The Street Pharmacist

It appears to be that humanity depends on two seemingly simple and uncomplicated things-numbers and letters. Now the uses for these two basic things make their existence much more complex than just simple symbols. While letters are an integral part of everyday life the system in which numbers strive-Mathematics-is the driving force behind many jobs that help manage our finances, advance science and technology as well as a variety of others.

One such job utilizing mathematics on an overwhelmingly often basis has been a serious public concern for quite sometime. And while it may not provide beneficial advancements to society, its role is surprisingly special to people on one level or another. This job is none other than a street pharmacist, which is nothing more than a glorified term for a drug dealer. Ever since mankind's birth in early day Mesopotamia humans have been engaging in mind twisting activities and like modern day civilization there was always some merchant willing to supply the goods to those in the market for such things. Now the mathematical system of today is far more superior to the simple means of keeping inventory by etching a picture into a clay tablet.

Today's street pharmacist has a relatively sophisticated means of keeping inventory and maintaining their finances. Beginning with the upkeep of inventory, probably the most important factor is the gram scale. This device can come in two forms, digital and weighted. The difference between the two is simply convenience. With the digital scale all one has to do is zero it and then proceed to weighing the goods. On the opposite end, the weighted scale requires the street pharmacist to use counter weights that are marked by metric units such as grams, ounces and so on. In short one is automatic while the other is manual.

Strangely enough this reliance on metric units in the drug world has consequently educated users and dealers on the workings of the metric system-a measurement system used by everyone in the world except the United States. And it is vital for the street pharmacist to have a sound knowledge of the metric system as it determines prices, but more importantly it helps provide an idea of how much money will be made. For instance if the street pharmacist purchases two ounces of high grade cannabis sativa at $300 per ounce the next task is to decide what increments to sell.

Say the dealer is a user himself and decides to allot what is commonly referred to as a "head stash", then sell off the remaining amount, he will go through a basic mathematical process, and probably will be completely unaware that he is utilizing a system that is the foundation of many high-paying, mainstream careers. Now if the dealer takes a quarter ounce head stash, he is left with 1 ounce and ¾ of an ounce. If he wants to sell the rest by gram increments he has to break down the ounce measurement into grams. Considering there are 28 grams in an ounce the dealer is left with 49 grams to supply to his customers. If he decides to sell them at $20 per gram (average street price) he can then assume that he will bring in a gross profit of $980. After expenses are deducted he will be left with a $380 net profit, and will be able to purchase three ounces rather than two on his next shipment, as it were. He can even hang onto the net profit and simply reinvest what he earned back.

While this profession is, indeed a part of the black market, which is responsible for billions of dollars that flow unnoticed through many economies it is still a profession. Similar business methods apply to it, but there is one primary factor that separates it from legitimate work, and that is the fact that there is no way to predict when the street pharmacist will be robbed or locked up-two possibilities that are inevitable in this line of work. This makes the career choice a highly dangerous venture, but the benefit is that the person gets to make their own hours-the American Dream. Unfortunately for them drug users are calling at all hours of the day, which basically means it is a 24 hour job. Nevertheless, the street pharmacist is a profession that is constantly using mathematics whether it is for finances or setting times to keep their phone off; it is a number job and much more interesting than the day of an accountant.