04/25/1988 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council Dinner/Work Session BJ's Restaurant, 44 East 7th Avenue April 25, 1988 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Freeman Holmer, Robert Bennett (after 5:55 p.m.), Debra Ehrman, Jeff Miller, Emily Schue, Cynthia Wooten. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Ruth Bascom, Roger Rutan. His Honor Mayor Brian B. Obie called the work session to order at 5:50 p.m. I. ORDINANCE REGULATING THE SALE OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA Mayor Obie said the proposed ordinance had been sent to the Public Safety Advisory Committee with a request for its recommendation before the council holds a public hearing on the item. e Vic Mann, Department of Public Safety, reported on the preparation of the proposed ordinance. He said research on the experience of other cities and states in the area of drug paraphernalia was used in preparing this ordinance. Lieutenant Mann reported that last year the Eugene Narcotics Unit closed down more methamphetamine labs than the City of Portland. During the last legislative session, the department lobbied actively on the precursor bill that makes methamphetamine production more difficult. The department is presently implementing a Career Criminal Program that focuses on repeat offenders and drug-related crimes. He said the program has identified over 2,000 individuals in the Eugene metropolitan area and approximately 75 percent of those people have drug related arrests. Lieutenant Mann said the ordinance under consideration by the council would be one more tool to be used in the City's drug enforcement efforts. There are two basic approaches to regulating the sale of drug paraphernalia. The most obvious is to ban the sale of such items, and more than 40 states have enacted this type of regulation. Other agencies contacted by Lieutenant Mann indicated the ban is used most effectively for seizure during a raid, but it has limited effectiveness on sales. The second type of regulation is the use of a business license law, reported to be an effective approach in Bend and Roseburg. Lieutenant Mann cited Hoffman Est~tes, Illinois, as the landmark decision of regulating drug paraphernalia sales. Lieutenant Mann said the Department of Public Safety favors the business license approach because of its anticipated effectiveness in changing the way drug paraphernalia is marketed within the City. This ordinance would require - MINUTES--Eugene City Council Dinner/Work Session April 25, 1988 Page 1