Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer • Hacker News Board

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#121

Post by pessimizer » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 9:38 PM UTC

peterwwillis wrote: post #21

It's funny that they didn't interview any actual neighborhood-dealers. The people sitting on the corner slinging dope have a much more dangerous job than people with clientele who are discreet and wealthy. I suppose it's because they're perceived as so dangerous that reporters never talk to them. But ask a corner man his life story and he'll tell you about serving time, getting shot, and paying off cops to stay alive…

It's because upper-middle class white people need to see an upper-middle class white person doing something in order to reflect on their previous thoughtless condemnation of it.

Of course the problem with that is that a large percentage of those readers will leave the article with the message that "not all drug dealers are bad, some of them are like me." That's how you end up with cocaine/crack sentencing disparities.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#122

Post by sppooo » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 9:40 PM UTC

tachyonbeam wrote: post #114

cnp wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've personally seen MDMA fix two marriages, with one session each. Its divine stuff. I'm very happy that new studies have been completed or are being planned to further explore the psychotherapeutical side of the drug. But aside from that, I agree. It's the best. No hangover (if it's pure), short duration, music sounds amazing, an amplified sense of intellectual focus and compassion, and good times with friends. You…

Careful. MDMA can have beneficial effects, but there's mounting evidence that it's some degree of neurotoxic. If you use it weekly, you'll likely cause some amount of permanent damage in the long run. I can also tell you that MDMA can cause anxious/depressive episodes that last a few days after use. There's even a name for this (suicide Tuesday). Not everyone experiences this side-effect, but like any other drug, it'…

I used a lot of MDMA 20+ years ago. I was immediately aware, on trying it, that it was neurotoxic. I don't know how I knew that, but I did. However, after I quit I saw no evidence of permanent damage. As a fairly high-level software developer, I'm pretty sensitive to the state of my brain, and I don't recall ever experiencing difficulty working more than 2 or 3 weeks after taking MDMA.

Also, I only heard about this right before I quit, but a lot of the toxicity can be averted by taking 20mg of fluoxetine 3 to 4 hours into the experience. (It diminishes the drug effect, so you don't want to take it too soon.) The theory I heard is that MDMA or, more likely, one of its metabolites, binds to serotonin receptors and damages them. Taking something else that binds to the receptors, then, can help protect them. I tried it once and it seemed to help. St. John's Wort might work too, and is easier to get.

All that said -- I agree that people should be more careful with it. It's a potent psychoactive drug that's harder on the body than most of them, dehydration being a real risk.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#123

Post by pessimizer » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 9:42 PM UTC

throwaway13qf85 wrote: post #5

I found this sentence interesting - I surmised that Viktor serves a large segment of the East Coast and personally takes in $24,000 to $32,000 per month after all his other costs are covered. Let's say he takes in an average of $30,000 per month. Does $360,000 annually sound like quite a small amount of money for running a highly illegal business that serves a large chunk of the East Coast? Small-to-medium sized busi…

So there's no risk in committing tens of years and tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to become a business owner, Wall Street trader, quant, or a very good engineer?

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#124

Post by tunap » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 9:47 PM UTC

vertex-four wrote: post #102

elohesra wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I cannot cope with the smell of e-cigarettes Okay, fair enough. Have you tried asking the vapers if they would mind not smoking them indoors? I know I've stopped doing so in confined conference rooms after a coworker commented that they didn't like the smell. I appreciate it sucks that vaping is just one more thing which intrudes on your personal space and freedoms, but so do so many things at the office, from peop…

> Have you tried asking the vapers if they would mind not smoking them indoors? Yes. Unfortunately, some people do not seem to care about others, especially when they see what they're doing as "harmless". There seems to be a certain militancy among some vapers that doesn't exist around most other things.

The apathy is not a cigarette/e-cig problem, sounds more like a personality trait. A little mindfulness would do our culture good(real practice, not the Time magazine version).

I posit the militancy is a possible result of persecution.

