My only comment is that the so-called 'War-on-Drugs' is really just a war on Americans, and has created horrible armed groups of so-called 'Police'.
Unintended Consequences indeed.........FRegards
Posted on 08/02/2003 8:08:31 PM PDT by mhking
A cigarette lighter. A scrub pad. A glass pipe containing a paper rose.
Individually, these items pose no particular threat and can be found on the shelves of many local convenience stores. But when sold in combination, they likely meet the definition of illegal drug paraphernalia, local police say.
An area convenience store is being investigated for packaging and selling paraphernalia that is commonly used for smoking crack cocaine, according to Texarkana, Ark., Police Department reports.
Officer Reid Davis said he and Sgt. Keith Barr found between 30 and 50 brown paper bags of packaged drug paraphernalia being sold at Big J's Quick Stop, 1510 E. Ninth St.
"Sgt. Barr and I were dumbfounded when we walked out. We couldn't believe a legitimate business would sell pre-packaged crack kits," Davis said.
Police said customers could purchase, in a plain brown paper bag, one pipe, one lighter and one scrub pad for $3.50 or two pipes, a scrub pad and a lighter for $3.70.
Davis said he asked the clerk if the store sold the items individually and was told no by the clerk.
When questioned about the allegations, store manager Caladonia Wesley said Big J's does not sell drugs or sell drug paraphernalia.
"We sell roses," she said.
Attempts to contact the convenience store owner, Michael Johnson, and his attorney were not successful.
Police discovered the alleged operation when Davis made a routine traffic stop in the parking lot of 1510 E. Ninth about 9 p.m. Monday. At that time he reportedly observed a man walk up to the convenience store window and purchase a small paper sack.
"He acted pretty suspicious. He kept watching me," Davis said of the man whom he knows has a history of drug abuse.
Davis encountered the man later that night around 10 p.m. in the 1800 block of East Ninth.
"I asked him what he was doing out so late. Then I saw him with the bag and I asked him if that was the bag he had purchased at Big J's Quick Stop, and he said yes," Davis said.
Further inspection of the bag yielded a glass pipe with a rose inside, a scrub pad and a lighter, according to Davis' report.
Davis explained that the rose is taken out of the tube and pieces of scrub pad put inside to act as a filter for the crack, which is placed on the other side to be inhaled through the filter.
The next day at about the same time, Davis returned to the location with Barr.
"I take actions that happen on my beat personally," he said.
He said he walked into the store and noted that he only saw various candies and drinks.
"The store is small and there were no cleaning supplies, so a brillo pad was a little out of place," he said.
According to the report, Davis said he asked the clerk if the store sold paper bags with scrub pads, lighters and roses. Davis said the clerk showed him beneath the counter, where Davis reportedly found a number of small bags with prices on them.
Davis said he asked the clerk if she knew the purpose of the items in the bag, and she reportedly said the manager and owner told her it was for people to smoke crack.
Sgt. Devin Warner of the Texarkana Metro Narcotics Unit said police are "getting with the prosecuting attorney's office to see what charges can be filed."
Warner said the store could be in violation of illegal acts statute 564802. According to the statute, a person who owns, finances, directs or supervises all or part of an illegal drug paraphernalia business is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. The statute said the accused must have prior knowledge the material will be used for drugs.
"The police report said they basically knew what they were doing," Warner said.
According to the report, Davis and Barr made a recording of their conversation with the store clerk and had photos of the paraphernalia.
Warner said anyone convicted will probably receive a fine and probation. A subsequent violation will result in a Class D felony.
Late Thursday morning, the Gazette sent an undercover reporter to see if brown bags of paraphernalia could still be purchased at the store. The clerk said they no longer carried the "rose combinations" after the police visit.
If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
My guess, and only a guess, is that we could send them as many times as it took and it would still be cheaper than prison. But maybe a choice between prison and some sort of treatment/halfway house/work release program with part of their salaries helping to support the program. I feel like it has to be a bit of both: treatment to help those that can be helped, plus close supervision and ultimately incarceration of the incorrigible. (Note that I don't favor prison for drugs alone, but for any crime - e.g. burglary - that may result from the addiction.)
Or do you favor similarly draconian punishments for the purveyors of alcohol and tobacco, both of which exact a fearsome death toll that all illegal drugs combined cannot hope to approach?
To forestall the inevitable fallacious replies, here are the responses to them:
Do you want your surgeon/pilot to be high on drugs? No. Neither do I want my surgeon or pilot to be drunk out of his gourd. The hospitals and airlines have safeguards in place. And as long as my surgeon or pilot is competent while he's operating or flying, I don't give a rat's patootie what he does on his own time.
But what about the children? Won't somebody please think of the children? Try asking an actual child whether he'd find it easier to acquire alcohol or illegal narcotics. The answer might surprise you. Alcohol is sold by licensed dealers who have a financial interest in keeping their licenses by behaving legally. Drugs are sold by criminal black marketeers who have no such incentive.
And I for one am tired of my government spending billions of dollars, incarcerating millions of people, and being responsible directly or indirectly for thousands of deaths, all in the name of marginally reducing drug use.
My only comment is that the so-called 'War-on-Drugs' is really just a war on Americans, and has created horrible armed groups of so-called 'Police'.
Unintended Consequences indeed.........FRegards
I cannot believe that an organization would actually put out this sort of literature as a public service.
For example, they give the following "tips" on "how to smoke crack safely": SAFER USING TIPS
• Using a glass or metal stem with a mouthpiece.
• Wipe mouthpiece with alcohol to prevent getting sick or infections.
• Use clean choy or copper wire. Pipe screens are best.
• If using a plastic bottle or pipe, remember to change the foil & use clean ashes.
• Sleep as much as possible.
• Let pipe cool down before taking next hit, to prevent cuts and burns.
• Use straight glass shooters, it will not cause burns as quickly.
• Wrap end of straight shooter with rubber band, thick rubber, piece of tape or paper (match book cover rolled) & clothespins so you’re less likely to hurt lips.
• Clean crack shooters often & carefully.
• File edges of broken glass shooters until it is smooth.
• Touch flame to shooter quickly instead of leaving it there, move fire along shooter to spread out heat.
Sure, all crack smokers are really "health conscious" and will heed this advice. Makes me wonder how many "crack smokers" they actually work with. The other info they put out is equally as asinine.
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