• muntedcrocodile@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Whats the difference between gangs profiting off selling cocaine and heroin and someone else doing it? Is this not just swapping one gang with another that claims to have better morals?

    • sylver_dragon@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It’s the difference between having regulated businesses selling addictive drugs via controlled markets and having violent criminal gangs selling the drugs in unregulated markets. The former tends to be less damaging to society as a whole, while still not being great for the individual. Look at alcohol prohibition in the US in the 1920’s. It was a social disaster. Criminal gangs quickly popped up to fill the demand and organized crime became entrenched in a number of areas. When prohibition ended, alcohol went back to a fairly mundane product which is sold by fairly normal companies which don’t regularly engage in mass murder to control a market. Sure, calling Budweiser “beer” might be skirting truth in advertising laws; but, AB InBev isn’t lining it’s competitors up against a a wall and shooting them.

    • deafboy@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Well, considering they have unofficial blessing from the police, it can bring not only more competition to the market, but competition consisting of people who are more aware of the consequences of their actions. Both will make the product better and cleaner.

      The criminalization (and proper enforcement) of certain services ensures that only people with high risk tolerance, or ones who can’t properly realize the consequences of their actions will provide them. In other words, if the only people in drug business are the ones who don’t give a shit, they won’t give a shit about their customers. Even if it means killing them faster.