Could Detroit be the new Amsterdam?

[begingri]

Prostitution, pot legalization could make Detroit attractive, Fieger says

BY CAROL CAIN
DETROIT FREE PRESS COLUMNIST


Could Detroit be the new Amsterdam -- a city where prostitution and marijuana are both legalized to help attract young people and turn the troubled city’s prospects around?

Why not, barrister and occasional mayoral candidate Geoffrey Fieger said during a taping of “Michigan Matters” on what he would do if he walked in Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s shoes and tried to address the city’s woes.

“I could turn it around in five minutes,” Fieger said.

“I’d shovel the snow and I’d clean the streets and parks. Then, I’d tell the police department to leave marijuana alone and don’t spend one dime trying to enforce marijuana laws. I also would not enforce prostitution laws and I’d make us the new Amsterdam.”

“We would attract young people,” Fieger said. “You make Detroit a fun city. A place they want to live and they would flock here.”


Continued at: http://www.freep.com/article/2011041...ve-Fieger-says

[DetCharter]

I'm sure glad he doesn't live here or run this city....This is Detroit; not Las Vegas.

[BrushStart]

Honestly, how is not enforcing marijuana and prostitution any different than the status quo?

[begingri]

Honestly, how is not enforcing marijuana and prostitution any different than the status quo?

I posted this after hearing Jay Leno talk about it in his monologue. His punchline? "Is this any different than what Detroit is today?"

[BrushStart]

Edit: I don't know what kind of existence Feiger lives, but most young people are not attracted to drugs and hookers. However, they do want public transit, access to amenities, a vibrant social scene, diverse cultural experiences, excitement, entertainment, proximity to jobs, and the possibility of upward mobility. Many young people care about the arts and the environment, and they desire to be part of social progress. They want a sense of community and connectivity to the larger world. They want to see and be seen. They want a reasonably safe environment to live life and conduct business. They want inspiration and hope for the future. They want leaders who are worthy of trust. They want positivity and the potential to grow and enhance their lives.

Deliver on that, and you will be THE MAN.

[Django]

Im with the lawyer. Ive been saying this for sometime now. If you cant see it your obsolete, your old, you dont matter.

Red Light District Detroit.

[jtf1972]

As for marijuana, legalize & control it.

Prostitution? No.

Feiger? Muzzle.

[Django]

What exactly is the point of keeping prostitution illegal? There are so many different forms of prostitution that are legal, why does it stop when it comes to sex?

Who is anyone to say who you can have sex with?

[East Detroit]

I think people just see it as a slippery slope that further threatens the rules/glue of their society.

[littlebuddy]

What a loser. Drugs, hookers, and what else? I want these kind of young people doing anything for me? These are the people who will make Detroit great again?

[Pam]

Edit: I don't know what kind of existence Feiger lives, but most young people are not attracted to drugs and hookers

Yes, sounds more like what Geoffrey would think is fun.

[drippyhollows]

he was just looking to cause a stir. Jockeying for cheap attention. Once he heard Bing was running he pumped his brakes.

[drippyhollows]

anyhow DY. Prostitution is nearly a victimless crime. If they were to do it right i'm certain it would work out just fine. The casinos are vice. And lets face it. There is plenty of illegal prostitution going on in the city. For that matter DPD has turned the blind eye to weed for years. They are more likely to dump your bag or take it than ticket you or arrest you.

[mwilbert]

I don't really care about enforcing these laws, which are barely enforced anyway--look at the back of the Metro Times--but the idea that they would have a big effect on improving the city seems unrealistic.

[DetroitPlanner]

anyhow DY. Prostitution is nearly a victimless crime. If they were to do it right i'm certain it would work out just fine. The casinos are vice. And lets face it. There is plenty of illegal prostitution going on in the city. For that matter DPD has turned the blind eye to weed for years. They are more likely to dump your bag or take it than ticket you or arrest you.

