Prove Me Wrong, Please

from the series Peace House Community Journal…

By MARTI MALTBY

On July 2, the City of Minneapolis announced a new effort to deal with the open-air drug markets that plague the city, especially the neighborhoods served by the alley. By the time you read this, the announcement will be a month old, and we will hopefully have some idea of how the effort is going. My prediction is that current problem areas will get safer, but currently safer areas will become more dangerous.

I can’t pretend that I could solve the problems that drugs cause in Minneapolis, even if I was given an unlimited budget and power, but I can anticipate some of the hurdles that will trip up this effort. Some are inevitable, such as the addictive nature of drugs. There is no way to remove the attraction of drugs, especially among those who already use them. There’s also no way to remove the profit motive from dealing drugs. No matter what the City does, there will always be buyers and sellers.

However, there are hurdles that can be overcome, but only through thoughtful planning and diligent execution. One of the biggest of these is the need for decision makers to face what is not working, and to admit that the decisions they have made in the past have contributed to the current situation.… Read the rest “Prove Me Wrong, Please”