[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Fish

But I think you are overestimating the risks involved in some crimes and underestimating the thought processes of some criminals.
A marihuana grow is a great example. A person could set up a 500 plant grow in a new community and in one year's time get three harvests and make a profit of one million dollars (after expenses).
The risks they would face are:
Being detected
Being caught and there existing enough evidence to be charged
Being convicted
A hundred little details all need to fall in place (properly) in order to achieve the conviction and then it would probably be only after a second or even third conviction that the person would recieve jail time, and that time would likely be measured in months, not years. Since many of us will work our entire lives and still not earn a million dollars, it would still be profitable even if you were caught and jailed everytime you did it (which would not happen). In a case like this, I believe the criminals' behavior is motivated by very cognitive processes and the "risks" are, to them, just the cost of doing business.

- Chad

ah but you are comparing a soft crime, to a murder/whatever type.. two totally different things. growing or smoking pot is done by 9/10 of kids by the age of 18 (I think this was the last numbers I saw) so our culture is becoming desensitized. at any rate growing pot is non violence and the only impact is on the person who get busted. A murder, rape what ever is usually a spontaneous act with no regard for the consequences. and the person that is hurt is the victim.

Steve