Vito said “no” to Sollozzo’s drugs offer because it would be an infamita (to Tom in the novel), and because his friends in politics “wouldn’t be very friendly if they knew my business was drugs instead of gambling” (to Sollozzo in the film). Both were valid reasons. But I doubt they were Vito’s only reasons for saying “no.” IMO, he had at least two others:
Strategically, Vito felt secure because he was the biggest fish in a relatively small Mafia pond. But if his political protection established a major narcotics import and distribution network in America, the “pond” would soon become an ocean—and Vito’d be swimming with the sharks. Vito didn’t need Tom to tell him that there was more money potential in drugs than in any other business. He figured that the Corleones would get richer—but so would Sollozzo, Tattaglia, Barzini and, down the road, everyone else. In fact, there was so much money in drugs that Vito would never be able to control it once it got rolling—and he would no longer be the biggest (and safest) fish.
Operationally, Vito couldn’t simply sit back and trust Sollozzo to write him a check every month for half the drugs profits. He’d need someone on the inside of the operation to oversee his interest and keep an eye on his “partners.” Vito couldn’t be the inside man: too risky to the entire Corleone enterprise if he were found out. Sonny? Much, much too hotheaded for something as dangerous and politically risky as drugs. Fredo? Not ruthless enough to deal effectively with Sollozzo and the rest of the sharks that drugs would attract. Michael? At that point, Vito still held out hopes for “Senator Corleone, Governor Corleone.” No way, Michael!
No wonder Vito said “no.”

Yes, I agree for most part. I think if Vito was younger he might have gone for it. But we like Don Vito because he said no to drugs; otherwise there wouldn't be a story and I doubt that if there was another storyline it would've appealed to many people like this one did.

Turnbull, I respectfully disagree. While all what you say is perfectly logical and a likely scenario, we have no reason to believe that Vito had that in mind. It was mentioned neither in the novel nor in the movie. So the only other case would be if either FFC or Puzo implied this in one form or another and wanted the viewers/readers to make this inference. But did they intend? What made you feel that the reasons that Vito states explicitly are not convincing enough?

Why??

Very interesting Turnbull
I also think, from a dramatic POV, that his refusal to enter into drug dealing may be intended to reflect on his character.
Sollozzo, presented as the sinister baddie, is a 'top narcotics man'. Tom and Sonny, the cynical younger generation, have no qualms about dealing drugs to America as long as they make money from it. Only Vito, wise and in his own way, just, resists the pull of narcotics. Yes, for all the practical and political reasons stated above. But also, I think, because like he says, 'drugs is a dirty business'.
I don't mean I'm under any illusions about Vito's business mind - I know the principal reasons are busines ones. But I find the meeting of the Dons very interesting, in that Vito's position on drugs is one of the things that FFC uses to make us feel aligned with him. When another Don (can't remember his name) stands up and says 'I don't want it near schools, I don't want it sold to children', this reminds us exactly what it is these men are proposing. Breeding a nation of heroin addicts for their own profit. Vito is old-school, he always took care of his neighbourhood. His refusal to enter into narcotics is business yes, but in a very clever way I think it is also made personal.

Yes, I agree with that totally. It's FFC's way of making the viewer side with "the bad guy" in the movie. Let's face it, they all were "bad" people, including the Corleone's. But it's the brilliant writing by Puzo and Coppola that make the viewer side with The Corleone's. You say to yourself, "Well Vito is not as bad as the others, he despises drugs, frowns upon infidelity, so basically he has some morals and this is the character in the movie that I will side with." Basically FFC and Puzo lure the viewer into liking and siding with a common mafia hood.

Don Cardi

Strategically : if a narcotics operation were established, then being fully dependent upon Vito's political connections, Vito would still wield the most power. He would hold all the Aces in negotiation with the other Families over the extent and manner of the operation. At any time, he could remove his protection and bring the operation down -- Vito could veto anything he didn't like and remain a big fish.

Operationally : Turnbull, you're forgetting about the other candidates for inside man. Tessio - a sly and clever manipulator. The up-and-coming Rocco or Al Neri. And if the Turk ever considered short-changing the Don, there was always the power of Luca Brasi to unlease against him.

Why did Vito say no? Because he's old fashioned and short-sighted. He made a mistake that almost cost him his life and sealed Micheal's fate. Nobody's perfect.

Another critical reason is that the Don was smart enough to realize that the narcotics business depends almost entirely on getting product from abroad. Solozzo controlled the poppy fields in Turkey and the manufacturing in Sicily. This would mean that once they were into drugs, there would be major aspects of the business outside the control of the Corleones. This would allow Solozzo and whomever he was dealing most closely great opportunities to skim, and to build the wealth of other families, perhaps even families abroad. The entry of Turks into the equation would further weaken the American and Sicilian families that controlled the Cosa Nostra, and allow for other people to get into the bisiness.

