Comments on Letter of the Day

Wait a minute, what's this about a website showing the best places to buy drugs? That sounds handy. And it's International? Even better!

Do they rate sellers by quality of product?

signed "John". Ha ha!

If Rick's is such a bastion for illegal activity then why does "Rub 'n' Tub" iun the U-District get a free ride?

Oh, yeah it's just a hot tub place. Right.

Club Z is next. Why I hear tell of men doing the unthinkable right smack dab in the middle of Mayor Nickels' otherwise safe and Christian enclave.

Beyond the policy issues: don't think for a second that the cops who do the sting on nightclubs don't get erections or enjoy their jobs as they get illegal lap dances etc. To then bust the performers perhaps purges them of their guilt, and is really pretty sadistic when you think about it. All in a day's work for a family man, I'm sure.

Why is it that someone -- someone who says he doesn't care about what goes on in strip clubs as long as it's between consenting adults, no less -- can put the sales of illegal drugs in the same category as stabbings, arson, and general intimidation on the streets without anyone calling him on it?

I don't want any black market business happening on the street. It's messy, and if it's going to happen I'd rather have it happen behind closed doors (and the vast majority of it does). Take away the criminality, though, and the previously-illegal drug sales would be no more troublesome than legal drug sales are now. Think about the most popular places to purchase drugs: pharmacies, state-run liquor stores, and convenience stores. Not really a problem.

I agree that our police have better things to do than busting consenting adults for touching each other's naughty places for a fee. But every bit of time they spend enforcing our ridiculous and failed policy of prohibition just makes the illegal drug more valuable, which encourages more people to sell them and makes people more willing to engage in risky behavior in the process.

exactly Phil...and the amount of police time and resources spent on enforcing drug laws in this city (undercover buy-busts in the downtwon area in particular)utterly dwarfs what is spent on vice enforcement.

Should the cops cease and desist all prostitution busts? Yes..but let's take it even further and get them out of the drug business too.

Every time the police dept. claims their resources are stretched too thin I have to stifle a laugh/scream. It's not their resources, it's their friggin' priorities.

The bigger problem Gnossos is that the so-called "War on Drugs" has proven very lucrative for police departments. The property seizure provisions of our draconian drug laws allow law enforcement agencies to acquire hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not indeed millions in larger cities) worth of seized property: houses, cars, boats, jewelry, electronic devices, artwork, etc., etc., all of which is then sold at auction with the proceeds going directly into the pockets of these very same agencies.

It's a vicious circle: undermanned, cash-strapped law enforcement agencies make more busts in order to seize more property in order to be able to resell it in order to purchase more equipment that facillitates making more busts. All too frequently there have been instances of property seized illegally or by mistake, but which is never returned to its rightful owners. Often the PD's are allowed to keep the property, even if the bust doesn't result in a conviction.

Until you remove the economic incentive from BOTH SIDES of the Drug War formula, there's little hope of developing a SANE substance use policy in this country.

Comte's onto something. The War on Drugs is sort of a fucked up mirror universe form of organized crime run by the city and the police.

This is a great Blog!