• Ultralight aircraft now ferrying drugs across U.S.-Mexico border
    60 replies, posted
They take our catapults? Time for another DIY project.
Just legalize and tax them heavily.
Guess that works better than a catapult
But isn't Mexico at fault as well? They aren't doing much to stop the drugs trade.
[QUOTE=Ignhelper;29980136]But isn't Mexico at fault as well? They aren't doing much to stop the drugs trade.[/QUOTE] what are you talking about? they've been at war with the cartels for years.
[QUOTE=Ignhelper;29980136]But isn't Mexico at fault as well? They aren't doing much to stop the drugs trade.[/QUOTE] they've tried, but no matter what it's impossible to stop the drug trade the war on drugs is futile and costing lives daily
Legalization will make cartels richer and larger IMO. I still support it however.
[quote]Authorities noticed a surge in flights in Imperial County after newly erected fencing along California's southeast corner blocked smugglers from crossing desert dunes in all-terrain vehicles.[/quote] This is stupid. Do you know how much money it costs to employ a fence 24/7? Last time I checked, fences don't change shifts - so we're legally required to pay double over-time. California's minimum wage is $8.00/hr, so that means we're paying each fence $16.00/hr. Assuming each fence is 4 ft wide, employing enough fences to cover the California-Mexico border would cost over three million dollars an hour! That's 26 billion dollars a year, excluding [i]health and social security benefits[/i]!
[QUOTE=lulzbocksV2;29980913]Legalization will make cartels richer and larger IMO. I still support it however.[/QUOTE] they won't be cartels anymore though.
[QUOTE=Swilly;29979666]Just legalize and tax them heavily.[/QUOTE] If you tax it too hard, it'll still be profitable for the cartels and drug dealers to continue to sell it illegally. It's a balancing act finding the right level of taxing and legalization to make it a bad business for the cartels and dealers, while controlling the substances enough so current and future drug addicts have no other choice than to quit their heavy drug abuse or not start it altogether.
[QUOTE=valkery;29952368]See, this is why we should allow drugs to be legal and put extreme regulations and taxes on them. Then we wouldn't have to worry about the ultralights flying in and dropping them.[/QUOTE] Apart from the fact that they still would to avoid the extreme taxes. [editline]22nd May 2011[/editline] That is literally how smuggling was invented.
So have they tried digging tunnels?
Hell, you don't even need to tax it that much. It seems that the local paper reports a massive cigarette smuggling operation every other month. If people can sell it for cheaper, people will buy it for cheaper. There's an entire counterfeiting industry that exists and has for centuries. Back in the 18th Century it was fake coins, now it's fake perfume and football shirts. And no, people won't grow their own if they want some, it takes too much effort. How many people do you know who grow houseplants? And this is assuming that home growing won't be illegal.
[QUOTE=Van-man;29983411]If you tax it too hard, it'll still be profitable for the cartels and drug dealers to continue to sell it illegally. It's a balancing act finding the right level of taxing and legalization to make it a bad business for the cartels and dealers, while controlling the substances enough so current and future drug addicts have no other choice than to quit their heavy drug abuse or not start it altogether.[/QUOTE] No, it will never be cheaper. The mark up is so huge, it's absurd. And even if it's only marked up 300%, because the production prices for big pharmaceutical companies are so much lower.
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;29955465]Why don't they just quit this stupid war on drugs?[/QUOTE] because of the violence. they don't necessarily give a shit about people getting high, but the bodies
[QUOTE=purvisdavid1;29946704]Holy shit this is why I see ultra lights all the time.[/QUOTE] shoot one down, collect prize
[QUOTE=Lachz0r;29981365]they won't be cartels anymore though.[/QUOTE] What makes you think the cartels would just disappear? They have a massive industrial and employee base that they can work off off. Even if they did start "playing by the rules", their employees would suffer under the terrible conditions they already do.
[QUOTE=lulzbocksV2;29987921]What makes you think the cartels would just disappear? They have a massive industrial and employee base that they can work off off. Even if they did start "playing by the rules", their employees would suffer under the terrible conditions they already do.[/QUOTE] So yeah, once more, what happened to the bootleggers after Prohibition? Face it, underground criminals can't compete with a government regulated and manufactured business, it's why even with high cigarette taxes you don't see underground tobacco dealers growing their own to sell for cheaper under the market. It's stupid, it's not profitable, and no one's going to buy from you when they can to a regulated establishment.
