EDITORIAL

Drug law

Let's give this new one a careful try

A Charlotte City Council committee wants the full council to pass an
ordinance penalizing the sale of drug paraphernalia. We think the idea is
worth a careful try.

The 23 neighborhoods represented by the anti-drug group Fighting Back
certainly think so. Council member Malachi Greene proposed the ordinance at
their request. At a hearing Monday the group's director, Hattie Anthony,
said, "They (residents) want some of these items removed from their
neighborhoods so young people won't have . . . easy access to them." She
said a series of neighborhood meetings had revealed strong support for the
measure.

Some others are understandably wary. They point out difficulties in defining
what equipment is covered. Pipes, for example, may be put to various uses,
most quite legal. Skeptics are worried about the possibilities for selective
enforcement.

Perhaps with this in mind, the ordinance would call upon law enforcement
officials to consider surrounding circumstances in deciding whether items
qualified as drug paraphernalia. Examples might be known drug abuse nearby,
or the presence in a store of magazines about marijuana smoking. In
requiring this, the ordinance would mimic a state statute that already
outlaws the manufacture or possession of a long list of the items in
question.

The ordinance would levy a civil penalty of a $100 fine for each offense.
Officials say this would be easier to enforce than the state law. They say
also that shady operators would fear this more than the prospect of a state
misdemeanor charge grinding its way through a court system that is always
extremely busy with larger matters.

In light of the neighborhoods' strong call for help, it's better to move on
known problems than to shrink from ones that may not develop. We think it's
appropriate to bet on the probability that the community and the Police
Department, working together, can apply the proposed ordinance effectively
and fairly.