NO MARKET, NO DRUG TRADE

If you were driving in Peoria at about 8 p.m. Monday night and
happened by a pub in the 2500 block of NE Adams Street, you would have
seen a slew of police cars and a taped-off side road and parking lot.
That's where 43-year-old Pekin resident James C. Slater Jr., bleeding
badly from a head wound, had collapsed following an altercation at a
nearby residence.

He then was taken to OSF St. Francis Medical Center, where according
to a Journal Star report, "police discovered two wads of bills
totaling $2,216 and a plastic bag of marijuana inside Slater's pants."
Peoria police say Slater told them he was trying to buy $20 worth of
marijuana at a Peoria apartment when two men - one armed with a gun -
walked in and tried to rob and beat him. The woman who lived at that
address, Sylvia A. Litvin, 49, was arrested and charged with armed
robbery and obstruction of justice for her alleged role in the incident.

There's a fair amount of crime in Peoria, much of it fueled by the
drug trade. It gives Peoria a black eye, and residents a reason to
escape to other communities, where it's all too easy to point fingers
and curse the central city. Perhaps some of those folks should look in
the mirror. As Peoria police have long indicated, if there were no
market for illegal drugs, there would be no trade, and likely less
violent crime. Not excusing the drug dealers, but if some central
Illinoisans stayed home instead of coming to Peoria to purchase their
narcotics, it's likely there would be fewer stories like the one
above, and less ammunition for the city haters.

If you're still one of those people who think it's worth the risk,
consider this:

- - Your drug supplier may not be the most reliable sort, as that
particular profession - hope one is not going out on a limb here -
tends not to be represented by those of the highest moral character.
Alas, that person, even if you've had a long business relationship
with him or her, might double-cross you.

- - That might lead to you getting more than you bargained for, with the
potential for serious financial or physical injury. If that lands you
in the hospital for an extended stay, well, hope you have health insurance.

- - After you're wheelchaired out of the hospital, there might be
publicly provided transportation for you - to the county jail, since
allegedly you also were committing a crime at the time you were victimized.

- - Expect to read about all this in the newspaper, the matter of record
in your community. To the degree you care about your reputation - with
family members, neighbors, employers, etc. - such stories tend not to
improve it.

No doubt some will view this as further evidence of the need to
legalize drugs, or accuse this page of blaming the victim, to which
one would respond: 1. That's another editorial; and 2. Sometimes
victims go out of their way to become just that. Meanwhile, who's
standing up for the victimized city and its law-abiding citizens who
don't appreciate this brand of tourism?