Last updated : November 18, 2024
There are some who have decided that calling people who sell drugs “dealers” is too harsh a title. They’re proclaiming that it’s hurtful for people in this sector of society to be labeled in such a way. Instead, they say, we should call them “drug workers” from now on. To their demand that we stop using other titles because they’re “too harsh” or “hurtful,” we respond—and more than a bit incredulously, by the way—
“What?”
Let’s make something clear here. Drug dealers aren’t victims of society—they prey on it.
Sure, they may be addicts, but they aren’t victims. Addiction may even be the reason they started dealing in the first place. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you supply your own drugs, you aren’t going to be left without access. If that’s the case, though, they could have made another choice the day they decided to deal drugs. They could have reached out for help—
But they didn’t.
Despite the widespread push in our nation to stress the importance of “people first” language, isn’t this taking things a bit too far?
The pusherman
Ultimately, to think that someone who sells drugs to others isn’t doing it strictly for personal gain is nothing short of ludicrous. Drug dealers market illegal substances on the street. Ultimately, they don’t care who buys them or what happens to their customers after the cash crosses into their hands. That is until the customer is standing in front of them again looking to score their next fix anyway.
They don’t care if hundreds of thousands of people died—just in the United States over the past few years, by the way; the total adds up to millions worldwide overall—by overdosing on drugs. Just as many families have suffered overwhelming loss, many after watching their loved one’s life deteriorate for years prior. We can guarantee you that their drug workers—pardon our sarcasm if you must—didn’t show up for the funeral.
People who sell illicit drugs to others were called “pushers” back in the day. A band called Steppenwolf put out a song written about them. Here’s part of the first verse:
You know, I’ve seen a lot of people walkin’ ’round
With tombstones in their eyes
But the pusher don’t care
Ah, if you live or if you die
You might want to check out the entire lyrics. Hoyt Axton wrote it. He struggled with the destruction addiction causes firsthand for most of his life.
They’re marketing death and destruction
Mexican drug cartels are crossing the border into the United States right along with their merchandise and setting up shop. Fentanyl, methamphetamine, tranq, which is becoming widely known as the zombie drug, and all the rest are constantly pouring into our country. Worse, fentanyl is showing up in virtually every other drug out there. Drug workers use it as a cheap filler because it’s so potent. Mixing in fenanyl increases both the volume of merch for sale and the customer’s buzz. That means when customers come back for more, they’ve got an ample supply.
The problem is, though, they aren’t telling the customer about that little extra “va-va-voom” and it’s killing them.
That’s not very caring, is it?
Let’s press in a bit
Synthetic opioids, such as oxycontin, started a raging epidemic of addiction across the country and around the world. By the time physicians realized how addictive this type of drug was—which is very—and pulled back on prescribing them, the damage was done. They were all over the black market. It’s been over 20 years now and things aren’t getting any better. In fact, thanks to highly potent street drugs, such as fentanyl and tranq, they just continue to grow worse.
Fentanyl is illegally manufactured in China and then smuggled into the United States. Tiny amounts—think a few grains of salt as a comparison—of fentanyl constitute a lethal dose. It’s still an arguable point, but many proclaim that even touching the stuff can cause an overdose or even death as the drug is quickly absorbed through the skin.
Not only is it smuggled into America in its natural state, but nearly every illicit drug on the street has some percentage of fentanyl mixed in with it. People who “work” with others in any way, shape, or form wouldn’t give them drugs laced with a more dangerous drug without at least making them aware of it.
Right?
Reality trumps rhetoric
All politics aside, there’s really only one way you can look at the drug workers vs drug dealers discussion. And, if we, here at USAMDT, were to address the tweet that appears to have set it off, we’d have to say that even though someone is “using,” and most probably addicted themselves, trying to justify the fact that they are selling death and destruction isn’t rational. Trying to say it’s because they are just out there trying to survive in a “destructive, racist system that unfairly replaced opium with morphine with heroin with fentanyl” and implying it’s not the dealers’ “fault” is wrong.
You can’t blame society as a whole for the personal choice of an individual. Drug dealers know what they’re doing. They’re making money at the expense of the lives of others. And, just so you’re aware of where we stand on this, we know that, ultimately, they don’t care.
