Council to target stores selling items linked to drug use

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, May 17, 2001 | 10:36 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council Wednesday sent a strong message to a handful of West Las Vegas convenience stores: The city will no longer tolerate the sale of products associated with drug use.

City Councilman Lawrence Weekly, elected to his post just a month ago, said the city and Metro Police for years have ignored store owners selling legal items that are used for illegal drug use.

Metro told the council last month that the problem is widespread in West Las Vegas convenience stores, which sell cut-up Brillo pads, small glass vials and single razor blades.

While the items are legal, state law says store owners can be cited if they sell items known to be associated with drug use, City Attorney Brad Jerbic said.

"It's not illegal to sell these items. It's the fact that they cut these Brillo pads up -- someone cut those up and they cut them up for a purpose," City Councilman Michael McDonald said. "They aren't being used to scrub tiny pans."

While the city may have ignored the problem in the past, the council said they would begin targeting stores to make sure the items are not being sold. The legal consequences of making arrests or issuing citations also will be explored.

The council denied liquor licenses for two West Las Vegas convenience stores Wednesday after Jim DiFiore, the city's director of business licensing, told the council his office found items commonly used for drugs activities during surprise visits.

A change of location for a liquor license from 1312 F St. to 1218 D St. was denied, as was a request was for an new liquor license for J&D Mini Mart at 900 N. Martin Luther King Blvd.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and City Councilman Larry Brown voted to approve the licenses, citing concerns with the legality of arresting someone for selling legal items behind the counter. Goodman said he wanted to explore the laws before setting a new policy that would affect all convenience stores.