*Technically, Illegal Drug Impact Areas

For anyone who missed it this morning, OPB's Think Out Loud's excellent discussion on Mayor Sam Adams' plan to reanimate a tweaked version of the old Drug-Free Zones will be re-broadcast at 9 tonight. It's also available as a podcast here. You'll remember the old zones were cast aside in 2007 amid racial-profiling and constitutional concerns.

The issue flared anew after Old Town/Chinatown residents and businesses begged the mayor for help this winter tackling what they said was a crack scourge settling over their neighborhood. And Adams last week answered by announcing—along the lines of what his office hinted to me several weeks ago—that he would bring back something like the old drug-free zones (along with other proposals), except that they would be based on convictions and largely under the sway of the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.

OPB's panelists included a business owner in Old Town, public defender Chris O'Connor, Police Chief Mike Reese, Central City Concern's Ed Blackburn, and Sisters of the Road's Chani Geigle-Teller. O'Connor had the line of the day, and it got host Emily Harris to ask Reese whether the city was seeking a policy solution to cover up a budget challenge. Here's O'Connor's abridged point:

"They're not a good public policy. The problem is that when people in the neighborhood—whether they're business owners or residents—call the police, there's no response. ... If you see someone selling drugs in front of your business, they should arrest them for that, not for some unspecified crime in the future."

Tune in to see what Reese had to say in response.