Pubdate: Mon, 10 Mar 2003
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2003 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Ken Raymond, The Oklahoman

SHOPS WALK A FINE LINE WITH DRUGS

Mike Martin is quick to point out that his shop doesn't sell bongs.

"Bongs are illegal in the state of Oklahoma," he said. "We sell water pipes 
intended for tobacco use only."

That intent -- regardless of what common sense suggests will actually be 
smoked in the pipes -- is one of the things that keeps Drew's Tobacco World 
on the right side of the law.

"The public is apt to operate on common sense," said Scott Rowland, 
attorney for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. "They 
are apt to say, 'C'mon, that's not a tobacco pipe. Everyone knows that's 
used for marijuana or methamphetamine.'

"But common sense doesn't matter in court."

When it comes to drug paraphernalia, what does matter in court is a list of 
standards so full of loopholes that semantics become the difference between 
legality and illegality.

State law lists things ranging from water pipes to cocaine spoons as 
illegal. Under Oklahoma statute 2-101, some items to be considered drug 
paraphernalia include:

Metal, wooden, acrylic, glass, stone, plastic or ceramic pipes with or 
without screens, permanent screens, hashish heads or punctured metal bowls;

Water pipes;

Carburetion tubes and devices;

Smoking and carburetion masks;

Roach clips, meaning objects used to hold burning material -- such as a 
marijuana cigarette -- that has become too small or too short to be held in 
the hand;

Miniature cocaine spoons and cocaine vials;

Chamber pipes, carburetor pipes, electric pipes, air-driven pipes, 
chillums, bongs, ice pipes or chillers.

However, the statute also spells out exceptions: "The term 'drug 
paraphernalia' shall not include separation gins intended for use in 
preparing tea or spice, clamps used for constructing electrical equipment, 
water pipes designed for ornamentation or pipes designed for smoking tobacco."

Rowland said, "What the statute does is set up a list of things that are 
commonly used as drug paraphernalia ... but the fact is, almost anything 
can be used as paraphernalia. So then the question becomes, do you try to 
make everything illegal that could possibly be used as paraphernalia, or do 
you do nothing?"

On the federal level, officials chose to attack last month. On Feb. 24, 
Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Drug Enforcement Agency announced 50 
arrests nationwide on complaints of trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia.

Operations Pipe Dreams and Headhunter targeted Internet companies that sold 
items similar to those found in Oklahoma City tobacco stores.

"People selling drug paraphernalia are in essence no different than drug 
dealers," said John B. Brown III, acting drug agency administrator. "They 
are as much a part of drug trafficking as silencers are a part of criminal 
homicide."

The key difference, if one exists, between the people who were arrested in 
the federal sweep and those operating shops locally is that the agency 
claims "all the defendants knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully sold the 
items for use with illegal narcotics."

That sort of intent, Rowland said, is difficult to prove.

"Just selling bongs and water pipes is not enough," he said. "Those factors 
must be considered in terms of paraphernalia. Proximity to drugs is one 
consideration. Whether or not there is residue of illegal narcotics is 
another."

At Martin's shop, packaging is everything. Nothing is labeled as being 
intended for use with drugs, and nothing bears the images of controlled 
substances.

"If a customer comes in with a marijuana leaf on his shirt, he's kicked 
out," Martin said.

Other smoke shops aren't as scrupulous.

Ziggyz Smoke Novelty Shop sells an assortment of products emblazoned with 
marijuana leaves, as well as pseudoephedrine, finger scales and books on 
how to cook methamphetamine.

"We're not really a smoke shop or a head shop," said one employee at the 
store. "We're just a general merchandise store."

That kind of subjective distinction, Rowland said, is precisely the problem 
when it comes to enforcement.

"It's a really murky line," he said, "but it's an important one. If we 
don't push against that line from time to time, we're going to have these 
places showing up on every street corner."

Facts About Drug Paraphernalia

Possession of paraphernalia is a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to a 
year in county jail, a $1,000 fine or both.

Residue (the presence of an illegal drug) and proximity (the nearness to 
illegal drugs) are the two biggest factors in determining whether something 
can be considered paraphernalia.

Most drug paraphernalia arrests are made in conjunction with more serious 
drug offenses.

Oklahoma has no statute against trafficking in drug paraphernalia. Federal 
charges can still apply.

SOURCE: Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
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