Barbara Lickness wrote: > Dennis is correct. I thought about what Mike Atherton > said and I concur that legalizing drugs and zoning > their sales and public use into a certain area would > be a far better solution than we currently have. > Perhaps not for the drug addict but at least for the > innocent inner-city citizens living with the problem > now. I wonder just what area of the city would be best > to house this activity Mike?
What I found interesting about Amsterdam is that the Red Light District is so small and well contained. It appeared to me that there are many "regular" neighborhoods in fairly close proximity (hundreds of meters). I don't know all of the areas in Minneapolis, but think that part of the warehouse district (to the West and North) could function as a red light district. You'd have to put it somewhere and most of us know to avoid parts of downtown on weekends anyway. > Because drugs are illegal, the street has been made > the supermarket and they have been contained > (unofficial zoning) in certain areas because it is a > convenient way for the government to deal with the > problem. It's not a problem most politicians or > citizens have to deal with. Growing up on Lake Nokomis > then moving to Whittier was certainly an eye-opening > experience for me. My biggest problem on Lake Nokomis > was doggy poo poo on my boulevard. In Whittier it was > making it down my driveway without getting popped. > Quite different worlds. "Because drugs are illegal," is the key phrase here. My suggestion is to try and contain illegal drug sales in industrial areas (and possibly in the night time hours), rather than residential ones. In L.A. the police used to ignore illegal street racing in industrial locations within the city, not to mention prostitution all over the city. > This bill will effectively decriminalize drug > possession and sales for the most part. The only > punishment will be to the really big pushers. The long > and short of it is that the person will have to > possess $50,000 worth of crack and sell $10,000 of it > to a Certified Reliable Informant (CRI) in order to do > any jail time. That includes sales to minors and sales > at parks and schools. That will eliminate any jail > time for about 99% of the drug dealers in the > inner-city "containment" zones. Just how motivated are > the cops going to be to arrest someone for drugs when > they know nothing is going to happen to them. Boy, > it's gonna be a fun summer. Good Luck Chief McManus. I > hope he has cops over there testifying about the > impact this legislation will have on the inner-city. > I also hope that both Mayor R.T. Rybak and Mayor Randy > Kelly will have people testifying about this > legislation. I can't imagine the mayors of Rochester, > Duluth or Mankato are too happy about it. They all > have growing drug problems too. There is one undeniable fact here, drug laws have not eliminated drug problems. > It's very easy to recommend legalization as a solution > to the drug problem when you don't live with it at > your doorstep everyday. I understand why Mike Atherton > espouses such an attitude. He doesn't have to care > that kids in Phillips or the northside are dodging > bullets because his house and his wife and kids are > nestled far from the violence. So it's easy for Mike > to examine the issue from an academic perspective then > pontificate on it. True enough, I no longer have to deal with the day-to-day effects of the illegal drug use. I have no apologies. If you want to be an urban pioneer or defender that's your choice. I'm trying to propose a solution that will eliminate the need for you to imprison your neighbors. > But, when you are up to your eyeballs in alligators > you don't talk about how great it would be to have > them as pets if they would just stop biting you. You > run. If you are up to your eyeballs in alligators, I suggest that you do what I did, get out of the swamp. It's not a battle you can win, nor can the Federal, State, or City governments or the U.S. military win it for you. It's a lost cause, just like Vietnam. It's just taking us a lot longer to admit it. And, look out because the country that we recently liberated, Afghanistan, had a bummer crop of opium poppies this year. Kinda ironic, is it not? Michael Atherton Prospect Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
