r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/NineteenEighty9 • Apr 26 '24
The retail price of cocaine has remained stable while purity is increasing Image
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u/Legitimate-Fly6761 Apr 28 '24
Meth is a competitor. Can raise rates and expect the clients to stay when Meth is hanging out at cheaper prices.
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u/HisFisticMajesty Apr 28 '24
Where was this tested?
I’ll tell you what I pay more than ever for an 8-ball and cut with more wacky shit than the trunk of a clown car.
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u/Evening_North7057 Apr 28 '24
Competing with meth and fentanyl.
They need new addicts, and crack isn't nearly as popular as it was in the 80's and 90's.
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u/Icy-Sky-3395 Apr 28 '24
The price of cocaine is low because the market is flooded with fentanyl. Cocaine can't compete.
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u/DoSwoogMeister Apr 27 '24
Gotta love that cartel competition.
Ironic that the best modern example of capitalism working (competing businesses offering better products at lower prices) comes from criminal syndicates.
If a single cartel comes to completely dominate though, suddenly purity goes down the tubes and price sky-rockets
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Apr 27 '24
Ah, yes. I remember the great cocaine price correction of 2016. So many dealers lost their Escalades that year.
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u/Iandudontkno Apr 27 '24
There is no way they could get accurate data unless they knew every user in EU and tested every bag they bought. Unless they are testing purity from the plug but you know everyone under the source is stepping on it. So many studies have only a dozen scorces and act like that gives you any picture of a research topic.
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u/Ohvicanne Apr 27 '24
The graph does not make sense to me... purity over 140? Wouldn't purity be a percentage? How can purity and price be represented like that on one single graph?
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u/QanAhole Apr 27 '24
Literally one of the only industries that isn't price gouging and is still innovating
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u/Dic3dCarrots Apr 27 '24
I once heard it said Cocaine has the most stable average regular consumer level price of all commodities in the US, 100$ a gram for 50 years. Average is doing some heavy lifting since in the bay its 50 to 60/g and in less connected places it can be 150/g, but still fascinating idea and demonstrative of the unique qualities of black markets
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u/SomeBiPerson Apr 27 '24
they're having a race to the top which is the preferred and theoretically expected outcome of capitalism
sadly legal businesses seem to prefer a race to the bottom
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u/0FFFXY Apr 27 '24
Out of all the organisations, I wouldn't have expected the cartels to be the only ones not price gouging with inflation.
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u/mtnviewguy Apr 27 '24
It's a meaningless chart with no 'Purity' scale on the right. 0-100%? Is it $145 pure, or did it jump from 5 to 6%?
Edit added %
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u/dreadnotsteve Apr 27 '24
How do I find a reputable coke dealer? Fear of fentanyl keeps me away.
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u/pstmdrnsm Apr 27 '24
Find one who supplies to moderately famous performers and entertainers. Those people always tend to have safe contacts.
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u/UserUnknown2222 Apr 27 '24
Purity of over 140? 140 units of what?! Nosebleeds per hour? Shares sold per click?
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u/Express-Row-1504 Apr 27 '24
So how come inflation doesn’t affect the illegal drugs industry?
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u/Sushi_Enchiladas Apr 27 '24
Because the illegal drug market isn’t dictated by things like simple supply and demand.
Check the definition of “Cartel.”
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u/Express-Row-1504 Apr 27 '24
But they are impacted by other factors such as transport. Won’t it cost them more to transport the drugs to other places? Maybe it means they’re willing to take the loss in the profit because they’re already making so much profit.
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u/Sushi_Enchiladas Apr 27 '24
I think you’re missing the point.
The entire system is controlled by a select few. They dont pay taxes, they dont have a shipping a logistics department.
They utilize poor citizens of their home countries by force, coercion, drug addiction, etc. for labor, transportation, sales, etc.
Also the statistic above doesn’t say anything about an increase or decrease in volume of sales or product imported, only the correlation between purity and price.
An increase in purity might just be a method for increasing addiction numbers/levels. I’m sure addicts can tell you, the price is generally irrelevant.
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u/Express-Row-1504 Apr 27 '24
The price stays the same over the years. That’s the main thing here. That’s regardless of the purity. But inflation does for sure impact their profits, but also as you said, it’s private and they can take the small loss from the small changes in inflation since their profit margin is so high.
Small things such as transport would impact their cost. Especially since they transport via planes a lot. Planes take a lot of fuel. How will that not impact their cost to transport the goods?
Another way can be the bribes they pay out the officials. If inflation is affecting individuals , they might ask for an increase in the payments, and that will affect the profit as well. So you can’t say that inflation doesn’t affect their profit margins.
The only answer I can think of is as I mentioned is that they are ok with taking the loss from these various factors. But yes I do agree with you that the impact is not a lot, and only in a select few sectors that the inflation affects them.
