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A Heroin Dealer Tells the Silk Road Jury What It Was Like to Sell Drugs Online

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Re: A Heroin Dealer Tells the Silk Road Jury What It Was Like to Sell Drugs Online

#11

Post by cmdkeen »

kissickas wrote: post #7
mikeyouse wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fairly ignorant with the workings of the drug markets but is there any scenario in which a cartel controls distribution and not supply? It seems like by increasing the demand for drugs, the cartels who actually produce the drugs will actually be better off with Silk Road operating.

Why should cartels be involved at all? Unorganized suppliers and distributors could have run the whole market. I don't see any mention of cartels or gangs in the article.

Where do you obtain the raw product from? This dealer was buying $6000 bricks of heroin, so the only people being cut out were the middlemen just above the street dealers.

The cartels are absolutely still the people being funded by this activity. Or in the case of heroin organisations like the Taliban.

There is a substantial difference between growing a bit of weed to sell and the industrial scale production required to sell the amounts of narcotics that SR is talking about. Cartels still violently control the means of production and entry into the United States, increasing demand for their products increases their profit and motive for violence.

Re: A Heroin Dealer Tells the Silk Road Jury What It Was Like to Sell Drugs Online

#13

Post by cmdkeen »

There are a few interesting takeaways: - Pain perscriptions as a gateway to more hardcore drug use that destroys life, it doesn't sound like this individual had any "liberty" to make choices once he had become hooked on painkillers

- Heroin addictions are incredibly expensive in monetary terms, at $3,500 a week the price reduction would have to be huge before any legal drug wouldn't continue to create acquisitive crime to fund it

- Heroin addictions are incredibly expensive in terms of destroyed careers and relationships. Sure some users function normally, but you cannot know whether you're going to succumb or not before embarking - and that is the problem.

Re: A Heroin Dealer Tells the Silk Road Jury What It Was Like to Sell Drugs Online

#14

Post by Zangela »

>“I saw the relative ease that came with it,” he told the court. “It seemed like something I could get away with.” < Sell drugs throught Internet, it is accessable for a lot of people, which makes it an easy way to exchange drugs, and that might increase the people to do drugs.

Re: A Heroin Dealer Tells the Silk Road Jury What It Was Like to Sell Drugs Online

#15

Post by kissickas »

cmdkeen wrote: post #11
kissickas wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should cartels be involved at all? Unorganized suppliers and distributors could have run the whole market. I don't see any mention of cartels or gangs in the article.

Where do you obtain the raw product from? This dealer was buying $6000 bricks of heroin, so the only people being cut out were the middlemen just above the street dealers. The cartels are absolutely still the people being funded by this activity. Or in the case of heroin organisations like the Taliban. There is a substantial difference between growing a bit of weed to sell and the industrial scale production required…

Interesting, I never realized that the Taliban reversed its position on heroin and now supports its production. Thank God we invaded.

Anyway, this [0] Quora answer, specifically pointing out the New York/New Jersey market, states that most heroin in the US comes from South America. I suspect that the CIA played a big part in creating these cartels in the first place, and if it reverted to individual buyers getting their supply directly from the producers via the Silk Road or another bitcoin/Tor market, the cartels wouldn't need to exist at all.

[0] https://www.quora.com/How-much-of-the-heroin-imported-into-t...

Re: A Heroin Dealer Tells the Silk Road Jury What It Was Like to Sell Drugs Online

#16

Post by mathetic »

coffeemug wrote: post #8
deciplex wrote: post #2

> Aside from offering a hands-on account of how the Silk Road worked from a dealer’s perspective, Duch’s story calls into question claims that the Silk Road reduced violence by moving drug sales from the street to the relative safety of the internet. Duch’s testimony seemed to suggest that he wouldn’t have sold drugs at all if it weren’t for the Silk Road... Wow. What a stupendous flaw in logic and reasoning. I guess…

> But in terms of harm reduction Silk Road was pretty awesome (fwiw, I never used the service). Not only did it derisk buying and selling drugs... I don't see how it follows that derisking drug sales necessarily didn't increase harm. Yes, if you were selling drugs on Silk Road you were less likely to get into a violent confrontation with a client. Yes, if you were buying drugs on Silk Road you were less likely to get…

I like how you conveniently ignored the parent's comments about cartels.

Also I don't understand the use of "pseudo-libertarian" here? Drug usage is a personal decision and it's none of state's business. That is the very definition of libertarianism.

It has nothing to do with Silk Road but since you brought it up, legalising drug usage is for the greater good. You see the real danger does not originate from violent confrontations but the circles the the usage drags you in. If it was legally available, there wouldn't be need for an individual to get involved for their recreational needs.

On a medical perspective, it is common not to help out a friend having adverse reactions to a drug used simply because it is incriminating if you call the hospital and then stay with him/her.

And as if this wasn't enough, people just don't seem to get that the war on drugs has been lost in every continent. It will just go on and on and on. You can make it safer, peaceful and prevent it to be a source of revenue for actual crimes, or just don't give a crap and be irresponsible.

Re: A Heroin Dealer Tells the Silk Road Jury What It Was Like to Sell Drugs Online

#19

Post by mapt »

coffeemug wrote: post #8
deciplex wrote: post #2

> Aside from offering a hands-on account of how the Silk Road worked from a dealer’s perspective, Duch’s story calls into question claims that the Silk Road reduced violence by moving drug sales from the street to the relative safety of the internet. Duch’s testimony seemed to suggest that he wouldn’t have sold drugs at all if it weren’t for the Silk Road... Wow. What a stupendous flaw in logic and reasoning. I guess…

> But in terms of harm reduction Silk Road was pretty awesome (fwiw, I never used the service). Not only did it derisk buying and selling drugs... I don't see how it follows that derisking drug sales necessarily didn't increase harm. Yes, if you were selling drugs on Silk Road you were less likely to get into a violent confrontation with a client. Yes, if you were buying drugs on Silk Road you were less likely to get…

It can, but we have pretty abundant evidence now that the treatment we chose for the threat of heroin, the drug war, has a much worse net effect on society than the disease of unchallenged heroin addiction.

Re: A Heroin Dealer Tells the Silk Road Jury What It Was Like to Sell Drugs Online

#20

Post by maccard »

coffeemug wrote: post #8
deciplex wrote: post #2

> Aside from offering a hands-on account of how the Silk Road worked from a dealer’s perspective, Duch’s story calls into question claims that the Silk Road reduced violence by moving drug sales from the street to the relative safety of the internet. Duch’s testimony seemed to suggest that he wouldn’t have sold drugs at all if it weren’t for the Silk Road... Wow. What a stupendous flaw in logic and reasoning. I guess…

> But in terms of harm reduction Silk Road was pretty awesome (fwiw, I never used the service). Not only did it derisk buying and selling drugs... I don't see how it follows that derisking drug sales necessarily didn't increase harm. Yes, if you were selling drugs on Silk Road you were less likely to get into a violent confrontation with a client. Yes, if you were buying drugs on Silk Road you were less likely to get…

> Heroin isn't weed. It destroys lives of its users

Well, no more than any other addiction to opiates. The issue with heroin addiction is that 1) it's illegal; (in many places) 2) it's expensive as hell. Clean Heroin by itself has no majorly bad side effects that aren't associated with other (legal and regularly used/abused) opiates like oxy/hydrocodene. Constipation and cotton mouth are about all that comes to mind. The risks are the same as any other street drugs; bad batches, reusing needles, dirty needles, and unmonitored usage.

I'm not saying heroin is good, by any means, but it's not as bad as it's sold as.

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