text: I guess Mary travels exclusively by car. If she got out a bit, she would know that most of our bike paths and parks have been taken over by highly aggressive drunk and drug-addicted bums. It's like running the gauntlet out there, and one can't simply retreat to a steel cage when confronted. I have had several friends, almost all of them females, attacked by these scourges. When they take over an area, they are there in large numbers. I suspect that if one chooses to use pepper spray one had better have enough for twenty or so and be a very fast rider to get clear of the area.
  
  If only we had functioning law enforcement and judicial systems in place. It would be even better if we had available substance abuse treatment. (Will Eugene ever realize that it needs to purchase the Sheriff's Forest Work Camp and turn it into a treatment facility?) For those who refuse to get clean, we should chain them to a cable along a roadway with a bucket and a tent with daily meal/water drops.