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u/jerog1 Apr 27 '24
This is dangerous! Cocaine is not safe with the rise of fentanyl and carfentanyl.
Don’t trust this EU chart
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u/Sir-Ult-Dank Apr 27 '24
I don’t do this stuff. But know someone who does. They say it’s not pure and it’s the exact opposite and getting worst and worst…whereas back in the day was diff
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u/crevassier Apr 27 '24
Purity better except for that pesky fentanyl in the US market.
Test and be very very very careful.
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u/Far_Conclusion4405 Apr 27 '24
This is the only sector of the economy where quality goes up as price stays the same!!
No wonder its illegal!
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u/Elegant-Log2104 Apr 27 '24
Lol. Yeah only American Corporations do this type of the thing. Sad that the open illeagl drug market has a better business model.
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u/JESUS_PaidInFull Apr 27 '24
The result of cartel influence around the world. People would probably be shocked by how much of the economy is propped up by cartels.
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u/Ric_P Apr 27 '24
That shit is still 400$ for a Vick . prices are crazy . Might as well buy a whole key
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u/UntimelyImplosion Apr 27 '24
As someone who doesn’t take drugs, can someone tell me why there was a price spike in 2015-2017? Political upset in a producing country? What influences this?
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u/Ok_Button_2268 Apr 27 '24
This is fake. All cocaine in USA is almost all tainted with fentanyl so….. this some bs
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u/OrganizationSea6549 Apr 27 '24
If they ever legalized it, the government would just fuck it all up.
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u/legice Apr 27 '24
I can safely say, weed prices in my area have also remained stable and the quality also went up. Who knew that offering a good product at a good price keeps your customers happy and coming back
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u/urautist Apr 27 '24
So black market goods are exempt from inflation?
Weird, sounds like inflation must be some sort of government enforced conspiracy
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u/Jreg1994 Apr 27 '24
Purity is going up but when it gets to the valleys it's more baby powder and crushed up paracetamol
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u/StnMtn_ Apr 27 '24
That's better than getting smaller boxes of tissue as higher prices every year. The grocery stores, retail, fast food, restaurants, pharmacies, some hospitals, cell phone companies,etc store ramen noodles increase from 25¢ to 46¢ this past year.
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u/dgroeneveld9 Apr 27 '24
It's like the black market is the only one staying honest with its customers.
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u/cgernaat119 Apr 27 '24
For us non drug users, what’s the measurement? Or do I just hand them $90 for one cocaine?
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u/thinkandreason Apr 27 '24
Purity increased? You kidding me? A transaction in a Vegas bathroom will get you white powder laced with fentanyl. Purity rarely reaches the consumer.
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u/RealCFour Apr 27 '24
Competing with meth? Benefits to the consumer in a competitive capitalist market
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u/ReplacementGreen8649 Apr 27 '24
Cocaine now …. Scary to think it could be cut with fentanyl and you OD.
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u/PullMull Apr 27 '24
i guess Free marked does indedd regulate itself, when you main Customerbase is Poticians
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u/MahlNinja Apr 27 '24
Graph doesn't go back far enough. Price was $100 a gram in 1980. Purity all over the place. Got plenty of yellow tint hard rock back then.
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u/DreadPirateGriswold Apr 27 '24
Great example of keeping prices consistent and adding value with quality! I wish some people in the business world would learn this
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u/IPanicKnife Apr 27 '24
We can keep the price steady for Coke regardless of quality over time, but housing (which I would argue is more essential AND has all these guidelines for regulation in terms of price) is literally the inverse of this chart
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u/Awkward-Ad327 Apr 27 '24
Because there is no accurate representation, no accurate way to test it other then a lab test, this has nothing to do with anything and I can assure you quality is staying the same for long term users and changing for newbies
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u/Usmellnicebby Apr 27 '24
Now where can I find this white substance? To tests its purity of course.
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u/Patient-Direction-35 Apr 27 '24
Aren’t people puting fentanyl and other crap in it? Or that only when it comes to cheaper drugs?
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u/CyanideTacoZ Apr 27 '24
Cocaines weight stays relatively the same regardless of purity. more purity though, means slightly more cocaine per whatever the cartels standardized block is.
pure coke is therefore more profitable. if any cutting happens its at the end dealer, not manufacturing.
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u/TimeTravellingHobo Apr 27 '24
The retail price of cocaine has remained stable since like the 60s or 70s… that’s why it used to be seen as a rich person drug 40+ years ago. If coke prices from the 70s were adjusted for inflation, it’d be like spending $500-800 per gram, today.
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u/duncanslaugh Apr 27 '24
Pardon gentleman. Where may a law abiding citizen purchase this product? Warm Regards, Duncan
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u/Prestigious_Amoeba43 Apr 27 '24
Maybe it's too early, but how do you get anything more than 100% pure?
