Weed Shall Overcome?
With all of the marijuana/ganja/weeed selling that goes on around here, I wonder what would become of the underground economy if it were possible to walk into Duane Reade, or CVS, or Walgreens and buy a pack of ganja cigarettes. What would happen to the communities in which we live? For one thing, the consumers of some of these goods (no doubt some of y'all) would stop buying your stuff off of the street and instead go to these legal establishments to get your fix. In the interim, these guys who sell the product would be forced to do something else for income. More than likely, they would not 'get a job' as many of you naively think, but instead traffic in some other narcotic (NOT oregano), or engage in other criminal activity. Which brings me to my main point about those who proffer goods in the 'underground economies'. These guys are 'under-employable'. They do not possess mainstream marketable skills that will enable them to be legally employed, for if they did, it is highly unlikely they would live the way that they do. I have had the mis-fortune to live in close proximity to some of these guys. There is more than a touch of 'Lord of the Flies' going on with them, if you know what I mean; they have been on the island WAY too long -- if you get my drift. In this 21st century in one of the most urbane places on the planet, thereis a level of barbarity that is hard to describe. But it does exist. I for one do not want to see the legalization of marijuana for with it will become a sudden disenfranchisement of a group of people in our community that have their proclivity for crime dampened by their selling of the magical herb. The illicit trade is a lesser of all the evils. But for weed, crack might make its frightening return (it's already sold around here y'all...), or crystal meth might become suddenly the smoke of choice. I just wish we could teach these brothers lessons in civility. Ah well..
Comments
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Marijuana legalization, if it comes, will come gradually (and will sometimes have set backs) as it has in CA and other places.
...not sure what is to be done with the present crop of folks who doesn't know how to do anything else. Historically, we usually answer such crisis with more prisons. (As a society, we aren't real bright)
...on rare occasions we calm civil unrest by creating jobs thru something like the WPA, but the unemployment problem has to be widespread and affect folks of all classes and races.
Back to drugs: I'm all worrying about meth, and am kinda surprised we are just getting meth heads now in NYC. The shake and bake method means you don't need a suburban garage anymore.
ttp://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=how+to+make+shake+and+bake+methamphetamine&aq=5m&aqi=g5g-m1&aql=&oq=shake+and+bake+met&gs_rfai= -
i've always felt that any self respecting pothead would trust neither the government or a corporation with their supply.
too great a likelihood of corporations adding addicting substances or otherwise tweaking it, probably find a way to get high fructose corn syrup in there too. the guvmint would definitely try to tax it and hold out on the good shit. -
Jeezus. i don't even want to see this. I might get bored one day....
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MHA wrote: Jeezus. i don't even want to see this. I might get bored one day....
Links on the negative effects of meth are similarly available.
(I don't want anyone to have a reason to blame that "white guy whynot" for thier problems.) -
Oy!!!!! LOL! I no longer indulge in pot smoking, but I would rather buy something regulated in Duane Reade or CVS or buy it from a dude who retrieves his product from behind the wheel of a car parked on Franklin Avenue. Who in heavens would smoke that? God knows where it has been.
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and there's the aforementioned oregano problem, and the omnipresent
"hey, I gave him $20 and he said he'd be right back with my weed but it's been 30 min."
problem -
I just wish my next door neighbors closed the store at a reasonable hour. It's a 24 hour business over there.
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What would they do? Maybe something like what this letter writer threatens:
http://wonkette.com/415151/wall-street-assholes-will-eat-your-cushy-middle-class-job -
This is an interesting conundrum. God knows the city needs the money, and hipsters would totally eat up some kind of boutique speakeasy delivery service.
But let's be realistic- most of these guys selling weed aren't even in middle management, and often are still well under the poverty line. They break all the rules- smoking their own supply, selling out of their homes, continuing to sell w/o making a profit etc
Plus I imagine their clientele isn't too trustworthy of the govt, so "legal" pot wouldn't have the appeal of "i got 4 oz stashed behind the Chinese take out dumpster" pot. So to a degree I don't think the impact would be that huge. -
Legal pot tends to be far more diverse and consumer-oriented than street pot. In places where it is available, the black market tends to disappear pretty quickly.
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Here's the tricky part, that might keep the street market around for a while:
Sin Tax. If weed were made legal, would it not be taxed at the higher rate that cigarettes are, making them super expensive and less affordable?
