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Money.

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[quote=“zantax, post:187, topic:239597, full:true”]

How many people from married two parent middleclass homes join gangs.

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Depends how poor they are, being married doesn’t automatically make you middle class. Just lessens the odds you won’t be poor. Pretty simple, hey poor school kid, you want to work at McDonalds for 12 bucks an hour or sell drugs for 100 an hour? And that’s why jobs programs don’t work either because those jobs still won’t pay what selling drugs does.

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street level dealers don’t make that.

typically a street level weed dealer buys a 1/2 oz for between 100 and 120 bucks and separates it into 14 dimes (1g each). they make between 20-40 bucks off it. if they smoke themselves they are basically dealing to support their own habit.

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191

These are 1990 numbers, best I could find.

In a new study with bleak implications for the war on illegal drugs, researchers have found that street drug dealers here aren`t getting rich but willingly take unusually high risks to make far more money than they could in legitimate jobs.

The Rand Corp., issuing what it said was the first systematic study of the economics of street drug dealers, reported Tuesday that the typical daily drug dealer between 18 and 40 years old nets $24,000 a year. The study is based on interviews with people charged with crimes, people on probation, data for the city and a prior Urban Institute survey.

The researchers interviewed 186 adult men on probation and found two-thirds of them earned an average of $7 an hour on legitimate jobs and averaged $30 an hour as ‘‘moonlighting’’ drug dealers, working only when demand is highest.

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Inflation calculator says double those numbers for today. So sixty an hour. Remember when making pot legal would solve the problem? It’s been legal in Chicago for over a year.

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My guess is broken homes.

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You don’t have to be from a broken home to have a preference for sixty an hour over twelve, just poor and with a high tolerance for risk, which is why it’s mostly men.

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I didn’t say that. My philosophy/advice is getting oneself in a good position in life economically and then getting married before having a child.

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Oh and half the gang members aren’t kids.

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Sure, but the kids didn’t make that call.

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Expect predawn SWAT team raids going after people based on minor alleged violations of gun laws. How long before another Ruby Ridge or Waco?

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Why don’t all poor people sell drugs?

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I’m not blaming the kids.

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Because they didn’t grow up seeing role models doing it? And some people have more tolerance for risk. My best friend growing up tried to get me to do armed robbery when we were 16. He used to hold up gas stations. Showed the money he was making. I didn’t care if it had been a million, no way I was down for it. He dealt drugs in our high school as well. He’s a real estate agent now.

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So everyone selling drugs is making $120,000/year?

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Double what it was and it used to be 24, so 48 a year. That’s no doubt an average though. Probably. a bell curve.

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Your making the assumption that most people join gangs to make money selling drugs. That’s not the case:

Selling drugs is listed last here:

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Part of the reason for the recognition is, money.

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Damn.

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