Drugs
The drug trade props up the US economy.
The gross domestic product is the monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services provided within the period of time, often annually or quarterly. Nominal gross domestic product estimates are common are used to determine the economic performance of a nation or region or to make international comparisons.
In order for people to get their drugs they have to buy them. This is how drug dealers earning their money so they can buy food, clothing, shelter etc.
There is a theory that drug money was the only thing that prevented the collapse of the global economy and 2008. Real estate went bust; and drug money was the only cash available to propped up the big banks. There was also the $350 million narco-dollars that paid for bridges, roads, healthcare, and probably a good percentage of education.
People are addicted to drugs, and no amount of legislation or law enforcement will ever change what makes people become addicted to drugs. Nor does it do anything to inhibit the illegal drug industry (or the legal one for that matter). The potential profit margin is too great for people to resist. Thus, the criminal element becomes more and more organized. Inevitably, government and law enforcement have to set up a system wherein they profit from criminality. This is the beginning of the prison industrial complex.
There’s another thing to consider that almost no one ever talks about.
For decades, perhaps centuries, various governments in countries all over the world have drafted, enacted, and enforced legislation concerning mind altering substances. Sometimes, the legislation and its enforcement would become draconian. There would also be a parallel phenomenon; criminal activities that seek to profit from drug use would become more ruthless, vicious, and corrupt. And at times, the line between criminals and law enforcement would be blurred and the two would overlap. The profits and I dare say adrenaline rush of illegal activity would be too much for some people to resist.
But what about the drug users themselves? Without this customer base, there is no drug trade. Which brings up the point: why do people use drugs? What makes people want to get high? All the legislation and law enforcement in human history is impotent to answer this question. It cannot even define or articulate it within its conceptual framework.
Find out how this works and apply a workable solution based on this, and maybe drug abuse will cease to be as great a problem as it is. But that would interfere with somebody’s profits. And they won’t like that.