The other night I caught a news piece about a drug bust in East Palo Alto, Ca. The cops had found some ridiculous amount of drugs & quite a lot of medical equipment. But what do I walk away from this story with? Not that drug dealers regularly carry round enough drugs to kill the majority of their community -- not the implications of housing their own medical facility.
No. That which strikes me most about this was the point that each of the tabs of Ecstasy got by the police costs the buyer $60.00. Can you imagine? Sixty bucks for a few hours of escape (not to mention the possibility of a permanent departure).
Let's ignore the fact that $60.00 will buy a few new books, or a lot of used books; that it might even buy a good feeling by purchasing meals for hungry children. Forget that people are dying every day because the pharmaceuticals only research "cures" which draw a profit.
What really makes me stop is the fact that drug dealers are shooting themselves in the foot with such pricing.
Sound familiar?
It's the American way, isn't it? initially offer your products for little or nothing. But once your customer gets to the point of need -- real or otherwise -- jack up the price. Instead, though, of just putting your society in horrible, inescapable debt, you force them to do whatever it takes to get more.
I'm really done.
No comments:
Post a Comment