Yes, I am a 2nd class smoking citizen.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#125

Post by throwaway13qf85 » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 9:51 PM UTC

pessimizer wrote: post #123

throwaway13qf85 wrote: post #5

I found this sentence interesting - I surmised that Viktor serves a large segment of the East Coast and personally takes in $24,000 to $32,000 per month after all his other costs are covered. Let's say he takes in an average of $30,000 per month. Does $360,000 annually sound like quite a small amount of money for running a highly illegal business that serves a large chunk of the East Coast? Small-to-medium sized busi…

So there's no risk in committing tens of years and tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to become a business owner, Wall Street trader, quant, or a very good engineer?

There's no risk of going to jail for 10+ years.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#126

Post by tunap » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 9:53 PM UTC

Crito wrote: post #108

vertex-four wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those things don't tend to protrude more than a few inches, maximum, from a person's body, and there's an established culture whereby people will be reprimanded if they do.

Heh, tell that to the elevator in my office building. You find e-cigs offensive? I don't, but I do have those sort of problems with perfumes.

This is the reason I stopped going to malls. The olfactory assault emanating from some of those stores is quite unpleasant and will give me migraines. Applies to the weekend bar scene, too, but I was never wont to hang around drunk people anyway.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#127

Post by EGreg » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 9:56 PM UTC

chc wrote: post #117

EGreg wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

straw man much? I said that they are entrepreneurial, perhaps you would prefer that I said they're self employed? The point is, they have skills and mindset that make them not just want a job anyway

I would prefer that you explain what you think they are supposed to do other than turn back to crime when they get out. The comment you were replying to was talking about how difficult it is for ex-cons to become productive members of society, and you just replied, "Aren't they already entrepreneurs?" This seems to imply that you believe the problem he was describing is not real because of their inclusion in the cate…

While I am against the lack of learning and internet usage that inmates get (missing chances to prepare them for the real world and raising rates of recidivism), my point is that drug dealers in particular have the skills to be self-employed and run their own business. They already engaged in sales and formed customer relationships, etc. They can do that in other fields.

You know, Adam Smith talked about being self-employed so that people wouldn't turn into mindless employees of companies, and the productivity of man could be unleashed. I really doubt that the only options for people with such a mindset are to turn to crime or get a job. There are plenty of enterprises they could embark on that are legal.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#128

Post by tunap » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 9:56 PM UTC

collyw wrote: post #78

atom-morgan wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But we love to punish people for their vices, so there is no research on creating safer alternatives to existent drugs. And even in the areas where people are creating safer alternatives (e-cigarettes), there are politicians nearby ready to use their banhammers.

Google for David Nutt in the UK. An scientific expert in the area of drugs. British government asked him to conduct a study of the relative dangers. Didn't like the result. They sacked him.

Cannot locate the item right now, but didn't the entire brain-trust leave with him, too? Sucks working for an org that ignores the results that don't suit their ends.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#129

Post by moheeb » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 9:56 PM UTC

CocaKoala wrote: post #81

collyw wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the American dream not based on that?

...no? To my understanding the American Dream is based on the idea that anybody from any background can come to America, build something, and become successful; the freedom and opportunity to start small and build up. It's not about pulling money from nowhere, it's about turning sweat into capital.

Actually the American Dream includes folks that don't need to "come to America"...i.e. Americans.

Re: Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer

#130

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 10:01 PM UTC

ryanobjc wrote: post #64

peterwwillis wrote: post #21

It's funny that they didn't interview any actual neighborhood-dealers. The people sitting on the corner slinging dope have a much more dangerous job than people with clientele who are discreet and wealthy. I suppose it's because they're perceived as so dangerous that reporters never talk to them. But ask a corner man his life story and he'll tell you about serving time, getting shot, and paying off cops to stay alive…

Part of the point of the article is exactly that - what is your "neighborhood dealer" now-a-days? The people sitting on the corner slinging dope is itself an image, and may not be reflected in reality anymore. Especially with police wise to that kind of behavior, surely it makes sense to be able to blend in?

[deleted]