Strippers and blow

In My Humble Opinion
1

Yes, this will be the thread that gets the views.

I saw a news story yesterday about a local strip club being shut down because a police investigation determined there was drug use and drug sales going on there.

This made me wonder.

Why haven’t I been going there?

No, that wasn’t it. What I wondered was whether there was a real link between strip clubs and drug crimes, with drug crimes being more likely to happen in a strip club than in a regular bar. Or do strip clubs have a normal amount of drug crimes occurring in them (equivalent to the level at regular bars) but are more likely to be subject to public complaints, police investigations, and legal action?

Putting aside drug-related crimes, what’s the comparison on other criminal activity? Are crimes like DUI’s, bar fights, prostitution, underage drinking, etc. more likely to occur in a strip club than in a regular bar?

2

I’ll take a stab at this, though there’s lots of different research on this, often quite politically pointed, and at best, much of the correlation/causation isn’t clear.

One thing that I’ll port over from my local reporting on Legal MJ sales here in Colorado, is that any location that has a high cash cliental is going to be a target. Bars, strip clubs, MJ shops, other “vice” businesses (using the common term, NOT a value judgement) have a preponderance of cash customers. That means if you want to either do your own less legal cash-bases business, your customer’s are prepared! Some degree of theft is also more likely, for the same reason.

As for the DUIs and bar fights, you’re at a source, people at bars, much less strip clubs, are encouraged to drink much and often, and the distraction probably doesn’t help one in gauging how drunk they are. PLUS, the social shame element may make calling a friend/spouse/family member for a ride much more difficult mentally, resulting in more DUIs. And not to mention, there are bars, and then there are Bars. A local’s only bar for sitting and drinking and watching sports - not as many risks, much less the big flashy chain sport’s bars. The place that everyone in town nods knowingly at, and falls into groups such as “dive” bars, well, different audience.

As for underage drinking, most bars and strip clubs probably have a lot to lose from that, so I’d bet its easier to get someone else to buy it for you. I doubt there’s much increase in those.

Again, local experience, anecdote, and some review on a number of online articles, most of which had a number of axes to grind. Wouldn’t stand up in FQ, but since you put this in IMHO…

3

It doesn’t make sense, logically. Why would you operate your drug business from a locale already likely under scrutiny by the vice squad?* Then again, criminals do a lot of illogical things.

*Unless…you get a two-for-one discount on your bribes to the cops to look the other way when they see drug deals or prostitution.

4

People go to bars to drink and socialize; people go to strip clubs to party. If I were a drug dealer looking for customers, I’d go where people are partying.

5

I guess I was thinking that if I was a strip club owner, I’d be aware that I was under scrutiny and I’d be sure to tell all of my employees, dancers and others, that I have a zero tolerance policy on drug dealing or drug using in the club. I’d make my money the honest way - by selling boobs and booze.

6

There is an illusion promoted mostly by Hollywood, that the stripers and pole dancers in these places are really hot. In my personal experience I would tip them more to just put their damn clothes back on. Mostly not pretty, mostly broken people. The lifestyle is going to involve drugs. Even if they don’t think so going in, it will eventually. These are not struggling actresses working their way through college. The business may not be involved in the drug trade, but you can be sure that there are secondary players who are. The drug dealers are not hanging around PTA meetings looking for customers.

7

Really? You can’t think of a reason why guys who sell drugs would hang out at a place where they can eat, drink, and see boobs?

Anecdotally, I can confirm that people who sell things like cocaine like to hang out around naked women, and that if you are a user trying to score you are likely going to be meeting them at “the club”’on occasion.

8

Coked-up people buy more booze, and more boobs. As far as the strip club owners are concerned, drug dealers are good for business. It’s synergistic!

9

As someone whole lived in Hollywood in my 20’s/30’s, I did enough cocaine to be popular. Bars/clubs are THE place to score. There were a few dealers that would make house calls, but that meant buying a lot, and I wasn’t that into it (unless we were going to/having a party or some such) I preferred to just buy a tiny amount while I was out drinking/socializing.

10

ETA: @ParallelLines in post #2: This^^. Clearly some of the posters here don’t live in the more fun parts of the USA.


A smart club owner tells his staff to be discreet enough to avoid getting busted. And ensures he too is not dealing out of his club. No matter how much that costs him in free hookers and blow to the local cops.

