Pubdate: Tue, 25 Feb 2003
Source: CNET News (US Web)
Copyright: 2003 CNET Networks, Inc.
Contact:  http://news.com.com/
Author: Declan McCullagh, Staff Writer, CNET News com
Note: MAP posted as an exception to MAP's web only source policy.
Cited: NORML http://www.norml.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/bongs

FEDS WEED OUT DRUG PARAPHERNALIA SITES

The U.S. Justice Department on Monday said it indicted 11 Web site 
operators for allegedly selling illegal devices including bongs and holders 
for marijuana cigarettes.

Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters that the government would ask 
a U.S. district court in Pittsburgh to point the sites to a Web page at the 
Drug Enforcement Administration ( http://www.dea.gov/ ) explaining why they 
were taken offline, a new twist in crime-fighting.

"With the advent of the Internet, the illegal drug paraphernalia industry 
has exploded," Ashcroft said. "The drug paraphernalia business now thrives 
not only in small shops but it is now accessible in anyone's home with a 
computer and Internet access...Quite simply, the illegal drug paraphernalia 
industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without their 
knowledge."

The prosecutions, called Operation Pipe Dreams, represent the federal 
government's boldest attempt yet to shutter Web sites that sell drug 
paraphernalia. Under current federal law ( 
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/21/863.html ) , that category includes 
any product that is "primarily intended" for use with illegal drugs, 
including water pipes, roach clips, chillums, bongs, and small spoons used 
with cocaine.

Ashcroft said that a total of 27 people in a dozen states had been charged 
with selling illegal drug paraphernalia in an investigation led by the Drug 
Enforcement Administration and centered in Pittsburgh. The list of Web 
sites targeted in coordinated raids that took place on Monday includes 
PipesForYou.com, OmniLounge.com, ColorChangingGlass.com, 420now.com and 
PuffPipes.com.

As of Monday afternoon, many of the sites were still reachable. 
OmniLounge.com describes itself as a "one-stop head shop for a wide 
selection of water pipes and smoking accessories at great prices," and 
AHeadCase.com, which says it has two stores in southern California, sells 
water pipes and drug test kits.

If the court orders the sites to be redirected, Ashcroft said, they will 
point to a DEA.gov ( http://www.dea.gov/ )Web page that says: "By 
application of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the Web 
site you are attempting to visit has been restrained by the United States 
District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania pursuant to Title 
21, United States Code, Section 853 (e)(1)(a)."

Keith Stroup, director of the National Organization for the Reform of 
Marijuana Laws, said it was ridiculous for the Justice Department to be 
indicting bong sellers when the United States is on high terror-alert 
status. "This latest enforcement initiative is primarily an expression of 
extremism of this particular attorney general," Stroup said. Ashcroft "is a 
right-wing zealot. Now I'm not a fan of the Bush administration, but I have 
to think that President Bush and most of his serious advisers have far more 
serious work to focus on right now than whether someone's selling rolling 
papers and roach clips."

"You simply cannot outlaw rolling papers," Stroup said. "They're perfectly 
legal assuming that they're used with tobacco. Those of us who smoke 
marijuana can always find rolling paper to roll our joints with. All this 
is going to do is criminalize a class of young entrepreneurs."

In a 1994 case ( http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/92-903.ZO.html 
)that arose out of the same law, the Supreme Court ruled that the statute 
was not unconstitutionally vague and that prosecutors do not need to "prove 
specific knowledge that the items are 'drug paraphernalia' within the 
meaning of the statute."

Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center ( 
http://www.epic.org/ ) said redirecting Web visitors to DEA.gov raises 
novel legal issues. "It sounds like this is a concluded drug operation 
segueing into a new sting operation," he said. "In effect, the defunct Web 
sites become electronic flypaper for those looking for illegal drug 
paraphernalia, reporters covering the story, and people who have trouble 
spelling in Google."

The DEA.gov site's privacy policy ( http://www.usdoj.gov/privacy-file.htm 
), which is the same as other Justice Department sites, permits it to give 
personal information about visitors to law enforcement. It says "we may 
take additional steps to identify you based on this information, and we may 
share this information, including your identity, with other government 
agencies."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake