Pubdate: Sun, 09 Mar 2003
Source: Idaho State Journal (ID)
Copyright: 2003 Idaho State Journal
Contact:  http://www.journalnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/936
Author: Jack Contor
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Paraphernalia (Paraphenalia)
Note: See MAP Focus Alert #263 at http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0263.html 
regarding the war on bongs.

ILLEGAL ITEM USES

I don't use drugs, and I think drug dealers are the lowest form of humanity.

However, Jason Ainsworth's letter in the Journal of March 4 reminded me of 
something.

I bought a pipe tomahawk for a display. It was made in Pakistan. As we all 
know, tomahawks were used as weapons. They were also intended to be used as 
pipes. This pipe tomahawk had a hole through the handle and into the pipe 
so that it could be smoked.

My intention at the time was merely to hang it on the wall. However, I 
noticed that the bowl of the pipe had a fine screen in it. From my 
understanding, the screen was there to facilitate the use of the pipe in 
smoking marijuana.

Now, then, where would I stand in the eyes of the attorney general of the 
United States?

I am in possession of an item that was originally designed for bashing in 
heads. To cater to the Native American ceremonial use of tobacco, the 
designers stuck on the pipe bowl.

So what is my intent in owning this item? Do I intend to use it to bash in 
heads, to smoke tobacco in it, to smoke marijuana in it (illegally), or 
just to hang it on the wall as part of a cultural display?

I just kinda wonder how someone can be arrested for owning or selling 
something on the assumption that the "culprit" will use that item in an 
illegal fashion. Guns? Knives? Bows and arrows? Blow guns? Those things can 
really hurt people in the wrong hands. Yeah, even misdirected airplanes can 
hurt people.

Where does one start to protect people from themselves and other people? 
How many laws must we pass before we eliminate all the awful things that 
can damage people?

Maybe we should all crawl into a hole and pull it in after us. Would that 
satisfy the attorney general of the U.S.?

Jack Contor, Pocatello
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom