^ the *perception of avoiding shady figures.
Just that these ones were so shadowy you couldn't see who they were at all! Not disagreeing with your point though.
Here's another example, though; synthetic cannnabinoids (not sure the appropriate term - cannibomimetics or something? I might have made that up).
I have witnessed so many people buying that stuff due to it's constant availability, general absence of droughts, except for various legal cat/mouse crap.
Anyway, most people paid about the same (I think? Maybe more in some cases) for a product that most people I know say was inferior to cannabis, as well as being chems essentially untested on humans on a bunch of herbs that could be causing uknown damage when smoked.
But just walking into stores for 5 minutes to browse, i would watch a steady stream of customers coming in to the shop to buy this stuff. The questions asked about the product gave me the impression very few had done the slightest reading on what they were purchasing.
Now, saying that it seemed a bit creepy to me is beside the point - but if people are so desperate to get away from the shit they may have to contend with when buying a bit of weed, be it scary dealers, droughts/shortages, dodgy situations, police risks etc) - in this case people in Australia seem to be proving that they'll pay a premium (black market $ at least) for gear of questionable quality, consistency of ingredients, safety and so fourth.
They'll make that leap without the stuff even being very good, from most reports I've heard.
(Of course, my example overlooks the other reason for this popularity of 'synthetic weed' is the drug testing angle, but that isn't a topic for discussion here).
What I'm getting at though, is a lot of punters will jump at the chance to obtain drugs in a nontraditional way be it the example suggested by teological above me, or the phenomena of "legal highs" stores/stalls in Australia.
We don't have a very sophisticated drug-taking market IMO compared to some other western countries (parts of North America and Europe are leading the way on this) but it is an indication for how this market seems to behave - a fascinating thing socially, as it has always been practically invisible except to people involved in the business (working in it or attempting to enforce it) - but still full of secrets and myths.
I can only see a black market (other than one of concenience - there are all kinds of "cash economies" operating on in this country, and probably always will - the GST did not stop the untaxed, cash economy) existing for drugs that are not well catered for in any hypothetical legalisation situation. That pharma-grade stuff isn't the same as what was sold as that substance previously? Maybe then, but I can't see many advantages that within the bike gang's repertoire.
The US/Australian "bikie" thing is funny.
Though the culture evolved from a bunch of disenfranchised men and boys; many returned WWII soldiers, or children of the First World War, many growing up without fathers.
Living in a society that lacked the structure and camaraderie the armed forces provided, and using a similar social structure of the street gangs of urban poor neighbourhoods, gangs like the Hell's Angels seem to offer their members a sense of belonging, power and a certain kind of respect or notoriety they lacked in their lives on the fringes of postwar America.
Following a huge deal of media interest, counterculture idolisation (at a certain point, in the earlyish days) and the development of "chapters" and similar gangs across the world.
When "outlaw motorcycle gangs" and their members/associates etc came to Australia, we Aussies still had a fully functioning national slang 'dialect' (that was far less homogenous than the one that operates in today's digital world, which is far more international and Americanised).
So, when they popped up over here, outlaw bikers became "bikies"
Other, non gang-related motorcyclists are known as "bikers".
Unlike in the US, we have a word describing both the outlaws and your everyday motorcyclist (without having to use too many syllables; we're a laconic lot, apparently...) whereas I believe "biker" can mean either in the US?
A bit like "surfie" is a bit of a put-down, unlike "surfer".
Just the intricacies of how Australians abbreviate our words, and the status implied with each variation. Interesting and slightly weird.
I gather that "biker gangs" are viewed with a bit of derision by most people in the states. Like almost something cute, or a relic from the post-war years and the 60s, while other forms of organised criminals or subcultures are much more feared, respected of revered.
For whatever reason, things are different here.
Maybe it's the good print bikies offer the press, or the fact that it seems most of the gun battles taking place in Australia are outlaw bike gang related; again -
very different picture in America.
Two very different societies with very different underworlds - but I wouldn't underestimate the role of the mass media in romanticising "bikies" here.
Snicker all you like, the yanks started this shit
