East Austin Business Owners Complain Of Increased Drug Use Around Storefronts

EAST AUSTIN, TX — The woes of business owners having to contend with rampant drug use surrounding their storefronts could be seen as a microcosm of a wider issue beyond East Austin.

The manager of Texas Coffee Traders told CBS Austin company officials were forced to install an automatic gate outside their facility on East 4th Street to prevent harassment of his employees and create a buffer. Invariably, workers have to sweep used syringes and feces left behind by transients sleeping outside the business, the manager told the news station.

In addition to the swinging gate, lights and "No Trespassing" signs have been installed as well, the business manger told the news station.

According to Krimelabb, an website tracking crime data in Austin, there were 55 possession of a controlled substance offenses in the past three months for the 78702 zip code, the station reported. So far this month, at least 15 such offenses have been recorded.

Two of those offenses were this past Tuesday, when two repeat offenders arrested behind the Texas Coffee Traders business were found with crack pipes, CBS Austin found.

Another small business owner selling women's wear near a CapMetro stop between 4th and 5th streets tells the station offenders are emboldened. One transient seeking relief from the heat over the summer pulled out his crack pipe asking "Can I hit this?" she told the news station. The same business owner had to call police recently when another man who seemed intoxicated tried stealing from her store, according to the report.

Another business owner said drug use in East Austin is nothing new, and enforcement by police is a relatively new phenomenon brought on by the gentrification sweeping East Austin that has brought in an influx of higher-income residents descending on the increasingly trendy part of town.

>>> Read the full story at CBS Austin

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