New York Sign Language No Pot Dealers in My Neighborhood By BOB YAMPOLSKY	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
通りにはびこる大麻の売人 1970年代のニューヨークでは、街のいたるところで大麻の売買が行なわれていました。しかし、最近、警察がヘロインやコカインの取り締まり強化に乗り出し、去年からはこれまでお目こぼしの状態だった大麻の購入と使用も、厳しく罰せられるようになりました。

The first time I bought pot on the streets of New York City was more than half my lifetime ago. Actually, strictly speaking, it wasn't on the street. It was in a store, called Joe's Meat Market, on Amsterdam Avenue between 109th and 110th streets.

Joe's Meat Market did not sell meat; it did not even pretend to sell meat. But that's what the sign in front said: Joe's Meat Market. It had a glass door, and you had to ring a buzzer to be admitted. Inside, the walls were completely bare. There weren't even any shelves, as I remember. In the back of the store was a counter, and on top of the counter a plywood wall had been built. Right at counter level, the wall had a small, semicircular hole, just big enough for a hand to pass through.

It was through this hole that transactions were carried out. You asked either for a "tres," which was a $3 bag, or a "nickel," which was a $5 bag. You handed in your money first, and got in return a tiny manila envelope, packed full of harsh, seedy pot. All you ever saw of the shopkeeper was a dark, hairy hand.

That was the New York of the late 1970s, when the city was broke, falling apart, and seemingly sliding deeper and deeper into anarchy each day. From that time, until fairly recently, it was quite easy to buy pot on the streets of New York. The prices went up, so that the smallest bag you could buy was a "dime" ($10), but the quality of the pot went up, too. Some of the more popular selling locations — for example, by the Great Lawn in Central Park — would be absolutely swarming with pot sellers: "Smokes, smokes, smokes," they would call out.

From what I have heard, things have gotten much worse (or better, depending upon your point of view) in recent years. The cheapest bag now costs $20, the quality of the pot has fallen, and it has become harder and harder to find pot on the streets of New York. Our sign for this week will help us explain why. "FIGHT DRUG DEALERS WITH A PHONE CALL," it says, giving a toll-free number where you can report drug dealing. In smaller letters it says, "NYPD's new narcotics undercover task force. It's anonymous. It works."

The main target of this task force is dealers of hard drugs, like heroin and cocaine. These dealers are usually gangs, who set up shop in apartments or storefronts. Very often they take over whole neighborhoods, intimidating residents and attracting unsavory crowds of buyers and addicts.

Despite its openness, this drug trade is very difficult to shut down. This is because the people who get arrested are the low-level dealers who actually carry the drugs, and they are easily replaced. And residents in those neighborhoods are usually too intimidated to call the police. And when a drug business is shut down, other dealers simply move in once the police leave.

It is too early to tell whether the police department's "new task force" will be more effective than earlier efforts. But one place where it has had an effect is on the street-level marijuana trade.

Until recently, marijuana, unlike the hard drugs, has been handled under a double standard. Of course possession and use were illegal, but these laws were rarely enforced. You weren't allowed to sell marijuana, but you were allowed to buy or use it. People smoked openly in public, and there were legitimate stores, called head shops, which sold a great variety of pipes, bongs, and other smoking paraphernalia.

Late last year, however, the police changed tactics: Not only did they start aggressively arresting pot dealers, they began posing as pot dealers themselves, and people who tried to buy from them were arrested. Many of the arrested were students and white-collar workers, including investment bankers, computer programmers, and a journalist who said he was buying pot as part of the research for a story (he admitted this was a lie when the police were about to call his managing editor).

This new approach is in keeping with the mayor's hardline stance against jaywalking, traffic violations, and other low-level legal infractions. The mayor's thinking (which is not unreasonable) is that if you allow the sale and use of marijuana, you are creating an atmosphere that tolerates the sale and use of other, more dangerous drugs.

There is a long-running debate in America over how to handle marijuana. At one end are people insisting that its use should be treated as harshly as any other narcotic. At the other end are people insisting that it should be legalized. Their arguments are that it is far less destructive than alcohol.

Since my own pot-smoking days are long past, I don't really have a personal stake in this issue. On the other hand, I certainly wouldn't be happy to see my own kids smoking, and when they reach an age where pot becomes a temptation I will do whatever I can to discourage them. And furthermore, I live just two blocks from where Joe's Meat Market used to be, and I really do prefer not having drug dealers in my neighborhood.

Shukan ST: June 26, 1998

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