PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland's mayor, the City Council and the chief of police say they are going to let a long-standing "exclusion zone" law lapse and concentrate on drug treatment for those arrested in the areas.

Mayor Tom Potter says the exclusion laws and Drug Free zones are not working to combat Portland's drug traffic and prostitution problems. He says battling the root cause of the problem - drug use - is a better use of resources.

The exclusion zone ordinances were first implemented in 1992. They are due to expire on October 1.

Potter says the exclusion zones, which include areas along 82nd Avenue in Northeast and Southeast Portland, Northeast Sandy Boulevard and pockets of Northwest Portland, mostly resulted in the criminal activity moving to another location. 

Inside the zones, police could forbid persons convicted of drug and prostitution from entering the areas for up to a year.

He also says that statistics showed a disproportionate number of African-Americans were being excluded from the zones.

Portland resident Athena Williams, who lives near one of the zones, says she finds used condoms near her home and along the route to a nearby park where she takes her young daughter.

Portland police chief Rosie Sizer says the law was a useful tool, but the department will come up with new ways to fight drug and prostitution in problem areas.

Potter says a drug treatment pilot program has been showing promise and that getting people off drugs is the key to fighting crimes associated with drug use.



A woman who admitted unapologetically that she was a prostitute walks along 82nd Avenue.