CLEANING UP THE FUN PARLORS

EVERY major city has its seamy side and Melbourne is no exception.

One of its trouble spots is in and around Russell Street, a scruffy
precinct of gaudy amusement parlors, some tawdry shops, cheap cafes and
often dirty alleyways.

The amusement parlors act as a magnet for many young people, who become a
target for hustlers with drugs to sell. It is a depressing scene where
passers-by sometimes find themselves crunching discarded syringes underfoot
or glimpsing drug deals being done - and not only during the hours of
darkness.

Some of the parlors post security guards outside, which tends to add to a
mild air of menace.

And a popular fast-food outlet now restricts access to its toilets to deter
drug users from using them as a shooting gallery.

The Lord Mayor, Cr Ivan Deveson, is eager to clean up this blot on the
city's fabric, and rightly so. The Melbourne City Council and police have
reached an agreement with the operators of 12 city amusement parlors to
create a safer, cleaner environment. The problem is neither the existence
of the parlors nor the presence of young people seeking amusement, but
rather the street drug culture that has evolved in the area. The parlor
managers have agreed to exercise stricter controls and cooperate with
police, the police are expected to give the precinct closer attention, and
the council, it is to be hoped, will keep the area cleaner.

The council's initiative is based on its Drug Action Plan for Melbourne and
encouraged by the success of the move to improve security in the sometimes
rowdy nightclub precinct of King Street. Such action is even more important
in Russell Street because the amusement parlors attract many under-age
children and the street drug-dealing seems more concentrated. We hope the
council succeeds in making this area safer, cleaner and better policed, but
we also recognise that drug dealing is more likely to be dispersed than
diminished. Reducing the drug menace is a challenge that requires more
thought, effort and resources than the city council can apply.

But it is doing what it can within its powers, and that is to be applauded.