There’s a chapter in the book “Freakonomics,” by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (very interesting book, by the way) titled, “Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?”
The answer (provided by the authors after they undertook a fair amount of first-person interviews, statistical analysis, and research) is simple: The lowest-level drug dealers don’t make any money. The guys at the top of the food chain do, and they make a big show of flaunting their wealth. Why? It’s the carrot. They perpetuate the myth that with a little hard work and ingenuity, anyone can become a major player. Like a big corporation, you start at the ground floor and work your way up to become CEO.
Except it doesn’t work that way. It’s the street-level dealers who get caught, get shot, stabbed and whatever, while the upper-level distributors skate away. Except the distributors need the street dealers, so in order to replenish the ranks they have to keep the lifestyle dream alive. Hence the gaudy displays.
I thought about this during the “call-in” I witnessed last Thursday and wrote about last Sunday, where four low-level street dealers received an opportunity to avoid jail time if they agree to a series of contract stipulations.
People I’ve talked to have had mixed reactions about the program — I won’t go into detail; I’m sure you know what the gamut can be.
Personally, I don’t think it’s a bad idea. We’re not talking hardened thugs here. We’re talking young adults who got sucked into probably using and then wanting to live the dream.
Did they know it was wrong? Probably. But do they come from dysfunctional families? I know three of them did (and by “dysfunctional” I mean more complicated than just a single-parent household). I also know that if someone grows up thinking they don’t mean much to anybody, they’re a sucker to latch on to someone who acts like they do mean something. And I know that pop culture messages that glorify some behaviors, lifestyles and ideas in film, print and song are very alluring.
And there’s one other thing I know. You send a young, low-level dealer to jail and what you get two years later is a savvier, smarter dealer who has more than likely amassed a notebook full of even better contacts for when they get out. Now there’s an education for you.
That’s why I think it’s not a bad idea to give young, first-time offenders a chance, especially in this program. There’s a support net. There’s accountability. There’s incentive. There are consequences if they fail.
Ultimately, there’s a chance that rather than go to jail and be a drain on community resources — perhaps for a lifetime — they’ll turn around, get a job, and become an asset to the community instead.
Yes, the odds of all four succeeding are long — at best. Personally, I think if 50 percent make it, that’s a success.
And no, let’s not kid anybody. This will not stop the flow of drugs. More low-level wannabes will fill in the gaps, much as they do when dealers get jail time. If we’ve learned anything, it’s that you don’t stop the flow of drugs by clamping down on the supply. You have to deal with demand. If there’s one thing this country has proven throughout its history — beginning with smugglers who ran British blockades in the colonial era — it’s that if there’s a demand for something, there’s big-time profit potential and you know some enterprising entrepreneur will jump on that opportunity every time. So toss all the dealers in jail that you can round up. Walk away, dusting off your hands, feeling some sort of useless satisfaction that the job is done, and prepare to be disappointed. The cops and courts can deal with supply. Demand is a problem that must be dealt with by an entire community.
So to me, this program is not about eliminating the drug trade. It’s about extending forgiveness and offering redemption. It’s about giving some young people the chance to make better choices and grow into a happy, productive and satisfying adulthood.
More importantly, it’s about a community recognizing it has a problem, and actually coming together as one to deal with it.
