The Economics of Cocaine

[Petersko]

I was having a very interesting discussion with a good friend of mine, who has, in the past, dealt cocaine. He had some points to make.
The flow of product and money relating to cocaine essentially follows the standard pyramid structure. Producers on the top, down to the bottom, which is comprised of the largest consumers of cocaine, addicts. Just above the addicts are the smaller consumers - weekend warriors.
The interesting thing is that for the most part there is no real money at the bottom of that chain. The biggest consumers likely have the least available cash. So how do they pay for their stuff?
They don't. Society as a whole does - through property crime.
Pure money enters the chain higher up - at the weekend warrior level. Below that, conversions happen. Stolen goods are sold to fences, for instance.
Also interesting - according to my friend, cocaine dealers generally don't have a problem with other dealers snorting a lot. Even when it is an addiction. Why? Because they can usually continue to do their business, and have a relatively normal life.
In his experience, though, if a dealer is caught doing crack - even once - other dealers disconnect from him, anticipating the spiral. If he's high enough in the chain, he might not be merely disconnected.
Interesting points to ponder. Any thoughts?

 

[PhreeX]

It's like dealing any drug.... usually those at the bottom of the food chain simply sling enough to support their habbit..
Property crime? I am not sure I understand what your angle is - most cocaine users are NOT out there breaking into houses to get their fix...

 

[Sho0teR420]

Between cocaine and pot I had rather sell cocaine becuase some people just wont come out and say that they do it

 

[SovietContin]

Hardcore cocaine addicts often support their habits by either slangin' some themselves or they have nice jobs and instead of living a nice lifestyle, they blow all their money on cocaine.
Which is not too different from me. I don't make a fortune, but I could be doing alright. However I choose to live minimally and harbor a heroin habit instead.

 

[quale]

> They don't. Society as a whole does - through property crime.
Do you have any reason to believe that this is actually true? I mean have you seen any evidence or did your friend who once dealt just tell you this? Did he even deal to this people...how the fuck would he know how often people were selling stuff to fences?
Do you believe that the pill at the rave is 20% mescaline too?
This sounds like stupid drug war propaganda. I am sure some theft is used to pay for drugs (criminals use drugs there is a surprise) but some more evidence would be nice before these sweeping generalizations about how common it is.

 

[Ruofa]

Originally posted by SovietContin:
Hardcore cocaine addicts often support their habits by either slangin' some themselves or they have nice jobs and instead of living a nice lifestyle, they blow all their money on cocaine.

exactly true. my salary is about 67k, plus 7k from a renter. i drive a 96 geo, neither have nor use credit cards, and haven't bought a cd, shoes or clothes in a very long time. virtually every penny of my 'discretionary' income is spent on cigarettes, fast food and cocaine.
i've never stolen or borrowed to support my habit, and i've still never gone without. and the day i suck a dick for a bag is the day i eat a bullet.
as is usually the case, i think the stereotype presented by the original poster is pretty inaccurate - so much so that i really wonder where that perspective came from. it sounds like something nancy reagan would forward, not something that would come from the mouth of a former 'dealer'.

 

[NoriegA]

Coke is more of a thinking person's drug. It is a more upscale drug with the average user having a family & a full time job. Your point's are well thought but in my opinion it more describes the life of a crack addict. While many people rob & steal to support there habbbit I would say a great majority of them are crack addicts & herion users. Maybe 5% of them are committing crimes against society to support a coke habbit. In short coke is to expensive for them where they can score crack rocks for as little as five bucks...

 

[quale]

>In short coke is to expensive for them where they can score crack rocks for as little as five bucks...
I just don't understand. People keep saying this stuff but it doesn't make sense to me. Anyone but a fucking retard can convert between crack and blow so why the hell would it make a difference which one you are buying. If coke is really more expensive than crack per amount then someone would be fucking buying crack converting and reselling.

 

[JB]

Originally posted by quale:

I just don't understand. People keep saying this stuff but it doesn't make sense to me. Anyone but a fucking retard can convert between crack and blow so why the hell would it make a difference which one you are buying. If coke is really more expensive than crack per amount then someone would be fucking buying crack converting and reselling.
Say you could get 1g crack for $50 and 1g coke for $50 and they are both 100% pure you would still be getting more coke from the crack (if you converted it to coke) because the addition of the Hcl molocule would bump the weight up.
So 1g crack could equal say 1.1g coke or something.
But in genral yeah it is pretty fucking stupid

 

[twigburst]

People steal to support heroin addiction, not cocaine as much. It isn't just stealing though, its just hustling to make money to get the next bag, the real hustlers are the addicts cause they can wake up broke, make $200, spend the shit on dope and do the same shit the next day.