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just by the nature of them, are not right.
But that's where the government comes
in, see. Where is it right to say what
another person can do? The person ought
to do the drug with a full awareness of
how dangerous it is and what could result
from it.
"Certain people I wouldn't sell certain
drugs. I think amphetamines are
dangerous, they destroy your mind and
body. They drive you crazy. You know,
'Speed Kills there's no way around it.
The drugs he deals reach Tom by
various routes. But Lincoln has a weird
situation, according to Tom. Dealers and
drugs come and go. He outlined a typical
marijuana deal down to the bag sale and
pointed out that the guy selling bags of
weed is making the same percentage
profit as the guy buying hundred pound
lots.
"So there's a lot of money to be
made," he said. "But, all in all, it still
comes down to about 25 cents a joint,
much cheaper and safer than the drugs
that the government pushes. Namely
nicotine, alcohol, barbiturates and speed
Now everybody knows that any drug
dealer faces the very good possibility of
being busted. So Tom takes many basic
precautions.
Said Tom: "It's usually friends you
sell to, you know. Or friends of friends.
In Lincoln you'll go out and sell to
somebody and in a couple of days you'll
buy dope from the person. It changes.
"Like right now, if somebody would
approach me and try to buy some weed
I'd say, "Who do you know that I know?'
And if he has a friend that I know I'll sell
it to that person. Or, on occasion if
somebody comes up to me and says they
know me I'll have it checked out to see
who knows them."
Yeah, but doesn't luck play a pretty
big part in it all?
Tom laughed. "Well," he drawled, "I
always think in terms of good Karma."
But he did say some things about survival.
Most it comes down to knowing your
area.
"First of all, you can't be paranoid.
Paranoia is irrational fear. If you're
paranoid you're hopeless. You'll mess up,
you'll walk right into a trap. You've gotta
know what you can get away with.
"A lot of people who get busted in
Lincoln aren't really dealers. The Lincoln
police force is out to make arrests. They
don't care what kind of arrests or what
you're doing. They just want people in
jail and people in court.
There is probably a thin line between
paranoia and sensible, well founded fear.
Torn says harassment is continual for him
and the people he associates with.
"Mentally, the police hassle you all the
time. The people I live with are in
constant feat of the police. Right now
any person in any walk of life hates
policemen: students, businessmen in the
store, everybody.
"It all comes down to dear old Mr.
Nixon. The man just doesn't know what
he's doing. He appoints a committee and
says, 'Go out and find all the facts about
marijuana. But I'll tell you right now I'm
not going to legalize it.' That's where it's
at; they know what ought to be done."
In a typical dealing week between
$400 and $500 pass through Tom's
hands. Some of it goes into his pocket as
his only source of income.
"I don't really make much, really," he
protested. "If I had a steady job I'd
probably make more money. If I'm going
to do something eight hours a day I'm
going to get off on it. Whether that's
dealing diugs or selling hamburgers or
what.
"I go home at night and I say, 'Weil, I
got real high today and I had a good time
and got a lot of other people high.' So I
had a good day. I have a bad habit of
giving away large quantities of drugs.
"Cocaine, for instance. I give away
about two thirds as much cocaine as I do
myself."
Tom said heroin and other hard drugs,
until tecently, have been totally apart
from other traffic. Hard drugs had been
the domain of "older gentlemen and
quiet junkies." Now, Tom said, most of
the heroin he sees is being us;:d in high
schools. Continued on page 4b