I am writing in response to the recent, so-called "drug paraphernalia" raids on the stores in Pocatello, Burley, Twin Falls and Boise. These stores were entered at gunpoint, managers and owners arrested, computers confiscated and merchandise taken. Thankfully, no shots were fired.

These stores all had proper business licenses/permits, and the merchandise was displayed where everyone could see it. They had been doing business this way for years. The owners of these stores must have felt they were following the rules and not breaking Idaho law. They paid taxes and the government was gladly accepting those funds.

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Oh my, how this story illustrates the law stood upon its head, thanks to the insanity of drug-warring federal officers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Monte Stiles smirks, "If you can find me a Tommy Chong bong with tobacco residue on it, then you will be in the 'Guinness Book of World Records.'"

Unfortunately, the law should require Mr. Stiles to first find the bong with residue of something illegal, then make the arrest. In the case of the head shop busts, clean, unused smoking devices were essentially declared to contain such residue, which means the purveyors are being charged with participation in an imaginary action.

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You may not have heard it, but last week there were police actions that were designed to take away a right of the American People. Right here in Pocatello, Idaho.

Last week several people were arrested and private property confiscated by our government because the merchandise being sold by these people might be used for smoking marijuana. This would be the same as saying that you are no longer able to sell or buy firearms because they might be used in an illegal act.

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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.

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The crackdown began just days ago not only here in Pocatello, but all across the United States as federal agents bullied their way into towns and cities across the country in what has been called "Operation Pipe Dream," a massive collaborative effort to stop the sales of glass pipes and other smoking devices.

It's a sad state of affairs in this country when we will spend millions of taxpayers' dollars to stop the legal and legitimate operations of business, they themselves paying taxes to our government, while at the same time cutting local education and other important expenditures. We've got money for bombs but no money for books! We've got money to harass and ruin the lives of our citizens, but no money for decent health care or a Social Security system that provides a decent quality of life for our elderly.

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To the Twin Falls School Board:

Sadly, our educators have had to deal with the problem of drugs in our schools for many years. Until recently, the solution has been the same - -- arrest of the student, quickly followed by suspension from school and prompt prosecution.

Now, due to drug testing, we have learned that even the "upper echelon" of the student body, the athletes, have succumbed to the temptations of illegal drugs. Well, we certainly can't boot our promising quarterbacks and most-valued players out of school and prosecute them, so a different solution has been suggested for them -- drug treatment programs. Could it be that the athletes, generally, come from the more affluent families than the average student and, therefore, are more worthy of salvation as opposed to prosecution? Are they more important than the other kids in school? Or is it "money talks"?

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I was a student at Bickel School while Ms. Roberts was the principal there. My name is Cierra C. Noble, and I'm in the sixth grade at Bickel School.

Ms. Roberts did a lot of good things for our school, but that doesn't make her a good principal. She did, in my opinion, punish us more severely than we should have been for little things. Now I remember from last year, a boy in my brother's class was at Bickel School. This boy was arrested, expelled and tried for sliding a book across a desk at another student that was bothering him. He was accused of assault and put on probation. I don't think Ms. Roberts' punishment was fair.

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When I saw the front page on the Feb. 25 Journal, I wanted to stand up and shout "Long Live Soviet America!" In the land of so-called free enterprise, we have the Gestapo closing down legitimate businesses and arresting their owners.

I am, of course, referring to the raids conducted by the Drug Enforcement Agency and local police against Pegasus, Smokey's Den, and 20 After 4, along with many others across the state and nation. This demonstrates how desperate the government is getting. They don't want to admit the war on drugs is a failure, so they go after easy targets like small businesses.

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A thought just occurred to me while washing dishes, so I turned off the water and came straight to the computer to write this.

It has been bothering me for quite some time, and I believe I can finally verbalize what it is. I'm not a pot smoker; however, I'm not a drinker either, and therefore, it leaves me bias in my opinion. I've always said that I would much prefer getting into a car with a person high on pot than one who just drank alcohol. I didn't until now feel I had any grounds to support my feelings on the legalities pertaining to pot.

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We can all sleep better now knowing that all the drug paraphernalia that was "invading the homes of families across the country" has been confiscated. Does anyone really think this is going to do anything in the "war on drugs?" Is this going to stop drugs from pouring into this country? Stop the drugs, and there will be no need for bongs and other such devices.

Are we going to shut down all the grocery stores, drug stores, pharmacies and gas stations? After all, they sell rolling papers, pipes, cold medication, hypodermic needles, etc. These items can be used in "processing, preparing, injecting, ingesting, or inhaling illegal drugs."

Can't the federal government spend our money a little more wisely, like confiscating sewing kits and fingernail clippers from airline passengers?

Jon Beitz,

Pocatello

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The raiding of the three stores in Pocatello regarding the crackdown on the sale of "drug paraphernalia" is not justified and should result in some consequences to all agencies involved.

