One of the things I think is most corrosive is the culture of selling drugs. Why go to school at 15 when you can drop out and make twice what you're parent(s) do selling drugs. Even if little changed for the users or even the level of violence, simply removing that cash flow would fairly quickly have a large positive effect.
Coming home from college this summer I've realized how many of my friends sell drugs as their summer occupation. Just selling weed earns you twice what you'd make doing long hours for minimum wage, it seems.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to get in on the business. Seems like a high-risk high-reward situation.
Why go to school at 15 when you can drop out and make twice what you're parent(s) do selling drugs.
Of course the book Freakonomics posed the question of why so many street-level drug dealers still live with their (usually single) parents, and the answer was that most of those dealers don't actually make much money. But, yes, the DREAM of making big money draws young people into dealing when studying their math and English lessons would almost surely produce more return on investment for their time.
