In a way, the same could probably be said of American entrepeneurs. Drugs is a business, an illegal one, but still business. Imagine the (potential) talent wasted, although perhaps the talented ones don't get caught.
Bullshit semantics. Drugs are not legal. They are in jail for breaking the law, and possibly destroying the lives of addicts. Not creating jobs, and resisting a corrupt shakedown.
You can run a legal business in the US with only a tiny chance of being imprisoned for it.
I'm not flirting with the "true Scotsman" here, but the problem is the definition of what is legal. I'm positive Dmitry Malov did break a number of laws - as an entrepreneur in an ex-communist country I understand very well that this is unavoidable. The problem is that the law is designed to be broken, in order to facilitate corruption - something no country is completely immune to.
This is not very different from drugs, either. I still have to see a clear study that marijuana is more harmful then either tobacco or alcohol, and that it's not merely an accident of history supported by commercial and political interests that it is now illegal and the other two aren't. Not as bad as blatant corruption, true, but not semantics either.
He cherry picked on example of an industry (drugs) that is illegal. You can do thousands of other things, but becuase 1 is illegal we are going to equate the two? That is patently absurd.
Whether you believe drugs should be legal or not has absolutely no impact on what a poor example this was. Next are you going to argue that since America bans Doctors from providing assisted suicide we don't have a country open to entrepreneurship?
Unless we have anarchy, some things will be illegal. We still have a free market/capitalist society. I don't think you can be a pot dealer and act shocked, SHOCKED! when the police come knocking at your door and arrest you. Everyone knows it is illegal, and it is illegal in nearly all forms. Whether that is a good or bad decision is besides the point. Now, if I made an iPhone app and the police came knocking at the door, I would truly be shocked.
That is a completely different scenario than all businesses breaking some laws and the constant threat of police locking you up no matter what industry you are in. It's the difference between living in a society where you go to jail for grand theft auto (obviously illegal) and one where you can go to jail for vague reasons at the whim of the state (did you even do anything illegal?).
Put it in perspective, the guy in the BBC story sold milk.
OK. But you do know that selling pot is illegal, right? As do other drug dealers. Businessmen in every country know they will inadvertently break a few rules, but try to avoid it.
As for the legality of drugs, while I'm anti-drug, I think they should be legal. At least then they can be controlled. Besides, enforcement is often too spotty. The last three Presidents most likely used drugs, but nobody seems to care. Just don't apply for a government job if you want to be honest about it :)
And then there's the difference between manufactured drugs, imports, and home grown; and the type of criminal organizations they support. I don't really care about some dropout growing herbs for college kids, but other drugs funnel large amounts of money to criminal organizations, who spend it on turf wars.
That's the question, isn't it? Are these "businessmen" just growing illegal plants in a greenhouse, or are they also shooting their rivals outside schools? I guess it depends on the case.
> That's the question, isn't it? Are these "businessmen" just growing illegal plants in a greenhouse, or are they also shooting their rivals outside schools? I guess it depends on the case.
Are Cartier et al. just selling pretty rocks to vain women, or do their blood diamonds help fund militants in foreign countries? Pretty much any business, legal or illegal, can be construed to contribute or possibly contribute to some undesirable event. Most people don't care about Windows being used to look up cat pictures, but should we care about Windows being used to power nuclear submarines? How about all those "Wall Street folk"? Why are some businessmen in jail and others aren't, even for exactly the same crimes? etc. etc.
I don't think that you can really draw a valid comparison between a business that produces milk and cottage cheese to a drug peddler.
A drug dealer is a criminal because he sells contraband, typically doesn't pay taxes on his profit, launders the money and hires others to perform other illegal acts.
