[futuretaint]

drug dealers will continue to sell drugs irregardless of financial stability. when law enforcement defers arrest/prosecution the drug dealing doesn't become less harmful to communities, the opposite is true. look at SF/Oakland. organized rings maximizing profits in retail theft and property crimes. if this is the alternative to broken windows theory of policing then good luck w/ that.

[tech_ken]

Okay sure but most people with a steady 9 to 5 aren't buying industrial volumes of crack. Poverty creates big demand for the worst of the drug trade. Moreover, the drug dealers who are earning big exploiting this aren't going to be found in the worst parts of the city. The police are at best picking up the low- to mid-level distributors. "Broken Windows" has failed to win the drug war for decades; if you want to keep backing a failed experiment you're welcome to it, but I'm going to seek an improvement.