The Great Debate: Han Solo is a Drug Trafficker

Hmm perhaps but what if you put workers on speed so to get them working round the clock?

After all, if you're a Moff and you know you have to raise productivity because Vader's in town, is there anything you wouldn't do to ensure you're OK?

JB

 

I think that would've been too easy for him. He won the game. He did everything he did and had the galaxy do everything he wanted. And more than that, believing it and him to be good without having them high on opiates all day.

I think if the Empire were a spice-addicted one, Palpy just wouldn't have had any fun. No accomlishment in standing directly in front of someone and reveal that they're a Dark Lord of the Sith and have that person respond with "Dude... Whoa. that's cool. Now where's my car?"

Far more fulfilling, I would think to have them all sober and still twist them around his finger.

 

After all, if you're a Moff and you know you have to raise productivity because Vader's in town, is there anything you wouldn't do to ensure you're OK?

Maybe, but when you've got your entire regiment of troops standing at attention for Lord Vader and they suddenly collapse after the speed wears off, you're ******.

 

All right! You win. Both of you.

Still, probably best to call a halt to this mad joyride of mine before it derails the thread.

JB

 

According to Steve Sansweet's 'Star Wars Encyclopedia':
"spice - A name given to a variety of drugs, in particular the glitterstim spice mined underground on the planet Kessel. Spice is a highly taxed and controlled substance, although legal to use in most parts of the galaxy. It is a popular commodity for smugglers because of its high profit margin. Spice has a number of legitimate uses in psychological therapy, criminal investigation, communication with alien races, and artistic inspiration and entertainment. Mood-altering glitterstim has a sharp, pleasant odor and can produce feelings of euphoria in those who use it. Other spices include ryll, carsunum, and andris".

So if it is legal in most parts of the galaxy, it sounds like Han would be more likely to be done for tax evasion than drug trafficking...

 

"( the morality of what he was doing is somewhat nebulous, since you're always going to have people who insist on being ****ed in life. And if they don't have spice, they'd be smoking bantha poodoo or snorting hawkbat dandur.) "


So what exactly do you roll bantha poodoo in? Jawa skins?

 

Spice has a number of legitimate uses in psychological therapy, criminal investigation, communication with alien races, and artistic inspiration and entertainment.

Aha! See? Han has clean hands. In fact, if he smuggled spice to the right people, he could actually be doing very positive things for people. Though we do know that he was supposed to smuggle spice for Jabba, he never actually did do to his dumping "at the first sight of an Imperial cruiser". Whether this is really why he dropped it or not is still questionasble (and if not questionable, arguable).

 

Han was guilty of nothing more than carrying goods prohibited by an authoritarian regime that had no right whatsoever to regulate their transportation. In a way, it's rather heroic.

-Paul

 

So what exactly do you roll bantha poodoo in? Jawa skins?

Womprat lips.

 

Hey!

 

Han was guilty of nothing more than carrying goods prohibited by an authoritarian regime that had no right whatsoever to regulate their transportation. In a way, it's rather heroic.

Exactly. As they say: stick it to the man!

 

*Sticks it to the man*

*Becomes uncomfortable and unsticks it*

 

*Is sickened*

 

*Couldn't help self*

 

If anything, Han Solo is more a BOOTLEGGER than a drug trafficker. He was smuggling spice--a legal, yet heavily-taxed commodity--around the taxing authority to those who distributed it. If anything, you can compare his actions to those of Bandit & Snowman in SMOKEY & THE BANDIT (one of my favorite movies--gotta watch it again).

As for arms smuggling, he seemed to do that mostly to rebel groups fighting Imperial- & CSA-controlled governments who were oppressing their citizens (Han Solo at Star's End IIRC). He didn't stick around to fight, but he did wish them luck.

As for piracy--does anyone have an example of him as a pirate? I think that's more a figure of speech with him like "rogue" or "scoundrel"...

Han Solo was a MORALLY good character--but not LEGALLY good one...

 

"Han Solo might have helped the Rebel Alliance, but nevertheless, he is still a drug trafficker."

Not to mention remorseless gunslinger, smuggler and pirate.

Yup, that's why he's cool. Old Han is an anti-hero, a rogue, a guy who'd blow a bounty hunter way under a table without a second thought. Han is not a super nice person in the begining. He's a mercenary who cares only for himself, (Chewie not withstanding) which makes his eventual "redemption" that much better.

 

Yes, he was a smuggler. Smugglers take legal and illegal objects or in the case of slavers, which han was not, persons, and transport them into areas where such items are restricted for resale. He, in the words of a famus bounty hunter who lost his head "was just a simple man trying to make his way throught the galaxy" And he was doing it on his terms in, fighting his own private little war against a totalitarian regime that kept many down. He wasn't nice, he couldn't afford to be.

 

It all depends on how you view spice. If you view it as crack or heroin, then yes, he's a drug smuggler and should have been arrested and sent to an Imperial prison. If you view it as weed, then he's just a Canadian

 

Haha!

 

Lol..

 

I'm wondering if that's an insult to Han or not...

Seriously, if he was smuggling glimmerstim under the NR government (hypothetically) and evading taxes, would that have the same moral implications as smuggling under the Empire? The NR was very corrupt and inept, you know.

 

Han knew full wellwhat folks were going to use spice for when he smuggled it. All he was intrested in at the time was turning a profit. He had morals and even in the Han Solo Adventures was shown to live by them. But he lived by greed even more. Almost anything to make a buck. I doubt he would have directly sold spice, but he certainly had nothing against being a part of the spice cartels.

 

Why does it matter if Han knew that people were going to use the spice he smuggled recreationally? Aren't they responsible for their own bodies?

 

That's the mentality that drug dealers usually have. "If they're stupid enough to buy this crap, then they deserve to lose their money". There are obvious flaws with this, but seeing as how Han didn't sell the stuff, he wasn't responsible for his deliveries. I'm sure his rationalization for his less than moral actions was what I said earlier:

"...spice has many forms. It's not really Han's or any other smuggler's fault if their smuggled goods are used inappropriately. Guys who deliver painkillers aren't responsible for all the pill poppers who abuse their goods..."

 

Knight1192... I wholeheartedly agree!