I'm not so sure about this statement. Prostitutes and drug activity go hand in hand. I am talking the hard stuff. Once you get both into your neighborhood, houses get broken into by junkies, pimps beat up women, the whole composition of the neighborhood changes to a loud lawless mess.

This does not even include the folks who get infected by STDs and then bring that home to thier spouses or keep giving it to others.

Fieger is a lawyer. Lawyers like crime as it pads thier pockets.

[drippyhollows]

i'm not so sure about my statement either Planner. But we are talking Detroit here. Not Grand Rapids or Ann Arbor. Hard drugs are already inside or very near every pocket of the city and for the most part prostitution thrives in areas that are already way far gone. The prostitutes are in those areas because the drugs are very available. Its the drugs that show up first and not the street walkers.
People see women selling it on the street and get upset. Probably because it is in their face.

[coracle]

How do cities worldwide succeed without having to legalize drugs and prostitution?

[Danny]

Our city will NOT prosper with Gypsies, tramps and theives.

[Detroitnerd]

Legalize everything and you take business away from criminals [[and cops) and put it in the hands of responsible people.

[markd]

How do cities worldwide succeed without having to legalize drugs and prostitution?

There are many factors like a good business climate, leadership, location and luck.Detroit has gone too many years without these.

[j to the jeremy]

I know you can get high as hell in Amsterdam with old men, but the reasons that city is vibrant also include the fact that they have extremely progressive planning, bike lanes for days, good public transit, leniant policies towards squatting, and a much more dense urban core.

[Hypestyles]

I posted this after hearing Jay Leno talk about it in his monologue. His punchline? "Is this any different than what Detroit is today?"

good lord, Leno.. I wonder what Martha Reeves would say.. heh-heh..

[Meddle]

Didn't we just do this thread?


http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?9732-Fieger

[Whitehouse]

Be careful comparing the Dutch capital to Detroit. [[Window-) prostitution might then be legalized but up to a certain point. Everything is being done here to prevent people traficking and exploitation. Legal prostitutes do pay their taxes. Pot is semi-legal. Only a small ammount for personal use is permitted.

I guess this link is useful.

Most policymakers in the Netherlands believe that if a problem has proved to be unsolvable, it is better to try controlling it and reducing harm instead of continuing to enforce laws with mixed results. By contrast, most other countries take the point of view that recreational drug use is detrimental to society and must therefore be outlawed. This has caused friction between the Netherlands and other countries about the policy for cannabis, most notably with France and Germany. As of 2004, Belgium seems to be moving toward the Dutch model and a few local German legislators are calling for experiments based on the Dutch model. Switzerland has had long and heated parliamentary debates about whether to follow the Dutch model on cannabis, most recently deciding against it in 2004; currently a ballot initiative is in the works on the question. In the last few years certain strains of cannabis with higher concentrations of THC and drug tourism have challenged the current policy

While the legalization of cannabis remains controversial, the introduction of heroin-assisted treatment in 1998 has been lauded for considerably improving the health and social situation of opiate-dependent patients in the Netherlands.[3] In 2010 research shows that the "heroin-junkies" have disappeared from the streets of the Netherlands and the treatment is upgraded from a test-trial to standard treatment for otherwise untreatable addicts. Also, the number of heroin addicts has dropped by more than 30% since 1983.

And we wonder why nobody listening to us and learning from us.... Oh, heaven forbid!! This is a social program!!! You do see junkies now and then but they are no nuisance. I fact, sometimes you get the most amazing stories talking to them!

I belong to the majority of Dutch citizens that never smoked pot, I never smoked anything at all.


Traffic signs, in this case banning smoking canabis and drinking alcohol in public [[with te exception of terraces..


To Detroit I would say; Don't do it. It will attract all the wrong people into the city. there is not a large enough police force that can handle this.

[mikeg19]

Make a red light district. Put all the pot and hookers there. Move them out of the neighborhoods away from family's and children. Tax it. Boom.