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Helsinki comes down hard on public drinking and soliciting
- At a City Council meeting last night, the City of Helsinki introduced tough new restrictions on the consumption of alcohol in public areas. The new ordinance will come into effect from the beginning of December. The City Board would have liked to see a milder ruling, with only "disorderly drinking" outlawed, but the council voted 53-32 in favour of a more sweeping motion, with most of the support provided by National Coalition (cons.) and SDP members. This was very much in line with what local police had hoped for, since a total ban is less ambiguous and much easier to enforce.
- The City Council also addressed the vexed question of prohibiting street prostitution. Whilst prostitution as such is not illegal in Finland, the world's oldest profession has become something of a public nuisance and has prompted complaints for years from many locals living on streets in areas where prostitutes ply their trade openly on the kerbside. Here, too, the Council line was tough and absolute. This may cause raised eyebrows among some lawmakers, as it tends to place a city ordinance above statutes handed down by Parliament. A further problem is that the Helsinki police have stated they do not have the necessary personnel to deal effectively with the issue of prostitution.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 16.9.1999
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