Next step: commercial airplanes filled with drugs
[QUOTE=Pepin;29974547] Coke is a very commercially viable, just not as much as marijuana because marijuana has a much higher yield per plant. The special process issue really isn't that much of a big deal in than that the people who currently produce coke don't have the resources to improve efficiency. A stream line manufacturing process in a factory would nullify the issue.[/quote] it is commercially viable, just not for the average person [quote]You are right in your point about the average person not going to produce drugs, even if it was legal. Think about anything that is commercially available, and how many of those things people will make themselves. Generally there are a good number of things people will self produce, but people generally they will only produce one type of good. This is all apart of trade in which people choose one type of item to produce and trade that one item with people who produce other kinds of items that they need or want. The person could obviously decide to produce the goods he wants to buy, but that choice wouldn't be a good one because others can do a much better job producing it and it would reduce the quality of the main good that the person is producing.[/QUOTE] producing anything for yourself instead of just buying it is very niche how many people grow their own tobacco? how many people brew their own beer? its effort most people dont wanna deal with
[QUOTE=Gekkosan;29985758]because of the violence. they don't necessarily give a shit about people getting high, but the bodies[/QUOTE] war on drugs is what caused the violence.
Those people must have been pretty high to do this.
[QUOTE=Best4bond;29983783]So have they tried digging tunnels?[/QUOTE] Yes, many times. It takes a significant amount of labor and requires that you have safe entry and exit points on either side of the border. We also have sensors now that can detect tunnels by measuring minute shifts in gravity along the surface of the ground.
[QUOTE=yawmwen;29963203]you wont take down cartels they will just legitimize their business they will become the coca cola of drugs, and thats fine cuz they prolly wont go around killin people if they are a legit company[/QUOTE] Haha no they won't, they'll use their drug profits to switch over to kidnapping, extortion, and other crimes like the mafia did after Prohibition ended. It will weaken them significantly however and there will be much less violence. [quote]When alcohol became legal again in 1933, the Mafia diversified its money making criminal actives to include (both old and new) illegal gambling operations, loan sharking, extortion, [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_racket"]protection rackets[/URL], [del]drug trafficking[/del], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fence_%28criminal%29"]fencing[/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bid_rigging"]bid rigging[/URL] and labour racketeering through control of labor unions.[/quote][editline]23rd May 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=SgtCr4zyAlt;29999139]So yeah, once more, what happened to the bootleggers after Prohibition? Face it, underground criminals can't compete with a government regulated and manufactured business, it's why even with high cigarette taxes you don't see underground tobacco dealers growing their own to sell for cheaper under the market. It's stupid, it's not profitable, and no one's going to buy from you when they can to a regulated establishment.[/QUOTE] You do realize the mafia still exists and organized crime is still a billion dollar industry for them, right? [quote][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Mafia#cite_note-15"][/URL] In 2002 the FBI estimated that the Mafia earns $50–$90 billion a year.[/quote]
[img]http://en.valka.cz/files/zu-23-2_finn.jpg[/img] Buy several thousand, equip with Night-Vision and hearing amplifyers, problem solved.
[QUOTE=RBM11;30013638]Haha no they won't, they'll use their drug profits to switch over to kidnapping, extortion, and other crimes like the mafia did after Prohibition ended. It will weaken them significantly however and there will be much less violence.[/QUOTE] the mafia works differently than the cartels the cartels are responsible for the manufacture and transportation of drugs street gangs are the equivalent to the mafia, because they focus on widespread distribution to consumers if drugs are legal then why should they switch their business at all? they have the infrastructure and ability to continue doing it but this time can operate without spending huge amounts funding their gang wars and wars against the police
[QUOTE=Psychokitten;30014458][img]http://en.valka.cz/files/zu-23-2_finn.jpg[/img] Buy several thousand, equip with Night-Vision and hearing amplifyers, problem solved.[/QUOTE] doesn't seem like a dumb idea at all!
[QUOTE=Penguiin;30020508]doesn't seem like a dumb idea at all![/QUOTE] Have the rounds rigged to explode after a certain range. Happy?
[QUOTE=Penguiin;30020508]doesn't seem like a dumb idea at all![/QUOTE] accidentally kill someone who is just flying by presuming its legal to fly a personal ultralight during the night time
[QUOTE=yawmwen;30020585]accidentally kill someone who is just flying by presuming its legal to fly a personal ultralight during the night time[/QUOTE] Pretty sure the border is a no-fly zone at any time of day.
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