The secret logic of drug deals

These six types of customers should watch out

Money
(Image credit: (Thinkstock))

Get ripped off in a drug deal, and there's not a whole lot you can do. It's not like you can complain to the Better Business Bureau or leave your dealer a lousy review on Yelp. As one dealer puts it, "I mean, what you gonna do? What, you gonna go up to the police and say, 'Hey man, he skeeted me out of an ounce'? Hell no."

With customers having almost no recourse except for violence, drug dealers can rip off pretty much anyone they want, either overcharging for their goods or handing over less product, or a lower quality one, than what's owed. Combine the slim chances of getting punished with a desire to maximize profits, say criminologists Scott Jacques, Andrea Allen, and Richard Wright, and dealers have good reason to cheat customers. "Obviously, charging more or providing less quantity or quality is prudent, all else equal," they say.

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