drug dealers making the bare minimum

http://nortonbooks.typepad.com/everydaysociology/2008/06/the-economics-o.html

"The actual hourly wage earned by a gang’s foot soldier—the person on the street making the sales—ranged from $2.50 to $7.10 an hour (in 1995 dollars). That’s not much money at all. The gang leaders or “officers” did much better. They earned from $32 to $97 dollars an hour. These are data for one local gang. The central gang, which oversaw the local gangs much like a company would oversee its franchises, made substantially more money. As with a regular, legal corporation, the low-level workers of the gang did most of the work but the high-level members received most the pay"

We often think of the hollywood image of drug dealers making millions of dollars and living rockstar lifestyles. Most drug dealers able to get a real job do it for the popularity and adventure instead of the money. It is still an organized illegal business with guidelines and rules. If the rules are broken in this industry then the consequences are more severe. The real image of a drug dealer is a poor and tense worker instead of a flashy celebrity.