Chapter 19 Summary and Analysis

Most law enforcement analyses of the Hell's Angels indicate the motorcycle outlaw gang rules over a vast network of illegal drug importation and distribution, primarily marijuana. Thompson argues that the Hell's Angels are far too small and far too unorganized to successfully run any type of drug operation beyond acting as petty dealers or very minor and irregular local distributors. The Hell's Angels are small-time drug pushers and consistently low-key users of as marijuana. Generally, however, the Hell's Angels focus on using large amounts of pharmaceutical pills. They take them to wake up, go to sleep, stay alert for days on end, or just to enjoy a different mental state. The outlaws like pills and will take just about anything, often in huge doses. Although they are certainly frequent drug users, they do not constitute a significant portion of the illegal...