German Parks Department Sets Up ‘Safe Zone’ for Drug Dealers

As goes America, so goes the world…at least in terms of the “war on drugs”.

For decades, the American government have been banging their heads against the wall in an attempt to stamp out the scourge of illegal drugs.  This effort, however valiant in theory, has caused a crisis in the US where nonviolent drug offenders are overcrowding our prison system and draining our economy.

Worse still:  A great many of these offenders are locked up for cannabis-related crimes as the plant rapidly expands its legal footprint.

So, if the “war on drugs” doesn’t work, what will?  Some say total legalization is the key, while others believe that adopting a “public health issue” stance will keep us all safe.

In Germany, a bizarre half measure is being implemented, that neither addresses the issue or curbs the behavior.

Drug dealers in Berlin now have a pretty pink spray-painted area of a public park to buy and sell their narcotics.

Cengiz Demirci – manager of the popular Goerlitzer Park in the city’s trendy Kreuzberg district – believes the designated drug zones will encourage families and joggers who had been intimated by shady gangs and dangerous dealings to come back to the park.

Police have tried – and failed – for years to push drug dealers out of the park. They’ve even implemented a zero tolerance policy but nothing seems to work.

“This method has purely practical reasoning behind it,” Demirci told radio station BBB. “It’s not that we’re legalizing the selling of drugs.”

The measure has not been terribly popular among German lawmakers, with some calling the concept a “license to trade” for drug dealers.