MacRaven - Dave Haxton's Weblog

Fri, 03 Feb 2006

Drug dealer reports dope theft to cops

This guy's obviously not the brightest bulb in the chandelier ... but, on the other hand, what was he supposed to do? Grab an automatic weapon and seek to recover his property himself? I'm sure that would've made the police happier: then they'd have another incident of "drug violence" to point out when demanding more money to wage the war on weeds...

Truth is, "drug violence" would disappear almost entirely if drugs were legal. The violence associated with the drug trade is not associated with the drugs themselves, but with their legal status. Markets need legal regulation: that's what courts and laws about property crimes directly address. When this regulation is removed, as is the case with drugs and prostitution, market players have to furnish it themselves. Usually with a machine gun.

An 18-year-old drug dealing master criminal is languishing in Utah County Jail after reporting the theft of his stash to police, the Deseret Morning News reports.

(link) [The Register]

/Politics | 3 writebacks | permanent link

On 2/3/2006 12:24:14
Esuor Kram wrote

Dave wrote: "Truth is, "drug violence" would disappear almost entirely if drugs were legal. <SNIP> When this regulation is removed, as is the case with drugs and prostitution, market players have to furnish it themselves. Usually with a machine gun. It really may be a wash. In Brazil, prostitution is legal and well regulated, however there is still a lot of violence associated with the trade - probably more than here in the USofA. And while violence of the gangster/mafia type abounded during prohibition, violence, whether intentional or not due to intoxication was much less. Drunk drivers make Al Capones body count look insignificant (not that violent death by any means is insignificant). Of course, the USofA is still pretty sedate compared to places like Paraguay near the Brazilian border where most shopkeepers hire big guys to sit at the entrance to their store with a sawed-off shotguns and the police carry automatic weapons and baseball bats. We were only there for about three hours, but during that time a guy tried to pick my pocket and we witnessed what happens when a thief is caught by the police. They stopped traffic, drug the offender into the middle of the street where everyone could witness them beat the guy unconcious with a baseball bat. Then they drug him back to the sidewalk and left him lying in the gutter. Quick, intense justice, but rampant crime. With human nature, some thing just don't add up..........

On 2/4/2006 18:07:58
Dave H wrote

Not a good comparison

as South American judicial systems are notoriously inefficient and corrupt. I would wager that the policemen in your incident were as offended by the perps lack of a bribe offer as they were his criminal activity. In such an environment, even producers of legal goods and services are often left with no recourse than to take matters into their own hands. Without an ordered legal system, all matters tend to devolve into "might makes right". And, while drunk driving is a serious offense, it's in no way related to the crimes discussed, as it's nature is that of accident and abuse, rather than economic gain. Pimps and dealers are out to make a profit running a business: I've never heard of any way to turn a fast buck by driving drunk. Thanks for the comment, and Be well, Dave H.

On 2/5/2006 01:06:25
Esuor Kram wrote

Maybe not a good comparison, but a correct one. Violence is violence whether it caused by a deliberate criminal act or an irresponsible criminal act. People reward themselves in many different way, whether it be financial gain or the pleasures of hedonism. Persons killed by a criminals bullet or a criminals (yup, drunk driving is still a crime) car are just as dead. The violence has just shifted to a different type of criminal who has chosen a different reward than money. Of course there is the case of bartenders and liquor stores that sell alchohol to people who are already drunk. In college, I worked at a convenience store and policy was that we sold beer to anyone who asked as long as we didn't know that they were under 21. We couldn't sell beer to a kid that had just gotten off the school bus, but we coudn't not sell it to him if he drove himself to the store. Even if he was already driving drunk. The convenience store made a lot of money from booze. As far as the theif in Paraguay, I doubt that he even got a chance to offer the cops a bribe. They just grabbed him, beat him and threw him in the gutter. It is possible that the vendor was paying off the cops. Who knows..... While I am a proponent of a smaller, less intrusive government, I am also in favor of better law enforcement and greater judicial responsibility. If, for instance, it was made legal to smoke weed, I would be in favor of strong laws and manditory sentences for those who commit crimes (including driving while intoxicated) while under the influence. During prohibition, there were was more violence related to the trade of alchohol and less related to the consumption of alchohol. Now it is reversed. It may be worse if you go strickly by the body count. However, we have almost decriminalized drunk driving. I'll bet if there was a manditory one-year jail sentence if a person was caught driving at .10 there would be a lot more designated drivers, and great reduction in alchohol related car crashes (I'm hesitant to call them accidents). Just my $1.20 (2 cents adjusted for obscene oil profit induced inflation). Mark

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