05-23-2013, 04:55 AM
Aren't there lots of surveillance cameras installed all over downtown Pahoa for "public safety" or something?
Didn't our tax dollars just pay for a big new police station in Pahoa?
Maybe it's the old anti-science acting up again, but I'm somehow reminded of the solution in Vancouver BC: they designated a "green zone" (eg, bounded by specific named streets) within which small-time dealing of personal quantities would be generally ignored -- but if any of those dealers were caught outside the zone (say, up in the "nice part of town") they would be punished far more severely.
This already happens at a State/County level; the "green ghetto" (sections of) Puna helps to keep all "those people" away from the tourist-facing shiny. Why shouldn't Pahoa have a designated "skid row" for those who truly want/need that sort of thing?
Didn't our tax dollars just pay for a big new police station in Pahoa?
Maybe it's the old anti-science acting up again, but I'm somehow reminded of the solution in Vancouver BC: they designated a "green zone" (eg, bounded by specific named streets) within which small-time dealing of personal quantities would be generally ignored -- but if any of those dealers were caught outside the zone (say, up in the "nice part of town") they would be punished far more severely.
This already happens at a State/County level; the "green ghetto" (sections of) Puna helps to keep all "those people" away from the tourist-facing shiny. Why shouldn't Pahoa have a designated "skid row" for those who truly want/need that sort of thing?