Street dealers (with weed of questionable provenance) might actually make greater profit margins if the legal alternative (coming from a higher-taxed supply chain) was only available at super high (ha...) prices.
In that sense, legalizing pot might make street dealing a *much* more attractive (and therefore more deadly-competitive) profession. -
As we've all discussed, legalization would create a venue for those seeking a reliable source of quality weed that could be purchased in a risk free environment.
However, there will always be people who are able to arbitrage the difference between wholesale costs and post-tax retail.
...in cigarettes, this can be seen in the cartons available on NYC streets that orginated on from Indian reseverations or in low tax states such as VA.
I think the real question regarding pot is: Are most of the users "middle class"?
If the users are a down and out population, I predict they be willing to continue accept risk, and sacrfice convenince for lower price.
So, clearly, the government needs to encourage middle class kids to start getting high so it can have a reliable source of revenue.
....this will likely allow the government to save on Finanancial Aid b/c the kids were too lazy to fill out college applications. (the plan is genius, you gotta admit) -
Quick. Alter the food pyramid.
Result:
Woahhhh...pyramids.
Success! -
jeffrey wrote: Quick. Alter the food pyramid.
This will not work. Not even the middle class, non-crown-fried-chicken-eating, population of NYC follows that silly pyramid thing.
Result:
Woahhhh...pyramids.
Success! -
But if we sneak it into their cake it will certainly be worth the 4 bucks.
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The way to go about getting more middle class, risk adverse customers is for the government to first allow weed sales only by delivery services which are regulated by DOH.
Target Market: High school students too lazy and wimpy to leave their friend's family apartment.
....otherwise we will just have have a repeat of Washington Square.
[The aforementioned oregano problem, and the omnipresent
"hey, I gave him $20 and he said he'd be right back with my weed but it's been 30 min." problem.] -
all true.
...But the weed buyers of Franklin and Nostrand, may be the Crown Fried Chicken eating variety (not that there is anything wrong with that....).
And, as evidenced by the recent Nostrand Avenue Publicity Raid, local government occasionally frowns on the "get weed with your chicken" model. It demostrates this disapproval via using hundreds of cops, a helicopter and politicians to celebrate the capture of some weed and a single gun.
Upon legalization, it may be reasonable to assume an increased demand for fried chicken ...but if the neighborhood continues to gentrify, Kozmo is a good stock bet. (not as good as pets.com was, but I digress).
However, MHA describes a population that is actually below the level that Crown Fried Chicken considers as potential employees. (damn, that is sad)
Although I am confident Weed Shall Overcome the obstacles in its path, I am no so confident about those who presently depend on it as their sole source of income and entertainment. -
I ate 6 pieces of Crown Fried Chicken last night; with hot sauce.
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MHA wrote: I ate 6 pieces of Crown Fried Chicken last night; with hot sauce.
It is good. ...but I couldn't imagine having to work there.
...or being so low skilled they wouldn't let me work there.
...they selling weed again?
(did they ever?) -
I don't smoke weed. I didn't ask.
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I believe he was referring to eating it.
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"Nostrand Avenue Publicity Raid"
lol at that! there was another thread here discussing that stupid bust and at the time i was reading it...everybody was in favor of that crap. i was the only one who said anything like "this sucks". -
Oh. I have never had a brownie before. I always said if I started the habit again I would rather eat it than anything. For those who indulge, weed smoking seriously hampers the sex drive. I recall the helicopters flying overhead the day of the bust. I happened to be walking on Nostrand later in the day and I saw the closed stores and the notices placarded. People were milling about and a common response was that 'why is it that the police are busting these guys now? It was an open ended question. The response came in waves: 'You know why! You know why!' Do you guys want to know what the common response was? The popular feeling is that now that the neighborhood is 'changing', the police feel more inclined to enforce the law. I tell you, these feelings don't come from nowhere. I wish someone would say, 'Yes, you are right, white life is considered more valuable than Black life'. (Sigh). I am gonna get off. King of the Hill starts in 5 minutes.....
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the0ther wrote: "Nostrand Avenue Publicity Raid"
Some of this stuff has been argued over many times before, so people who agreed with you might just have been avoiding replaying old arguments.
lol at that! there was another thread here discussing that stupid bust and at the time i was reading it...everybody was in favor of that crap. i was the only one who said anything like "this sucks".
Example:
http://brooklynian.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=52751&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=5eab2cfb53025fa8b56d9e45521e1481 -
Cool! I will check it out. Thanks.
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