so maybe the portuguese policy could use some tweaking.
I'm Portuguese and lived in Lisbon for 12 years. Trust me, you can't buy drugs from those guys
What I don't get about this: most people seem to know (think?) this. So you'd think these guys have no income at all because no-one is trusting them so no-one buys from them. Yet after decades they're still there, in a lot of cities. So there must be something which works in this system. I find it hard to believe they survive off the occasional sell to a tourist. I mean, could be, but seems far fatched to me?
They scammed me when I was a kid (I wanted weed).
Don't you think I know what I'm talking about? You can buy drugs is Lisbon of course but real drug dealers aren't approaching thousands of people in the open streets of downtown Lisbon everyday!
Police leaves these guys alone because there is no real crime. Scamming tourists is hard to persecute. Not worth it!
They sell a lot because they will force people to buy whenever possible. Most people buy it to be left alone.
> Police leaves these guys alone because there is no real crime. Scamming tourists is hard to persecute. Not worth it!
Often there is crime: forcing people to buy it's petty crime but most will not complain unless there is violence. It's nearly impossible to jail them with the actual political zeitgeist, making it a waste of time and money. This impunity leaves room for retaliation also.
Total prohibition, prohibition of possession & prohibition of production vs decriminalization of possession & prohibition of production, means that the end product is expensive, difficult to obtain and dangerous to sell. In both cases the outlaws are normally the people selling it.
In case it was legal to produce it, poppy fields in Afghanistan would face serious competition from Portugal, and their profits should dwindle. I mean, American army weapons have be funded somehow.
Drugs are everywhere and who sells them is quite surprising. The war on drugs will never be won whilst life is not brilliant and life is getting worse for many, and they wont hesitate to "drop" you ie kill you if they know you have reported them to the police, at least, thats what they say in roundabout ways.
If royalty and other rich people who own country estates, think they have a right to rule, these drug dealers people will claim they have a right to do what they do. They just challenge the hypocrisy in the system.
Now those guys are gone, but there are basically food trucks selling pot gummies with licenses.
There were homeless sleeping on heating vents both times.
That doesn't seem very angry? Kinda exactly what I'd expect from a street salesperson. Your best bet is to ignore them entirely, the second you interact you're a fish on a hook, and it's their job to reel you in.
Angry is the Colombians who will suffocate you at knifepoint for not giving them cocaine.