Please tell me (and my wife!) that someone somewhere in authority in Las Vegas or Clark County is doing something to deal with the people handing out those cards advertising escorts and working girls on the Strip.
Sorry, but no, though not for a lack of effort.
The casinos and county have tried at different times and in different ways to rid the Strip of people who snap cards advertising working girls in an effort to hand them to passersby, generally known as "smut peddlers."
The casinos have had their security guards harass the hander-outers, or tarjeteros ("card workers") as they call themselves, but they just move to places between casinos or, for example, in front of the Fashion Show Mall.
The casinos have also argued in court that they own the sidewalks in front of their properties and can therefore control what occurs on them, but have been consistently shot down judicially over First Amendment rights. This is similar to trying to bar picketers from Strip sidewalks, which the casinos can't do. They even tried to buy the sidewalks, but that was a non-starter.
In short, nothing has been successful in ridding the Strip of the leafleteers, whose income is dependent on the job.
"Targeted for citations by police, barred from casinos, singled out by lawmakers, and frequently accosted by tourists, the handbillers are -- like the women on their cards -- among the most disenfranchised workers in the city," wrote the Guardian in a 2014 story, "The Life of a Porn Slapper." The article described the demeaning work, the grueling working conditions, the ridiculous pay ("$5 an hour, if they're paid at all," since many are illegals and, therefore, highly exploitable), the abuse from tourists, and the rough handling by supervisors.
In a 2016 story on News3LV, "Gritty to Glitzy," a news crew tagged along with officers patrolling the Strip. The police told the crew that the smut peddlers "are sometimes selling drugs." Apparently, they glue two cards together and put cocaine between them. We've never seen it and this is the only time we've ever heard about it, including anyone getting arrested for it, so we have to take it with a grain of cop salt.
But all in all, it's a tough situation for everyone.
Most visitors simply ignore the tarjeteros -- just as they learn to live with other annoying aspects of their Vegas vacations, such as traffic and lines and losing.
Things I've been ignoring walking the strip lately: 1. Smut peddlers 2. "Showgirls"- "How 'bout a pic-ture??" 3. "Are you in town for very long?" 4. "Yo, yo- here's a free CD of my rap music" 5. The "cowboys" who block the sidewalk in front of the Linq promenade. 6. The creepy Mickey and Minnie, along with all the other characters. 7. The Westgate people lurking just inside entrances of many casinos- "Free show tickets for listening to a timeshare pitch." No thanks. 8. Am I missing anything else?