple more factors:

The customer at the bottom of this supply-chain is often an addict. That means desperation. Desperate addicts will use violence to attempt to acquire product by force when they cannot afford it, and the suppliers will use violence to attempt to deter said theft.

Identify theft and counterfeiting are more sophisticated crimes. There take a certain technical expertise. Illegal drugs, on the other hand, have a significant element which requires no skill other than strength and the ability/willingness to use violence. The demands of more sophisticated crime tends to weed out a portion of the less skilled and more violent element.

Basically, the nature of this business is so steeped in violence that violence is a norm of human interaction in the culture of the business.

[wall st kid]

I think the answer is probably that this is a blue collar crime with white collar money.....when you get the type of person who would rob 50 bucks out of a gas station with a gun handling tens of thousands of dollars, people are liable to get shot up.

[john620]

Because of the persecution of people who sell pills or plants by the government a lot of shady characters get involved. Firstly a lot of the drugs are supplied from non white latinos in central and South America and these people are naturally more violent. They don't care about good business and providing a good service but power, greed and they use violence to accomplish these things unlike legitimate businesses that use competition and better products and prices to draw customers.

Because of the extremely high cost of drugs a lot of money is at stake and theft is always a big concern so that's why there is a lot of violence on the dealer level.

Decriminalizing all drugs and letting people be free and do what they want to their own bodies would automatically make things many times safer. Drugs could then be bought at drug stores. There would be high quality control and exact dosing. Most of the overdoses are because it's all just a guess and no one knows how much of what they are taking and the purity. So we wouldn't have nearly as much od's. Because of the openness and open competition, prices would drop.

It becomes a situation of would you rather buy Advil from a pharmacy or Walmart or from a guy on the street. Dealers would be out of business for the most part. Decriminalizing drugs would have the effect of decreasing usage. Drano is deadly but very few people drink it. It's completely avaliable in drug stores. Decriminalizing drugs takes away the exotic nature of taking them. No longer is it an underground thing. I'm sure during prohibition people drank just because they weren't allowed by the government to buy alcohol. It was a way to say fu to the government. Decriminalizing causes drugs to lose that effect. It gets rid of the violence and a lot of OD's. Criminalizing of drugs has not stopped their use and anyone who wants to do drugs will. They will always be supplied so it is better that high quality and open businesses with standard do it as opposed to violent underground characters.

Raising better kids is how you stop drugs (focus on health, morality and purity as opposed to placing emphasis on perfect test scores and grades and extracurriculars so that kids don't resort to drugs, drinking and sexual immorality to get a release from the pressure of pre k all the way to college and then work).

[IM90046]

Originally Posted by john620

Firstly a lot of the drugs are supplied from non white latinos in central and South America and these people are naturally more violent.

Racism again, at its finest. Generalizing a population you apparently know nothing about.
Where did you get this information?
You have sources?
What is non-white anyway? 80% native? 30% native? 10%native?

[dreadd]

There really should be a lot more violence, or at the least, property destruction. People get dope on the front and then refuse to pay, on a very constant basis, at the street level. Plenty of guys get away with messing over dozens of dealers per year, $100-$500 worth. They do this again and again until they finally cross the path of somebody who regards such behavior as a personal affront to his manhood. Then they get what they have coming. Sometimes it's "just' their car or house being shot-up or set afire. Sometimes it's "just" the debtor being beaten down. Normally, tho, dope is an amazingly peaceful sort of thing, given what and who it's about.

[Suburban_Guy]

It's so violent because it attracts the most violent and depraved of society into its world.

Drugs are in great supply, not the hardest of things to manufacture, and plenty of demand. Lot easier to start up and dabble in than other forms of crime.