Reason First: The Dealer Mentality

The soul of a dealer still lives in Kevin Chiles. The once kingpin now owner of the “Original Street Bible” Don Diva magazine, Chiles has positioned himself as a legitimate boss. That wasn’t always the case. Chiles sold drugs on the streets of New York City and other locales during what he refers to as the “Crack Era.” What is so frustrating, sad, and bewildering is the fact that he made millions of dollars in the street but it stemmed from trading poison. That poison should be legal and nontaxable across the board but narcotics are a scourge nonetheless. Chiles stands as a man who lived through it and can tell tales about his stint in the drug game.

It is the music of hip hop that has most embraced the dealer mentality. Rappers that populate the covers and pages are juxtaposed with dealers who may have never picked up a mic in his magazine. Chiles can recount just how scary the days of crack dealing were in America in the mid to late 1980’s. As he commanded an enterprise that generated $100 thousand dollars a day, Chiles rivaled the business tycoons who sat in corner offices on Wall Street.

And this is where we should be today. Drug lords should be allowed to make the money of Silicon Valley executives. But at the same time, they should be condemned as poison pushers. The social ostracism, the private business decisions to not hire dealers or addicts, and clinics who would act as aids as well as deterrents, would actually cause the decrease in drug abuse. For people like Chiles who transitioned from the illegal world to more legitimate means, it is important to remember that, save murderers and rapists or burglars and other actual criminals, their “crimes” aren’t crimes. If someone wants to manufacture hundreds of kilos of methamphetamine, and make millions a day, why should the State ban them? If someone wants to shoot up heroin or smoke a crack rock in their basement during The Tonight Show and plan to not engage in any vehicular activity or violate anyone’s rights, where’s the fire? What is the emergency?

The real reason behind evil divisions of the federal government like the FDA and DEA, is to be a nanny and a tax collector, respectively. Because that’s the draw of government agents: taxes. Al Capone wasn’t caught on bootlegging or extortion or racketeering but tax evasion. There’s too much money on the anarchic market for the feds to pass up then and now. If they can’t nab dealers on trafficking charges or other actual crimes, they will go after the untaxed funds that these dealers earned.

Chiles is a descendent of the heroin sellers before him. But the most vicious time period where crack wreaked havoc on the streets of the United States, still remains to be some of the darkest American days. He made it out of the streets and is now conducting legal business. And isn’t that beautiful? Another magnate like JAY-Z who hustled in the Marcy project halls is now worth at least a billion dollars. If Hov had not changed dealings, he would’ve ended up in prison or in an early grave. And his life wouldn’t have been as bountiful. He’s got a fortune that he more than likely would’ve never made dealing in the streets. His beautiful wife Beyoncé and children fill out his family portrait.

Chiles, however, has familial scars from the dope game. Kidnappers nabbed and murdered his mother because of his ties to the streets. And Chiles is not a supporter of snitching. He said that he would not cooperate to shield his family from not street thugs but the authorities. Chiles advanced from the carceral system to navigate the world as an official businessman. He should be the first to fight for snitching or witnessing or any other way to state it. For all of the stories worthy of Don Diva, Chiles’ own story deserves to be plastered not only in his magazine but other newspapers and periodicals as well. VladTV has provided the most in depth battery of questions and answers with Chiles. In these interviews, Chiles is calm almost sedate. By going to the penitentiary, Chiles was able to correct his behavior and focus on making money the proper route. Like a oil entrepreneur, Chiles has just opened up the market in the publishing world as if he were drilling for oil shale.

Marijuana should be federally recognized as a legal substance and never taxed just like any other substance. Every scheduled substance should be avalible to produce and consume. Chiles’ business mind is focused on creating more value in spaces beyond drugs. That’s a true dealer.