There is a visionary aspect to this as well, because as we know the drug trade is now pretty much under the conrtol of the Colombians and various other cartels not necessarily associated with the remnants of the old Mafia.

Didn't one of the dons at the meeting make that point? That his people were constantly offered ways to make a quick profit from "powders" that they couldn't resist? That was given as one of the reasons that they SHOULD get into it, so that it could be controlled. Of course, the story is being told by Puzo, who has the good fortune of seeing how destructive drugs could be on a society.

IMO, Vito was perhaps content with his life. He was older, his sons were involved in the business, he may have been thinking that this was a bit too adventurous for him at his stage of life. He had a good living, and was happy with the way things were.

Exactly.

Along with, to some degree...his age. Solozzo was probably correct in stating to Tom that had it been 10 years earlier Vito may have been persuaded to make the deal on the business aspect alone.

Even when he finally does agree years later, it is not because of business or profit...but simply to end the fighting and bring Michael home.

Ironic, isn't it...a war begins and one son ultimately dies as a direct result of Vito's initial refusal to partake in the drug business. Yet to end the same war and bring another son home safely, he eventually makes the very deal he wanted no part of in the first place.

Apple

Sollozzo wasn't Turkish, he was a Sicilian.

Any Turks involved would only be labourers wouldn't they? I don't think there was any indication that any part of the operation would not be under the control of l.c.n.

Solozzo "controlled" the poppy fields in Turkey. That was my point.

It's not what they intended, svsg. It's what I inferred. The Trilogy is so rich in detail that half the fun on these boards is inferring things that weren't stated or necessarily intended.
Dr., Vito would hold the most power initially. But once the drug traffic grew and became a nationwide plague (as it did in real life), others in other families and cities would be attracted by the limitless profits--and politicians other than those Vito controlled would be attracted to the big bribes.
Yes, he could have put Tessio, Neri, etc., as his man on the inside of the drugs biz. But then he'd run the risk of their getting sucked in by the greed and profit--and challenging him.
I agree that Vito was short-sighted. He should have recognized that there was no way to stop the drugs traffic over the long term. There's something he could have done to hold back the tide temporarily, but that's a subject for another speculative post. And anyway, the fact that he acted short-sightedly set the stage for everything that followed.

Well, here's the thing. The correct long view of things would have been for the family to get out of all criminal enterprises and become "legitimate." That was always Michael's stated wish...that is EXCEPT to Vito himself. In the famous final scene between the two Vito says that he always hoped Michael would not have to "go through this." He wanted Michael to Be Governor Corleone, or Senator Corleone. At first Michael seems to share the sentiment because he says "we'll get there." But as the Don presses him Michael scoffs and says that being a Senator would mean that he is just another pezza movante. I think this is Michael's way of assuaging the Don's concerns, but I do not think that Michael meant it. In fact he does want to become another pezza novante, which is what GFIII is all about....namely Michael becoming another pezza novanet who ironically finds out the higher up he goes the cdrookeder it gets. The trouble with Michael ... probably his fatal flaw, is that whenever he is faced with a crisis, his default option is to kill his enemies...iin other words get back into crime. He protests that whenever he thinks he is out they pull him back in, but the truth is, thats where he wants to be.

Just to add onto Dontomasso's statement. In GFIII, we see Michael conflicted with his quest for legitimacy conflicting with the realization that nothing is legitimate. Everywhere Michael has turned is corrupted or corruptible. He makes the argument to Connie:

And in III, we can see that Vito was right about not wanting to get into the drug business. There was no way to control it once it spread across the country. It gave power to malcontents like Joey Zasa and a thousand other minor-league mafioso types. As Zasa said, he wouldn't guarantee that drugs weren't dealt in a certain neighborhood, only that he would kill someone if they were dealt in an area he didn't want them to be dealt. In other words, as long as it's profitable and keeps the heat away from guys like Zasa, he would look the other way. Vito didn't want that risk - he wanted things nice and quiet. With drug dealing, keeping criminal operations under wraps was a tougher proposition.

Good post (original)! Overall I believe Vito Corleone didn't want to get in the narcotic business because of the very reasoning he revealed. However, those other reasonings are interesting. I always like to hear a new perspective on these matters.

I disagree with who ever said that Vito was short sighted in his not wanting to get into narcotics. Most people at that time never even heard of the Mafia and supposedly OL'J. Edgar Hoover was so obsessed with painting everyone Red, communist, that the Mafia was the last thing on his mind. If you think about it from the standpoint of politics it all makes sense. The general public does not care if gansters kill each other. Gansters at that time deal in gambling,prostitution, and loansharking. If someone gets involved in these vices and gets hurt nobody realy cares. But when it comes to drugs and you got kids getting addicted and then heads will role. The electorate will be screaming for more cops, tougher jail sentences etc..., Gansters get arrested, compromised because of these long sentences and will work with the cops to lessen their sentences, then they break omerta like Vallachi and all hell breaks loose. I have seen a televison special recently that said even into the 70's the commission was not in agreement on whether they wanted to condone the drug business across the board.