The sale of legal tobacco smoking devices is not a crime and should not be treated as such, regardless of what some people may use these for. There are many legal things used as drug paraphernalia, such as light bulbs, tin foil, pop cans, rolling papers, and many other things. But we do not see law enforcement agencies raiding stores which sell these products, and arresting owners and employees.

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POCATELLO - Toni Reisner wasn't happy when her son Damon Bosquez took a job at Smokey's Den about five years ago, but she thought it was honest work.

She believed her son and other workers who sold glass pipes and smoking accessories at a so-called "head shop" protected themselves legally by posting signs informing customers all products were intended only for tobacco use.

Monday morning, police arrested her son and five other employees and owners of local stores on felony charges of selling drug paraphernalia.

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Our view: Former Bickel Elementary principal Mary Lee Roberts shouldn't escape professional disciplinary action.

Seven months have passed since Mary Lee Roberts, then principal of Bickel Elementary School in Twin Falls, got caught with a pound of marijuana. In five months more, she'll complete the Drug Court program and have her felony record wiped clean.

Now she wants the right to resume her career in the public schools.

She calls buying the dope, "a mistake." Not unethical. Not immoral. Just, "a mistake."

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Feds Seize Alleged Drug Devices In Pocatello

POCATELLO - Federal authorities and local police raided and shut down three Pocatello businesses Monday in conjunction with a national crackdown on the sale of drug paraphernalia.

"We can't go out preaching, 'Say no to drugs,' without taking these types of instruments off the street," Thomas O'Brien, a spokesman with the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Seattle, said during a press conference in Pocatello.

A similar press conference was held in Boise and Attorney General John Ashcroft and heads of several federal agencies held a related news conference in Washington.

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TWIN FALLS -- A Burley man and two Twin Falls residents were among 55 people arrested on federal indictments Monday during a nationwide crackdown on drug paraphernalia sales, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Lena Ann Johnson, owner of Enchantress at 622 N. Main Ave. in Twin Falls; Daniel Ben Nogara, owner of Dead on Arrival, 455 Second Ave. S. in Twin Falls; and Manuel Munoz, manager of Li'l Cinders Smoke Shop at 2311 Overland Ave. in Burley were among 17 arrested in Idaho and Oregon.

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TWIN FALLS -- This isn't your old hippie uncle's dope.

The newest wave of illegal drugs is easier to smuggle, cheaper and potentially far more dangerous than anything law enforcement, medical professionals and the public at large have seen so far, an expert in illicit substances said during her visit to Twin Falls Wednesday.

"GHB is the drug from hell," Trinka Porrata told an audience of local law enforcement officials, medical personnel, clergy and other professionals. "These drugs are 10 times, 50 times, 100 times more dangerous than marijuana."

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HAILEY -- New drugs are outstripping the ability to pass laws to regulate them and the ability train officers, prosecutors and judges to deal with them, a former Los Angles police officer said Thursday.

"GHB" -- or gamma hydroxy butyrate -- for instance, is not included in drug testing. Even some police officers have fallen prey to the insidious effects of GHB, which is often hawked as a health supplement and anti-aging supplement.

"When we got started, there were 3,000 Web sites on GHB and every one said it was totally safe for you," Trinka Porrata said.

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TWIN FALLS -- Local officials hope a substance abuse expert's visit next week will help raise the alarm about the area's potential next drug wave -- and also serve as a springboard for forming a comprehensive group to fight drug abuse.

Efforts began last summer to recruit former Los Angeles Police Department narcotics detective Trinka Porrata for a series of presentations in southern Idaho, said Marlene Yardley, who works with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in Twin Falls.

"She's a dynamic speaker, and her message is that you need to educate your community and let them know what is going on with the 'club-drug' scene," Yardley said.

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Wells Lauds Local Police, Children's Advocates

POCATELLO -- A 4-year-old Colorado boy named Romeo couldn't count to 10. When asked by police, he drew accurate pictures of a complete methamphetamine laboratory.

When a California baby named Shaquile wouldn't stop crying, his mother admitted to putting methamphetamine in his bottle to calm him down.

In the home of another California infant named Sarah, police found a half-pound of methamphetamine on the floor by where she slept. Her home had no running water or gas and was cluttered with drug paraphernalia and dirty diapers. Most all of the food in the refrigerator was rotten.

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Truth is not a matter of majority vote. I often wonder if the Bill of Rights would pass if subjected to a popular vote today. This idea is worth remembering when pondering the fate of the Nevada state referendum which would have legalized marijuana.

Individual freedom was supposed to be the idea behind America. That means you have the right to do anything you want which does not directly infringe on the rights of others. Government exists solely to protect individual rights against violations through force or fraud by other individuals. That's why we have laws against murder, rape and theft.

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