On Saturday, April 30, 2005, at 10:00 AM, Barbara Lickness wrote:
Mark Wilde said:
And I would argue against the idea that all the buyers are "from the suburbs" as people like to claim. The people buying live right next store to the people selling.
Me: Mark you are only partly correct. According to the stats, 60% of the people buying the drugs drive in from the suburbs or other rural areas in Minnesota and Wisconsin. 40% are local. Perhaps if the dealers set up satellite operations at Ridgedale or Southdale or the Eden Prairie Center it would be more convenient for them and our incidents of violence would decrease dramatically.
Barb Lickness, Whittier
It is futile to speculate where the buyers come from in what percentages. We might just agree that the public is complicit in illegal sales by supplying the demand and thus the market growth. True, Target and Walmart need to know where their customer base comes from. Drug dealers and distributors probably do too. We can argue endlessly whether they are local or suburban. But it is what it is, whatever we might speculate. The market is there is sufficient depth to make this business profitable.
Illegal or legal will have little effect on the under 18 market in a future legal scenario. For now, the buyer age spectrum is under 18 to no ceiling.
There are just too many in the public who are buyers and thus there is a ready supply of dealers and sellers that the larger scale distributors can rely on. Bullets in the head are part of the risk category.
The mayor was exhorting a reduction in public buying to decrease demand. Otherwise law abiding citizens and others should pay attention to this.
Best,
Laura
Laura Waterman Wittstock Minneapolis, MN 612-387-4915 www.laurawatermanwittstock.com http://laurawatermanwittstock.blogspot.com/
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