cannabisnews.com: Dealer Invited To Community Anti-Drug Meeting 
function share_this(num) {
 tit=encodeURIComponent('Dealer Invited To Community Anti-Drug Meeting ');
 url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/24/thread24963.shtml');
 site = new Array(5);
 site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500');
 return false;
}






Dealer Invited To Community Anti-Drug Meeting 
Posted by CN Staff on August 09, 2009 at 05:19:47 PT
By Keith Ervin, Seattle Times Staff Reporter
Source: Seattle Times
Seattle, WA -- Just one day after 16 drug dealers were told by Seattle police to go straight or go to prison, one was arrested for an alleged drug crime Friday night in a section of the Central Area that police are trying to clean up.The accused dealer had participated in a Thursday night "intervention" at which police, prosecutors, family members, friends and neighbors told the dealers they would no longer tolerate their open-air drug sales.
But Friday the dealer was back on the street and was arrested, along with another suspect, on suspicion of a felony drug offense about 8:40 p.m. at 25th Avenue South and South Cherry Street, police spokesman Mark Jamieson said."By no means should this be seen as a setback," Jamieson said Saturday. "We came into this project fully understanding that several individuals would be arrested or would opt out or would not follow through."Jamieson said he didn't know the details of the allegations.Interim Police Chief John Diaz reported the arrest following a meeting Saturday in Shoreline to discuss drug policy with Gil Kerlikowske, the former Seattle police chief and now federal drug czar; U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island; and about two dozen state and local officials.Borrowing a tactic pioneered in High Point, N.C., Diaz gave 18 drug dealers — male and female — an ultimatum: They could come to a Thursday meeting at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, where they would get support to turn their lives around, or they would be arrested and prosecuted on felony drug charges.The 16 who attended the meeting were offered drug treatment, education, job training and housing assistance — but only if they stopped selling drugs along the 23rd Avenue South corridor between Jackson and Madison streets.One accused drug dealer missed the meeting because he was arrested in a separate case. The only other no-show now faces arrest for allegedly dealing in the Central Area.The promise of arrest and prosecution was backed up by video clips, drug buys and other evidence collected during a yearlong investigation. "These are rock-solid cases. We wanted to make sure they understood," Diaz said.Although several big cities recently adopted the Drug Market Intervention initiative introduced in North Carolina, Kerlikowske said it's still unclear how well it will work in larger urban settings."Trying to do it in a large city the size of Seattle is a challenge, but I applaud John [Diaz] and others who have taken it on," Kerlikowske said.Kerlikowske, who was hired by President Obama as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy — a post better known as drug czar — met with Diaz, Inslee and other officials Saturday in the first of eight regional meetings to discuss drug policy.Inslee said more attention needs to be paid to the abuse of prescription drugs, which he said accounts for 31,000 annual emergency-room visits. He also promoted his proposed Safe Drug Disposal Act 2009, which would allow unused prescription drugs, including opiates, to be collected so they aren't acquired by addicts or flushed down toilets, resulting in pollution.Complete Title: Dealer Invited To Community Anti-Drug Meeting Arrested The Next DaySource: Seattle Times (WA)Author: Keith Ervin, Seattle Times Staff ReporterPublished:  August 9, 2009Copyright: 2009 The Seattle Times CompanyContact: opinion seatimes.comWebsite: http://www.seattletimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/Oq4peV51CannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help 
     
     
     
     




Comment #2 posted by dongenero on August 10, 2009 at 08:30:05 PT
Prohibition = dealers, moonshiners, rum runners
What can you say? One leads the other, inevitably.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 09, 2009 at 05:21:29 PT
What a Difference
I am so tired of reading around the Internet how terrible our new drug czar is or anger towards Obama. This is a new direction that makes sense to me.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment