How to Survive Under the Counter

Beneath all of the daily politics, television news, and affairs of law-abiding citizens there lies a massive unseen network of illicit activists and radicals. With a cell phone and an urban informant one can find just about any drug or weapon that they can think of. Even those without a dime to their name can find a dealer willing to front some sort of substance if they've got the right connections. The network is so active that if you know one person on the inside, you'll know the remaining majority by the end of the week. The network is constantly changing, growing, shrinking, and dividing as arrests are made, and even homicides occur. This network I call the Under-the-Counter network. If you don't know what you're doing, it can be a very dangerous place. There is always someone looking to take advantage of a clueless sap who's new to the concept of illicit dealing. Propaganda, exaggeration, and blatant bullshitting are three of the many ways drug dealers make extra 'bank'. Triple stacks of ecstacy, for example, frequently are no different in composition or make than a regular ecstacy tablet. They are simply a way of boosting a price from 15 to 30. OxyContin is all too often sold illicitly for outrageous prices, sometimes priced by the milligram. If you know your way around, you'll know the worth of your purchase, and can get OC-40s for 5 bucks a pop as opposed to 40. If you end up doing something stupid, like getting a front from a dealer and not paying back, you'll most likely end up jumped in the gutter.
I cannot emphasize enough that there is always someone searching for a sap to take advantage of. A constant recurring phenomenon that easily could be prevented is unauthentic dealing. A dealer takes some look-alike pills that he can get from the store, bags them, and sells them for 5 a pill. This wouldn't happen if one were smart and took the time to look up pill imprint codes and identification characteristics. But, as ignorance is bliss, many people are just as satisfied with the placebo effect they shelled out 5 dollars for.