-Caveat Lector- US Cracks Down on Illegal Drug Paraphernalia Sales
By Deborah Charles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General John Ashcroft on Monday announced 55 people have been charged with trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia as part of a nationwide crackdown. Ashcroft said selling drug paraphernalia is a billion-dollar industry and sales have skyrocketed through purchases over the Internet. Of 17 indictments returned in the investigation, ten are against national distributors of drug paraphernalia and seven involve businesses located in Western Pennsylvania, he told a Justice Department news conference. Ashcroft said drug paraphernalia sales had soared with the advent of the Internet, which allows easy access to anyone with a computer. "In homes across America we know that children and young adults are the fastest-growing population of Internet users," he said. "The illegal drug paraphernalia industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without the knowledge of those families." The defendants have been charged with conspiracy to sell and offering to sell various types of drug paraphernalia. The equipment includes miniature scales, substances for diluting raw narcotics, bongs, marijuana pipes, roach clips and cocaine freebase kits. Ashcroft said the defendants are alleged to have knowingly and intentionally sold the items for use with illegal narcotics. Many of the items were disguised as common objects like lipsticks or hi-lighter pens, used by students to elude detection as drug paraphernalia. The defendants face a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Officials said two investigations had put 11 illicit dotcom companies out of business. John Brown, acting chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said, "There are 11 dotcoms that are dot-gone." He said sellers of drug paraphernalia were just as responsible as others for the illegal drug trade. "They are as much a part of drug trafficking as silencers are a part of criminal homicide," Brown said. Ashcroft said a number of Web sites involving the drug paraphernalia have been changed so people who attempt to access them will instead get the Web page of the DEA and will learn that the site has been restrained under court order. He said the government would seek a court order to do the same thing for an additional 15 or 20 Web sites over the next 30 days. "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." -GW Bush during a photo-op with Congressional leaders on 12/18/2000. As broadcast on CNN and available in transcript on their website http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0012/18/nd.01.html Steve Wingate, Webmaster ANOMALOUS IMAGES AND UFO FILES http://www.anomalous-images.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
