September 28, 2006
How to break up a street drug market
without arresting everyone in sight
And Mark Schoofs reports on how well it worked in High Point, NC.
Applying the High Point strategy to Skid Row, Los Angeles could be difficult because of largely group of users who are mentally ill and the community tolerance of drug use. How can you rationally convince mentally ill drug users and other homeless that the key to a better life is intolerance of drug dealing? Business leaders are surely upset with dealers and want them out. But, is that enough? It is especially tough with the ACLU constantly fighting for the rights of homeless over other stakeholders. It’s not that the ACLU is necessarily wrong in the abstract, but there ideas are not supported by reality.
Posted by: Jordan Snedcof at September 28, 2006 04:49 PMDo you and Michael O'Hare coordinate posts? The idea of not squashing drugs completely but dealing with the violent open air markets seems an example well suited for the "Sunk costs and bad metaphors" post.
Anyway, the point that intrigues me most which the WSJ didn't capture for me was the impact the police have on the community. It never really occured to me that the mother of the drug dealer who was just locked up wouldn't be pleased by her son being locked up.
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