@Alessan nailed it. What I or my pals are looking for at a bar is quite different from what we’re seeking at a strip club. Both the type and money available to spend and the goods on offer are polar opposites despite both being sold from mostly windowless establishments.

Not in a well-run one. And it’s random in a randomly run one. Assuming typical US regulation, a strip club is a license to print (just barely) legal amount of insanely good revenue. A smart owner does not fuck up his golden goose.

Depends highly on your municipality. IIRC you’re in the sort of town that might scrutinize. Some parts of the rest of the USA are less … bluenose.

The money is insane and there’s plenty to buy police aquiescence to.

You go to the wrong clubs, live in the wrong city(ies), or have misshapen expectations about commercial sex. On average around here local honest bar patron women are 7s and “gentlemen’s” club chix for sale are 9s.

That’s true even in fucking blue-nose Dallas, TX.

11

During my first career in law enforcement during my last 4 years before retirement I was an investigator in the vice bureau. Enforcement of rules and standards at gentlemen’s clubs was part of our duties.
DUI and bar fights was something for patrol to deal with, not me.

Some of the more common violations were not having the right cabaret license, allowing all nude display which was not allowed in this jurisdiction (topless only), and not carding patrons properly.

Soliciting for drinks happens a lot, which is illegal.

One establishment had cornered off a small unlit section for patrons that wanted to masturbate and charged them to sit in that section. Unless you were in the section itself you couldn’t see what was going on.

A more serious violation was allowing minors to dance. Underage girls would give owners and managers ID cards that were obvious fakes but they’d be accepted. At one location they had a 13 year old dancing.

One club was suspected for years of being involved in sex trafficking. The organization of it was complex and after many years a conviction was eventually secured.

Prostitution does go on but it’s structured in such a way it’s hard to trace it back to management.

The drug dealers are usually outside of the ownership of the club. But it was not unusual for owners or managers to get kickbacks from the dealers.

Most of the clubs were fairly clean. The majority of the more serious infractions happened in just a few.

12

My experience with cocaine users was that they were only interested in how to get more cocaine. They weren’t going to spend any of their cocaine money on alcohol or women. That said, as I recently observed in another thread, most of my experience with cocaine users was encountering them when they were in prison.

But there’s also the issue I raised in the OP; coked-up people get your business shut down.

13

At least according to Hollywood, even more infamous than strip clubs for lawlessness are road houses. Might be a grain of truth to that (or used to be); out in the boonies so it’s not a zoning issue, no immediate neighbors to complain, and a possibly tolerant/complicit rural county sheriff’s department.

14

I know a club that gets raided all the time for drugs, especially specifically for cocaine. One time, I was just minding my own business nearby and a passer-by asked me where they could score some coke (perhaps assuming I was a dealer myself?) It is not a strip club. What it is, though, is open late, and perhaps the longer you party, the more you might crave a little boost.

15

And probably underage drinking is even less welcome. Underage persons are less likely to have large amounts of money, and if they get themselves in trouble (all too likely) it’s the owner’s ass for letting them in. So they just aren’t worth the hassle.

16

Hey, that isn’t what I see on Forensic Files.

17

There are a few strip clubs outside of Detroit in Inkster that are run by the local biker gang. The girls who work there are the drug addicts, not the customers. The girls milk the guys for the cash and can have sex with them in private booths, so they have lots of cash. But drug use by the guys is not tolerated and outside drugs dealers are dealt with harshly.

These bars are very safe, never seen a fight in one because at the first sign of trouble they are on it. Its run like an extension of their biker club on Michigan Avenue and the clients know not to fuck around with them.

18

Have never quite understood the difference between a bar and a “road house.”

19

So a place out in the boonies that sells, or rents, everything a weary traveler might need to get from sunset to leaving again the next morning, likely never to return.

Lotta ways for a place like that to turn into a “no questions asked” experience for everyone. Especially back in the cash-only days.

20

It’s been decades since I’ve been in a strip club, so was curious to see what they looked like. There’s a place called Flight Club in the location you mentioned, and someone took a 360° photo of the interior and uploaded it to Google Maps. Wow, very high-class looking. And there’s a 1960s Corvette in the middle of the stage. :astonished_face: