Pubdate: Mon, 27 Feb 2012
Source: Columbian, The (WA)
Copyright: 2012 The Columbian Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.columbian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/92
Author: Andrea Damewood
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?228 (Paraphernalia)

SHOULD DRUG PARAPHERNALIA BE RESTRICTED?

Vancouver, County Consider Laws Requiring Stores to Keep Products in 
Areas Confined to Those 18 and Older

Pipes, bongs, scales and other "tobacco use only" products in local 
convenience stores may soon be put out of children's reach, and sight.

Vancouver and Clark County are considering a new law that would 
require the various accoutrements of getting high to be located in a 
portion of the store restricted to those 18 and up.

"The unfortunate perception that could be left with the youth of the 
community is that the use and sale of these paraphernalia ... 
condones use of the drugs themselves," City Attorney Ted Gathe told 
Vancouver City Council in a workshop Monday afternoon.

A survey by anti-drug group PREVENT! Coalition found that 16 percent 
of nonchain convenience stores in Clark County carry drug 
paraphernalia, often at the front counter.

But while most agree that removing bongs from the eye-level of 
8-year-olds is a good idea, Vancouver Police Chief Cliff Cook also 
warned the city council that enforcing any new laws will be a burden 
on his department, which already struggles to keep up its service levels.

"There's very serious issues around the enforcement aspect," Cook 
said. "This is going to take a very low priority for us."

But Mayor Tim Leavitt said that having a law in place will help push 
the pipes out of sight, and that he believed stores would comply if a 
law were put in place.

The ordinance would also make it a crime to possess drug 
paraphernalia with the intent to smoke or otherwise allow for illegal 
drug use. It is a civil infraction to sell drug paraphernalia, 
punishable by a $250 fine. But purveyors skirt the law by noting they 
can be used for tobacco, Gathe said.

Vancouver and Clark County have plans to enact the same law for 
consistency. The ZIP code 98661, which spans north from the Columbia 
River east of Interstate 5, through Minnehaha and north into the 
unincorporated county, has the highest concentration of stores that 
sell such products, Gathe said.

The move is supported by organizations including PREVENT! Coalition, 
the Hands Across the Bridge Project, Sea Mar Health Clinic and 
Lifeline Connections.

Along with the potential to influence children, the items can serve 
as a trigger for recovering addicts, Gathe said.

Several councilors wondered why they shouldn't ban the sale of any 
drug paraphernalia in all stores.

"This seems like a black and white issue to me," Leavitt said. "It's 
a half-step why just try to hide this stuff from minors? Why not just 
have an outright ban, or issue special business licenses (for medical 
marijuana-related sales)?"

Councilor Bart Hansen said that while many associate drug 
paraphernalia in convenience stores with marijuana, he noted it's 
also used for methamphetamine, and that was why he wanted an all-out ban.

Very few Washington cities have an outright ban Tacoma being a 
notable exception. But Cook and Gathe cautioned that enforcement of a 
total ban would be too burdensome on police resources.

"I'm uncomfortable with an all-out blanket ban and trying to enforce 
that," Councilor Larry Smith said.

Staff members said that the new ordinance could be the testing 
grounds for taking the laws further in the future.

"I would support a (full) ban as well, but I don't think it sounds 
like a reasonable step," Councilor Jeanne Harris said. "But it's time 
to do something. It's the first step in a series of steps."
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