Pubdate: Fri, 21 Mar 2003
Source: Tahlequah Daily Press (OK)
Copyright: Tahlequah Daily Press 2003
Contact:  http://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2636
Author: Bob Gibbins

PARAPHERNALIA HARD TO BAN

Loopholes in Oklahoma law make it tough to crack down on people selling 
drug paraphernalia, authorities say. While the loopholes may make it tough 
to crack down on people selling items that can be used as paraphernalia, 
it's not really making an impact on enforcing the laws on those who possess 
paraphernalia, local authorities said. "We don't take the paraphernalia 
items unless we have some evidence that they're being used with drugs," 
Police Chief Norman Fisher said. "Most all of our drug arrests also involve 
possession of paraphernalia." Fisher said, probably, the most common 
paraphernalia items the officers take are smoking pipes and what is 
commonly referred to as "rolling papers." "If there's residue or some other 
evidence in the pipe to indicate it's being used for something other than 
to smoke tobacco, we're going to take it," he said. State law says bongs 
and water pipes intended for marijuana or methamphetamine are illegal.

But water pipes intended for tobacco use are OK. The two kinds of pipes 
aren't very different.

"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.' Cherokee County Sheriff Delena Goss 
said a varied list of paraphernalia items has been seized by her staff.

She said some are quite creative. "I've seen a lot of different things come 
through here that have been used as paraphernalia," she said. Goss said 
sheriff's deputies don't seize paraphernalia items without evidence to 
support the contention they're being used for illegal means.

She said every drug arrest made by the sheriff's office involves the 
seizure of some paraphernalia. "I don't remember one that didn't have 
paraphernalia," Goss said. A misdemeanor charge of possession of 
paraphernalia is punishable by imprisonment for up to one year and or a 
fine of up to $1,000. Mike Martin, owner of Drew's Tobacco World, 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 is what keeps Drew's Tobacco World on the right side of 
the law. State law lists things ranging from pipes to cocaine spoons as 
illegal.

Exceptions to the law 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 the statute includes "a list of things that are 
commonly used as drug paraphernalia ... but the fact is, almost anything 
can be used as paraphernalia." Federal officials got tougher on drug 
paraphernalia last month.

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 tobacco stores across 
Oklahoma City. "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 difference between people 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." At Martin's shop, nothing is labeled 
as being intended for use with drugs and nothing bears images of controlled 
substances. "If a customer comes in with a marijuana leaf on his shirt, 
he's kicked out," Martin said. 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 distinction 
is what makes enforcement so difficult, Rowland said. "It's a really murky 
line, but it's an important one," he said. "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."
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MAP posted-by: Beth