As PPB continues to coo- I mean, release statistics that claim the ongoing violence is mostly related to drug crime and City of Portland is arguing about how to spend a surplus, it occurs to me that they need to repurpose the narcotics division of PPB from a militant police unit into a commerce regulation unit in order to deescalate this war we are trying end. This starts with the current force providing this city a secure version of Hamsterdam (from HBO's the Wire) Not the apocalyptic gang-run flea market of desperation and despair envisioned by that show's writers but by using the narcotics division personnel to secure a venue and ID check patrons and vendors, using the division's lab budget to test for accurate potency and adulterants, Portland can provide a place where users and those selling a clean product can do business.

Needs more workshopping so it doesn't end up like the Robin Hood bit from Time Bandits (sorry about the media references) but things are getting worse because we tried to jump a stream by taking a half-step, now we have to wade through the hard part, all wet and feeling dumb. This is the next step.