Is the sale of illegal or illicit drugs or any other commodity in minority, low-income neighborhoods a means for the disenfranchised to become a part of the mainstream economic system? Are today’s drug dealers and gang-bangers any different than the bootleggers and rum-runners of the prohibition era or the pharmaceutical companies of today? For many young people, particularly those who suffer the most as a result of bad economic times, a “broken” and unfair legal system, and the continued discriminatory and stereotypical attitudes of those in power, the answer is a resounding “NO DIFFERENCE!”
As in prohibition, the desire and market for illegal drugs allows many “entrepreneurs” to fill a “gap” not serviced directly by the legitimate market. I say directly, because “pharmaceuticals” (politically correct name for “drugs”) are big business as well. Doctors (legitimate drug dealers), on a daily basis, “prescribe” millions of dollars worth of pharmaceuticals under the guise of curing or treating some human malady, condition or disease and keeping you coming back. In 2008, the amount of money spent on prescription drugs was estimated to be around $234.1 billion according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers. That’s more that $641 million dollars a day! Tobacco and cigarette companies who for years, knew their product was dangerous and addictive, were, and are, allowed to continue to sell their products. Just as prohibition opened up new vistas for the disenfranchised, so does drug use. Supply and demand, the American way! Gangs are just the “street” version of a pharmaceutical company and dealers are the doctors. The “pharmaceutical company” sends representative out to the “doctors” offices and solicits them to sell their product and offering them “incentives” to do so. What’s the difference? How many have made their fortunes by illegal and unethical means and then become “up-standing citizens”?
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