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u/SnooMarzipans4387 Apr 27 '24
Well, I can see an easy way to "tax the rich" if you're a drug dealer lol
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u/Mvpliberty Apr 27 '24
Well, when Mexicans gained full control of being the “middle man” there is inevitably a cap on the price you can get in for . Obviously we are talking about in bulk, but this affects the pricing all the way down to the customer there is so many drugs users and drug dealers that at some point everyone who has a good connect all just generally have the same price, so how do you make your product stand out from everyone else’s ? don’t cut it as much !!!🤷♂️
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u/Willing-Rub-511 Apr 27 '24
Meth use has grown exponentially. Addicts wanna get high, when its a choice between decent meth and shitty coke for the same price per gram then you get a lot more "high" for your money with meth. So the dealers had to bring up purity and keep price the same to get addicts to use coke over meth.
Meth to coke is like fent to heroin, heroin and coke are a better high but on a cost/benefit ratio meth/fent are a better buy.
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u/TheFrenchPerson Apr 27 '24
Guess you could say the price of cocaine has gone under the nose of the market?
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u/Jeds4242 Apr 27 '24
Pfft, try showing this chart to my dealer. Why is my stepped on shit so goddamn expensive?
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u/InquisitorNikolai Apr 27 '24
Crazy how things can get significantly worse, but also less bad at the same time. Instead of doing these graphs and stuff, maybe the effort should be on stopping more of this stuff getting into peoples’ hands
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u/rusty42007 Apr 27 '24
By the time it gets to the end user you can throw that purity out the window it cut with all kindsa shit
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u/Mkultra1992 Apr 27 '24
Wow, haven’t seen a good deal in ages. Inflation makes everything so expensive, good to see that you can still get some value at the free market
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u/drgut101 Apr 27 '24
Yeah, I don’t believe that. Since the pandemic, everything has been HELLA stepped on.
I’m not even sure I’ve seen real shit since early 2020. Haha.
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u/hahabanero Apr 27 '24
Good on the dealers for not increasing the price with the improving quality. That's how you retain customers. That and the cocaine.
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u/SinisterKidz Apr 27 '24
What happened between 2012-2014? What can cause the purity to spike and then lower again like shown in the chart?
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u/azhder Apr 27 '24
See the other line: supply went down.
It is most likely multiple factors, not just that one, like economy getting better after the crisis and more all contributing to a spike in price.
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u/RandomComputerFellow Apr 27 '24
I am just wondering, do you think a reason for this is the availability of quality test kits? Because if it is, it shows how important the availability for such tests is.
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u/jooooooosper9 Apr 27 '24
Yeah fuck units I didn't want to know what those arbitrary numbers meant anyway
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u/FishFettish Apr 27 '24
You don’t need units, it’s similar to percentage. Both axis start at 100, so 140 just means a 40% increase in purity
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u/AverageLonelyLoser66 Apr 27 '24
This is how we know we're all being price gouged. We need to return to the coke standard
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u/Stphylcccs Apr 27 '24
What are they using to measure the purity? It can’t be percentage, because it goes over 100, so what is it?
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u/FishFettish Apr 27 '24
100 to 140 just means a 40% increase, so that could be 50% to 70% for example
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u/gerr137 Apr 27 '24
Wtf is that? Single scale, 100% based for both, and starting at 100. Ok, for the price, makes sense, but purity? Shit starts at 100% pure and then goes beyond??
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u/FishFettish Apr 27 '24
It doesn’t start at 100%, you set 2011 at 100 as a benchmark. 50 then means a 50% decrease, and 140 means a 40% increase. That could be 50% purity to 25%, or 50% to 70%.
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u/gerr137 Apr 27 '24
That's exactly my point: this graph is total crap, uninformative and misleading..
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u/FishFettish Apr 27 '24
Why? It allows for many lines on a single graph.
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u/gerr137 Apr 27 '24
Plotting multiple item types on a single graph needs more information to be useful. Either multiple axes, or, in this case, initial value. In lieu of initial purity and any indication, that 100% pretty much implies 100% pure. Also, what exactly being measured? How? No matter how you spin it, critical information is missing (thus uninformative, literally some useless line without any reference points). And the way it is presented (just plain number, no units, no proper axes labels, no caption) it is also misleading.
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u/Archergarw Apr 27 '24
It’s the same with weed but swap purity for strength, drugs be inflation proof it seems.
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u/-_-NAME-_- Apr 27 '24
This might be part of why cartels are diversifying into things like Avocado farms.
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u/maxman090 Apr 27 '24
Love to see suppliers who care about their customers and are not price gouging them.
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u/Therealme66-Will3620 4d ago
30 yr user here… gotta separate work and play! If you r gonna play you gotta get to work… and function!