DRUGS IN THE PARK ALL TOO COMMON

The sight of a young woman smoking crack under cover of a drug dealer's
shirt - in broad daylight on Boston Common - was horrifying when it
appeared in the Herald this week. But sadly it wasn't all that unusual.
Anyone who takes her child for a dip in the Frog Pond knows drug dealers
and crackheads have claimed wide sections of the park for themselves, and
it's beyond time for the city to stop it.

Beginning with photographer John Wilcox's troubling shot of a fatal heroin
overdose in the Public Garden last month, the Herald has chronicled
rampant crack and heroin use in the two parks that are supposed to be the
city's crown jewels - but have become havens for illicit behavior. We
found it more than a little disturbing when a city official last month
dismissed the Public Garden OD as an "isolated incident" and Mayor Tom
Menino said the city was powerless to stop it. "It's a public park," he
said then. "How do you know?" Well, you know if you spend some time
there, as Wilcox and reporters Laura Crimaldi and O'Ryan Johnson did,
documenting countless drug deals.

You know if you see dealers peddling early-morning fixes on the Common.
You know if you talk to users like Nicole, who injected heroin on the
Common because it's a spot where you can "blend in." A shortage of detox
beds may indeed be driving up drug activity statewide. But the
Herald series demonstrated that the problems in the parks are an immediate
law enforcement issue.

And in a welcome shift from his earlier comments, Menino has ordered
stepped-up patrols to crack down on the druggies who have been hiding
in plain sight.

The mayor must be cursing the First Amendment under his breath this week,
given the timing of Saturday's pot festival on the Common. Other than
arresting any "protester" who sparks one up in plain view of cops, the
city doesn't have a whole lot of control over that event.

But it surely can control the level of drug activity it will accept in its
two most inviting parks.

And it must.