Are we any better than drug dealers?

[BadBoyBenny]

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Drug dealers work very hard to create addicts.

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This statement resembles nothing close to any drug dealer I've met. The product sells itself.

It does resemble casinos though.

[AZnuts]

Compulsive, damaging behavior is possible in any aspect of life. But is playing poker equivalent to dealing narcotics - of course not! What a moronic premise to begin with.

How many here honestly believe the two activities are equivalent, and if so why don't you deal narcotics as well?

Anyone here ever need a carbon infusion, gastric pumping, extended home care to recover, if ever, from a poker overdose?

Anyone ever lose their cousin to a physical addiction to hold'em? Ever need to tell your uncle its not his fault, even though his son said he had a problem and you tried to help?

Get over the melodramaic "let's try to make a controversy out of this" garbage. Most people know in their gut the two activities are not even close to equivalent.

[sumdumguy]

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The product sells itself.

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No.... they work REAL hard to create addicts! They got it down to a science: from target selection to best method.

[colgin]

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The product sells itself.
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No.... they work REAL hard to create addicts! They got it down to a science: from target selection to best method.

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This is nonsense. Utter nonsense. You should stop repeating Partnership for a Drug Free America propaganda and do some independent research.

[colgin]

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And I certainly did nothing at all to create their addiction. Drug dealers work very hard to create addicts.

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Al, with all due respect, drug dealers simply don't spend a lot of time trying to create addicts. They focus on supply and distribution which, IMO, is a totally different thing. I have met quite a few drug dealers in my time and seen many more on the streets and in the clubs of NYC. I have never once seen one of them trying to convince anyone to buy their wares.

As a wise man, Chris Rock, once said: "Dealers don't sell drugs. They OFFER drugs. Drugs sell themselves. . . 'Cause people wanna' get high!"

Also, while you have never done anything to create someone's gambling addiction (and I would say the same about your typical dealer, unless you want to equate the mere supply of the drug with creating addicition, in which case your "supply" of a game, by your participation in it, can be equated with creating the gambling addiction, an idea that I think is absurd), what about the gaming industry at large. They are out there spending tens of millions of dollars on advertising to lure people into their casinos. While they may not want to create addicts they are tryin gto convince people who might not otherwise think to gamble to explore gaming (not that I think there is anything wrong with that). Now find me an underground drug operation with an advertising budget. Finally, while one could say that the gaming industry does not want addicts just responsible gamers (although it is inevitable some new gamers will end up as addicts), you could say the same of drug dealers. Not that they think about this a whole lot, but I am sure if given the choice your drug seller would like a responsible user who will be coming back ona regular basis for years to come rather than some who becomes an addict and is bust in a year.

On a side note I will concede that large parts of the illegal drug world is very violent. Of course that could be ended through legalization.

[jokerthief]

It is my personal philosophy that individuals are responsible for thier own actions. I'm not going to let some one's weight problem stop me from eating at Mcdonalds. Nor am I going to let someone's phychological problem (which would manifest itself elsewhere if poker didn't exist) stop me from enjoying the only mental challenge that I can find.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

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To the extent that we as poker players rely upon gambling addicts to make our living, how are we different than drug dealers?

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You seem to have the idea that ALL drug dealers rely SOLELY upon the hopelessly addicted, wretchful and pathetic people. While this is true in some instances, it is of course not ALWAYS true. There is, in the world of drugs, the same as in the world of poker, a spectrum and a range of men, methodoligies, and reality.

The person who buys a fair amount of marijuana, but sells some to their friends, is certainly not what I perceive your impression of a drug dealer to be.

The heroin dealer "down on the corner" who sells to the dirty needle sharing hopeless addicts IS what I am perceiving your impression of a drug dealer to be.

Remember, there are many degrees of reality in both the world of drugs and the world of poker. As long as their is demand for drugs, and there will ALWAYS be this demand, there will be people who meet that demand by selling drugs. Some will be good, some bad, and some ugly, just as in all areas of life.

Similarly, as long as there is a demand for poker, there will be poker games. People will win and lose. Some will be recreational players, some will be addicts. There is a spectrum of realities for poker players, just as their is for drug users and sellers. Not all losing poker players are hopeless gambling addicts. Of course I am not sure what the spectrum is in your area, but underground or not, I suspect that few are as pathetic as you seem to think they are. The fact is that the vast majority of people who gamble, and are LOSING gamblers, are not hopeless addicts or compulsive gamblers. I do not think that the presence of legalized (or not) gambling really affects this spectrum all that much, other than there might be a few more true gambling addicts in places where it's LEGAL, because it's more accessible.

Personally, I am in favor of most drugs (but not all) being legalized. I also have pretty extensive knowledge of the physical and biological aspects of drugs, particularly "recreational" ones. I believe that such matters are personal, not the domain of the friggin' state (especially since the relevant laws are typically composed by southern-baptist bible-belt type A-holes).

Drug addiction WILL occur in some % of people regardless of the legal/social/physical ramifications. The problem lies in that the legal problems are often so great as to completely ruin the lives of people who are simply addicted, and need help, rather than their lives ruined by pricks who run the legal system. I wonder who the REAL criminals are here, the drug addicts, or the people who exploit them to boost state revenues and keep the prison system machine going.

al

[Al Schoonmaker]

Al,

I must disagree with one of your points. The current system does NOT boost state revenues. A system under which drugs are taxed would do so.

The current system costs the government tens or perhaps even hundreds of billions of dollars for enforcement, incarceration, and lost tax revenues.

Regards,

Al

[Al Schoonmaker]

Many drugs do NOT sell themselves. I include heroin and cocaine, plus some others.

Drug dealer SELL drugs. They create demand by, for example, downplaying the addictive dangers, extolling the pleasures, and providing them free or at low cost to non-addicts.

Without this marketing, far fewer people would become addicted.

Regards,

Al

[warlockjd]

What's bad about drug dealers? I used to sell pot, and although I worried about the legality, never the morality.