Belle, you hit the nail right on the head. Vito has been vindicated by the present debilitated state of the Mafia such debilitation being due in large part to its involvement in drugs. To operate successfully, the Mafia requires a great deal of anonymity. Drugs became hugely high profile thus exposing its Mafia protagonists. Kudos Belle!

Yes, Vito was right in predicting that drugs would eventually become one of the factors that brought down the Mafia (although without RICO, the Mob might have endured longer). But he was short-sighted in thinking that he, alone, could stop drugs by saying no to Sollozzo. In fact, there's something big and inevitable about Vito and drugs: like the outbreak of World War I, the danger was obvious, but the outcome was preordained. And in the end, Vito was forced to protect drug trafficking to bring Michael home.
Vito was short-sighted in another way:
After saying no, he called in Luca and told him to get close to Tattaglia and Sollozzo to ind out what they were planning." What did he need to find out? With his Sicilian cunning, Vito would know that his fellow Sicilian Sollozzo would never take no for an answer, and would be plotting against him. He'd have been certain that, after his "no," the world wouldn't be big enough for both of them.
His order to Luca was an incredible lapse of judgment that was done for plot purposes to set up everything else that followed. In real life, Vito would have told Sollozzo that he was interested, and that he wanted Luca to pursue it further with Sollozzo. Luca then could have set up a meeting with Sollozzo and a drug dealer that Luca knew. Luca would then murder both, to make it look, superficially, like a drug deal gone bad. All the other Mafiosi would know it was Vito's doing. It'd be a shot that Vito fired across their bows: no drug trafficking while I'm top dog here. Tattaglia, the pimp, would have to suck it up. Barzini would be angry and resentful, but he'd have to bide his time. With Sollozzo dead, he'd be without a major overseas drug supplier. He wouldn't try to move against Vito unless and until he found a replacement. It would happen eventually, but Vito would have been successful at least temporarily. And there would be no Godfather Trilogy...

Do you think that while Vito suspected that Sollozo would be plotting against him, he also underestimated Sollozo in that an attempt would be made on his ( Vito's) life?

If Vito had really been worried about an attempt being made by Sollozo on his life, this would have been discussed with his Consigliere and his underboss. Why wouldn't he have had better protection around him?

Surely Vito Sonny and Tom all knew that Fredo or even Paulie Gatto alone were not enough to protect him. One can almost fault both Tom and Sonny for not realizing that some sort of an attempt would be made against Vito, and for not suggesting to him that more precautions should be taken. Tom and Sonny should have made sure that Vito would be better protected. But then again, had they done so, the whole plot would be out the window!


Don Cardi

Yes DC I think you are correct that Don Corleone underestinmated Sollozzo, and even Sollozzo recognized this when he tells Tom "The Don, rest in peace, was slippin'. Could I have gotten to him 10 years ago?"

Also I think there's a scene right before Vito gets shot when he first learns that Paulie is out "sick." I think someone (either Sonny or Clemenza) makes some kind of comment about getting someone other than Paulie, when the ever oblivious Fredo pipes up "Paulie's a good kid."

But don't you think that both Sonny and Tom should have served their Don better by surrounding him with more protection? Ok, maybe Paulie was a capable bodyguard. But Fredo? If Paulie had called in sick, whom did he call? Who directed Fredo to act as driver/bodyguard for Vito? Clemenza even says that he asked Fredo if he wants him to find another driver! Clemenza asks Fredo? Did that mean that Fredo was in charge of his father's bodyguards? In my eyes both Tom and Sonny were somewhat responsible for Vito getting shot.


Don Cardi

Somebody...buy that man a cigar!

Good point. But in a way it was the Don playing it too close to the vest that mat have got him in trouble. When Tom briefs him about Sollozzo, Vito knows that Sollozzo has Tattaglia's backing. Unfortunately Vito never tells Tom or Sonny what his final answer on drugs will be until the actual meeting during which Sonny has his outburst. Then he goes behind everyone's back and asks Luca Brasi to to to Tattaglia and find out what is under his fingernails. I think Tattaglia and Sollozzo saw through this ruse immediately, and then decided they could kill Corleone and Luca the same day, thereby sending Sonny a message and getting their way. Perhaps the Don did not trust Sonny enough to share this, but he should have told Tom, because I think at that point Tom would have realized the Don was putting himself in an unusually vulnerable situation.

Vito was bright, but not Einstein. The NY underworld was well aware of the depth of the relationship between Vito and Luca. So, sending Luca to express his dissatisfaction with the Family was quite an error. Not anticipating such a quick move to kill the Don after the Sollozzo meeting is understandable. Sollozzo probably figured that there was a real good chance that the Don would say no. But, as someone else has posted, it was essential to the tempo of the film that the assassination attempt take place quickly.