-Caveat Lector-
I wonder if it's illegal to make a bong out of an apple or a Coke
can? Next they criminalize possession of bong-making materials?
Pretty soon everything will be illegal, all citizens subject to arrest
at Big Brother's convenience.
--
´´
Mark McHugh
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feds vs. Bongs: Heads Up for Head Shops
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/174.html#headsup
Adam Engleby thought everything was cool. Yes, his shop, Hemp Cat
in Iowa City, sold, ahem, "smoking accessories," or bongs, pipes,
and rolling papers, but the Iowa City Police Department visited
regularly, and they never had any problem with Hemp Cat's back room.
Heck, Engleby even had signs in his store advertising the
accessories as being for use with tobacco, he wouldn't allow any
talk about drugs in the shop, and he certainly didn't allow minors
into the back room. And after all, Iowa City is a progressive,
tolerant college town, and local police reflected the relaxed
attitude.
The Iowa City Police Department's Sgt. Brotherton said as much to
DRCNet. "We don't see [the Hemp Cat] as a major problem," he said.
"We weren't paying much attention."
But what was an acceptable arrangement for the community wasn't good
enough for the feds. On February 11th, Engleby's home and business
were raided by teams of civilian-dressed law officers, headed by the
Drug Enforcement Administration.
"The DEA led the raids," Engelby told DRCNet. "The only badge I was
shown was a DEA badge. They had warrants for "drug paraphernalia"
and any sort of records, and they took everything. They took our
rolling papers, they took real tobacco pipes, and, of course, they
seized all of our computers -- four of them, two at the store and
two at home. They even took my wife's computer."
"The Iowa City PD never hassled us in six years of business,"
groaned Engleby, "and no one ever came in and told us to stop, no
one complained."
No one was arrested, Engleby said, and no charges have been filed,
but Engleby has now joined a growing number of "alternative store"
(the industry cringes at the term "head shop") owners and operators
being rudely awakened to the reality of federal drug paraphernalia
laws.
Unlike many state and local paraphernalia statutes, which allow for
a subjective, contextual interpretation of whether a given object is
indeed drug paraphernalia -- sometimes a spoon is only a spoon --
federal law is black and white: Possession of a bong is a federal
offense, and so, of course, is sale or manufacture of a bong, or
conspiracy to do so. It can get you three years in federal prison.
And it doesn't matter if the bong has never been used or if it is a
jewel-encrusted work of art; a bong is a crime. And to make things
even rosier, since 1990 federal law has made drug paraphernalia
violators subject to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization
(RICO) and money laundering charges, as well.
"It's simple," head shop defense attorney Robert Vaughan, the
long-time publisher of an industry newsletter, told DRCNet. "If you
have a bong, you're violating federal law. You can get a license to
own a tommy gun, but you can't get one to own a bong."
"Stores that have bongs are screwed," the Nashville-based lawyer
said. "They can't win. The Supreme Court upheld its so-called
objective standard in US vs. Pipes and Things in 1994, and now
categories of items are per se illegal."
That was news to Engleby and his customers. "The customers are
really disappointed, they're saying can they do that?," Engleby
said. "Everyone is shocked that DEA has that kind of power. One
city council member came in to express his support; he didn't think
it was right."
Unfortunately for Jerry Clark and Kathy Fiedler of Des Moines, they
were already well aware of federal paraphernalia laws. Their shop,
Daydreams, was raided by the feds last year, and they are scarred by
the experience.
"We were raided by US Postal Inspectors, the DEA, and local cops and
sheriff's deputies," Clark told DRCNet, "and we're barely hanging on
now. It's hurt us financially; we've lost over $250,000 in
inventory and paid out lots of money in legal fees."
"And they're using the RICO act on us, so we're facing 10 to 12
years," Clark said bitterly. "They've seized my partner's
properties under the asset forfeiture laws. But all we can do is
try to litigate our way out or come to a negotiated settlement.
We're trying to work out a better deal than going to court."
"We weren't aware of the federal law," interjected Fiedler, "but
let's face it, we weren't the only ones. We did everything to the
letter of the law as we knew it, we did not sell to minors, we
checked ID, if they didn't have ID, tough luck."
Clark and Fiedler remain in business, but they are angry. "This is
a bullshit law," snorted Clark, "and you have to get mad at the
people who created this stupid law. But," he hesitated, "looking at
the penalties we face, we're not going to do anything to rock the
boat."
"We don't feel like felons," added Fiedler, more hurt than angry.
"These people don't have any idea who's smoking -- they think it's
the kids, but our customers are lawyers, preachers, even people from
the state Attorney General's office. They're nice, average people,
but instead of drinking a six-pack, they'd prefer to smoke things."
"Morally, I see nothing wrong with what we're doing," she insisted.
That doesn't matter to the feds. Although the anti-head shop
campaign is irregular and occasional compared to the feds' halcyon
days of Operation Pipeline in the early 1990s, when they ran most
major manufacturers out of business, it is Engleby's and Clark's and
Fiedler's misfortune to live in an area where the United States
Attorney happens to be one of the most experienced and enthusiastic
in dealing with federal drug paraphernalia violations.
So who ordered the raids? Hard to say. Repeated calls to the DEA
were referred to the US Attorneys' office in Des Moines, and they
didn't return calls. The Iowa City Police Department's laconic Lt.
Wyss, who coordinates the Johnson County Multi-Agency Task Force,
did confirm that his officers participated at the DEA's request.
When asked why his officers were devoting their time to busting
bongs, Wyss told DRCNet: "Because they violated the law, I suppose.
The DEA asked us and we were happy to help."
Attorney Vaughan, who is representing Clark and Fiedler, finds it
all faintly ridiculous were it not for the serious consequences.
"With Operation Pipeline they managed to knock out all the big
boys," he told DRCNet, "but all they've created is a whole multi-
level cottage industry, and lot's of these people don't even know
about the federal law, they don't have any historical memory of
Pipeline, and enforcement is sporadic. What a waste of time and
resources and peoples' lives."
"It's as if the feds we're out arresting the guy smoking a joint on
the corner," he said.
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