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SergeantQueen's avatar

What happens to people who owe money to drug dealers?

Asked by SergeantQueen (12995points) February 1st, 2017

I don’t owe money, but I know someone who does and I am extremely worried about them. I don’t know how much they owe, but I am scared they will end up dead. I guess this is more two questions in one but I want to keep the title question short.
1) what happens to people who owe money to drug dealers?
2) What do you do if you know someone (a minor) who owes money to a drug dealer?
This person is making a lot of illegal choices such as the age of the person she is dating and with owing money. She is my best friend and I’m very worried about her. She is also going to be starting school in a city that is notorious for gangs, drugs, and violence so that heightens my worries. Your advice is greatly appreciated, I am very lost.

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16 Answers

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Bad choices, no matter the age, can shorten the lifespan. Drug dealers are not likely to cut them loose. The bad debts with a dealer can become statistics.
That is how the dealer collect from the next person that owes them, “See what happened to, “XXXXXX, that will be you if you don’t pay.”

I’m sorry you are in the position you are in and sorry for the person you are asking about.

LeavesNoTrace's avatar

You need to talk to a trusted adult. Is there a school counselor you can confide in?

SergeantQueen's avatar

@LeavesNoTrace We are both in the same CAP group so I am going to ask my squadron commander and DCOC if we can talk and tell them. But I am trying to find online if I can even tell them since this is technically a legal thing… I think.
I will talk to a school counselor first but I feel that since me and her don’t go to the same school, the counselor will tell me to talk to my higher ups in CAP

LeavesNoTrace's avatar

Not sure what CAP or DCOC are but you are wise to seek out some counsel on this issue. If she is truly in danger, then she needs help. However, be prepared to potentially lose the friendship or for her to lash out in anger. But sometimes it’s the cost of doing the right thing. And nobody said the right thing is easy. (I’ve been there.)

Best of luck to you.

imrainmaker's avatar

Talk to her parents if you know them being your best friend. School counselor will be second choice if going to same school. Don’t keep this to yourself due to friendship and all as it is going to hurt your friend if no action is taken.

zenvelo's avatar

You don’t say how much she owes, but if it is for a coupe scores, she will find herself unable to get any more drugs. If she is addicted, she’ll be cut off until she pays up.

That is a danger if she is addicted, as she will go through withdrawals. And, she might do something dangerous like robbing someone.

The dealers get dangerous when you don’t cover what you were going to resell for them. A pound of weed, a few ounces of heroin, a couple hundred oxy, you better pay up quick or you will get seriously hurt or killed.

johnpowell's avatar

This is some movie shit.

If the dealer fronts you it is such a tiny amount they won’t really give a shit in the end. They will never sell to you again and will spread the word you can’t be trusted. Bit they aren’t going to Home Depot for a nail gun. You might get a pounding but the intent won’t be to kill you.

In real life this isn’t like BofA giving 300K to buy a house you can’t afford. Drug dealers don’t take those risks.

johnpowell's avatar

Upon further reflection I shouldn’t be so flippant. There is a risk you are dealing with idiots that would risk it all over 1K. I sold drugs for years and never dealt with people dumb to risk a murder charge over 1K. YMMV.

Zaku's avatar

Speaking as an adult who has known children in trouble: If it’s a minor, then I would look at the parents or guardians for who the best people are to talk to, and if they are not horrible (or maybe even if they are, but I’d choose the best one(s) of those) let them know everything. They are responsible and should take charge and get the kid out of the situation and seeing people to get all the help they need. If I were connected enough to these people, I would try to do what was appropriate to see that it works out and that whatever adult sources of the problem are getting addressed too, if possible, as in my experiences with these things, there is often a major adult malfunction going on that has been the real root cause leading to the child’s crazy self-destructive behavior.

In general I would want to intervene and get the girl into a healthy situation if at all possible. Drugs and much older boyfriends and breaking laws and owing money to dangerous people is all generally pretty awful if there are better alternatives.

From the position of being a minor and best friend to a minor in these problems, I think it’s an awful position to be in and that you are awesome for trying to take it on and ask others for advice. I would advise doing the same thing. Size up all the possible adults you could talk to, and look for the ones who would actually be supportive and take control to get your friend on a healthy path, versus the ones who will undermine her. Of course if your friend has chosen to do all those things, she probably won’t want you to help her that way, but I would at least ask if you have her permission. If you do it without her agreement she may be very angry with you if you tell adults what she’s up to without consulting with her, and your relationship with her may change or she may stop being friends with you – you’ve probably already thought about that. Another option is to choose the best adults to give the information and give it completely anonymously, so you can also be there as her friend without adding the “you told on me” drama, but then you will have the secret that you did.

Other details might include, before any of that, if you haven’t already, talking with her about each situation one at a time, just to get some more details like who the dealer is, what he’s like, how much is owed, if she’s been threatened, who the boyfriend is exactly, and the other illegal choices. These both so you can know, so you could tell if you need to, and so you can help offer your concerns/council. Just being a sane friend may be one of her best resources.

Since you don’t know how dangerous the drug dealer (or his associates) actually are, I would try to find out details and also consider that it could be deadly serious. You don’t want to have underestimated that and end up with her being hurt, assaulted, or killed.

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

If it’s hard drugs and she’s addicted, and they are seasoned and not a couple of kids or country bumkins like johnpowell describes, they will make her work it off. Then offer her more. The younger, the better. New income stream. You may have just lost her to another world and I wouldn’t fuck with it if I were you. She made that choice.

gorillapaws's avatar

I would be careful when I was around her. You could get caught up in the retribution, despite having nothing to do with the problem. There’s a lot of good advice above. Take care, be careful and best wishes for you and your friend.

LuckyGuy's avatar

She is a minor? Is he more that 4 years older? Did she have sex with the guy? Does she have evidence? Photos? Sperm on clothes? She can have sex with him and then walk to the hospital and ask for a rape kit.
Depending upon the state she can have the guy immediately arrested and charged with rape in the 3rd degree – a felony in NY. Even if the sex was “consensual” and not forced!!! In NY a person under the age of 17 is not capable of granting consent. If the guy is 21 or older he can easily be put in prison. The DAs and their assistant DAs love these cases because they look good and show they are tough on criminals. And they are easy to win. All they need are both birth certificates.

If she pulls this crap she had better straighten out her life from that instant forward. She will be living under a microscope forever.

Patty_Melt's avatar

She’ll likely end up in a basement somewhere turning tricks round the clock for food and more dope.
She had better get the debt cleared and quit the stuff, and pronto.

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