Identifying Alternative Policies

There were three alternative policies discussed in our interview:

• More Arrests of Drug Dealers and Users

• More Drug Treatment

• More Focus on the Sale of Drug Paraphernalia

There were also two approaches to dealing with the sale of Drug Paraphernalia. One approach was to convince neighborhood stores to voluntarily stop selling drug paraphernalia. The other alternative was to see if the law needed to be changed.

We meet with a member of Wilmington City Council to discuss a voluntary program she started in 1999. We didn't think that stores in our neighborhood would do it. We think that some of the store owners are afraid of the drug dealers. Following is City Councilperson Stephanie Bolden's Proclamation.

Proclamation

We have already talked about why arresting drug dealers doesn't work. We didn't think we could do much about Drug Treatment. We decided to try to change the law about Drug Paraphernalia.

We looked a present law in Delaware, laws from Arkansas and Arizona, the Federal law and the Model Drug Paraphernalia Law. We think that we need to improve the law so it is clear what you can't sell. This will make the store owners safer from threats from the dealers. It will make the neighborhood safer for children to come out and play.

Following is the present law on Drug Paraphernalia in Delaware.

Present Law

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