Messing With Our Heads (interesting drug paraphernalia story)

Weekly Planet ^ | Published 07.12.06 | BY ALEX PICKETT

[ChildOfThe60s]

Head shops sell [some] stuff that will get used to smoke dope. But the store owner has a very valid point, IMO.

This method of regulation is making everyone but the user responsible for their own actions. Anyone remember when a city in California made it a $1K fine to stores that sold spray paint to minors? The assumption being that any minor buying paint is going to deface something.

In my college days the tube core from a roll of paper towels made a very effective bong.

I'm not suggesting that blanket drug legalization take place, but this is pretty dumb. Prosecuting a store for the presumed intentions of a customer. A very slippery slope. More of the "thought police" approach.

[Phocion]

Haven't you heard the news? The government is our nanny. It's nanny's job to make sure we don't do anything naughty, like eating too much junk food, riding a bike without a helmet, or inhaling smoke that makes us feel giggly. Otherwise, society as we know it would be torn apart and anarchy would rule. Citizens are infants that need to be looked after and guided through this scary world by the loving hand of nanny.

In a world where there is no shortage of murderers, child molesters, rapists, terrorists, and thieves, you might think the state could find better things to do than stopping this man from selling water pipes. But there's nothing more dangerous to the government than a person who decides that they don't need or want a nanny.

[FreeInWV]

They might as well outaw potatoes.

[tet68]

Drop the carrot and aluminium foil and come out with
your hands up.

[IronJack]

Paraphernalia regulation is absurd on its face. Since practically anything can be regarded as paraphernalia, the cops can bust you for posssession on a whim. It's the same with the ridiculously small quantities people get busted for: a seed, a stem, some resin, a burnt-out doob. There's not enough there to get anyone off, but there's enough for FiveOh to lock you up.

I can't believe these kinds of catch-all laws can't be fought constitutionally, for many of the reasons this writer lists.

[SeafoodGumbo]

These clowns have probably surveilled (is that a word?) every head shop within a 20 mile radius, but have yet to see what's being preached in the local mosque.

This reminds me of how the FBI spent thousands of man-hours to bust a high-price brothel in New Orleans after 9-11 instead of spending their time looking for true enemies of the state.

[Lancey Howard]

It's all a waste of money. Beer can + knife = field bong, in about 45 seconds

[BlazingArizona]

It's all a waste of money. Beer can + knife = field bong, in about 45 seconds

Yet this same crappy legal theory was used to put Tommy Chong in federal prison. Your tax dollars being pissed down a rathole, folks.

[operation clinton cleanup]

It's all a waste of money. Beer can + knife = field bong, in about 45 seconds

But if you spend $40 a gram for "tobacco", you want something more classy than a beer can with holes punched in it or a toilet paper roll with a tin foil bowl.

[Lancey Howard]

But if you spend $40 a gram for "tobacco", you want something more classy than a beer can with holes punched in it or a toilet paper roll with a tin foil bowl.

Then just tear a page out of one of those little rice paper Bibles and use it as a rolling paper - - that will show how classy you are.

[operation clinton cleanup]

Then just tear a page out of one of those little rice paper Bibles and use it as a rolling paper - - that will show how classy you are.

What does that mean?

[Lancey Howard]

Nothing. Sorry. I'm surly so I'll go get something to eat now.

Regards,
LH

[chesty_puller]

In a land where I spent my youth the government gave me rolling papers in every box of C-rations. It was labled toilet paper but I knew it's real use.

[Oberon]

ping

[operation clinton cleanup]

No surliness taken. My point was, you don't want to drink a fine wine out of a Dixie Cup... I smoked my fair share of grass and weeds back in the day. I think it should be discouraged like tobacco, for health reasons.

[dancusa]

Some of those garden shops on the internet can sell you a hydroponic "tomato" grower for 500 dollars.

[TKDietz]

But does cracking down on head shops really discourage it? People with expensive pot probably would like something nicer than a beer can pipe, but if that's all they have they'll use it. If there was no way they could buy paraphernalia they'd just make it, and with a little more effort they can get a lot fancier than beer can pipes. If the head shop in their town closes they'll either make their own paraphernalia or drive to the next town over where the head shops haven't been closed down and buy whatever they need there, or they'll just order it on the Internet. These little crackdowns on head shops are really an exercise in futility, a waste of money and resources. It accomplishes nothing.

[Wolfie]

Ah, The Web

[operation clinton cleanup]

These little crackdowns on head shops are really an exercise in futility, a waste of money and resources. It accomplishes nothing.

True, but if I was a homeowner, I wouldn't want one near by.

[TKDietz]

I wouldn't either. But then again I've never seen one near homes. Maybe there is a reason for that. I would imagine that if you were going to have a business like that you'd probably stand less of a chance of getting harassed by police if you made sure your store was well away from residential areas.