Head Shop Raids Fade From Memory

[User]

With drama and force usually reserved for a cop show, the feds raided a dozen Duval Street head shops in October. So whatever happened to all those shop owners that were apparently breaking the law?

In short: Nothing.

No charges were pressed after a task force of 16 law enforcement agencies seized what officials estimated were $1 million worth of bongs and other drug paraphernalia, along with financial records and computers.

There have been reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has since contacted the owners of the 12 shops giving them the option of surrendering the seized merchandise or going to court to try to regain custody. But ICE wouldn't confirm that and none of the head shop owners felt comfortable going on the record after the show of force from the feds.

Many of the head shops occupied small spaces rented out by larger stores but were in the front, with the wares in display windows fronting Duval.

Keith Stroup, who founded the Washington, D.C.,-based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, is familiar with Key West and weighed in on the situation.

"It's selective enforcement, for one thing," Stroup said.

NORML has a convention in Key West every December and has been for 25 years, so Stroup is familiar with the local scene.

"I was there in December with the convention," about a month and a half after the raids, Stroup, said.

"I found plenty of pipes. It has nothing to do with repressing or discouraging marijuana smoking. It did make one wonder if Key West is a little less friendly than it used to be."

So why the show of force, with the 16 agencies simultaneously hitting a dozen shops and loading a Budget rental truck with seized merchandise in the middle of the day on Duval Street?

"With the feds, every once in awhile, some state attorney decides they want to make a name for themselves," Stroup said.

That wouldn't seem to be the case in Key West; then-State Attorney Mark Kohl, who was defeated in November by State Attorney Dennis Ward, insisted the case was the work of the feds, not his office.

At the time of the raids, Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson said the idea was to clean up Duval Street and that he initiated the dialogue with the federal government.

On Oct. 17, McPherson said, "We did talk to the State Attorney's Office. From that conversation, I personally spoke to a customs agent. We told them we had a concern and wanted to know if they could address it."

"The mayor is out of touch with his own community," Stroup said.

Stroup said ICE operations similar to the one that took place in Key West are practiced often in California, where state law allows medical dispensaries to sell medicinal marijuana despite contrary federal statutes.

"It's a model that they've been using a lot," Stroup said, "going in, seizing property and never pressing charges. They're kind of holding their breath, wondering are they going to bring criminal charges. People are intimidated. They basically put the owners out of business. I don't know what they think they accomplished."

City Commissioner Barry Gibson, who has championed cleaning up Duval Street retail windows, said the store windows look better but he's not sure how effective the raids were in stopping people from selling paraphernalia.

"It looks a lot better, that's for sure," Gibson said. But "I think there's still some stores selling those things. It's not so prominent; it's not in your face. Do what you have to do, but don't put it in my face."

So things look better. What about the specific legalities?

"Key West is a different community. I hate to say we're lax, but we are," Gibson said. "We sometimes don't follow up on things. There's been no direction from the mayor."

City Commissioner Bill Verge has a little different take on things.

"I think the intent was kind of to send a message." But, "It comes back. Within a year you'll see paraphernalia."

"The point is, paraphernalia is illegal," Verge said. But in this particular case, "It sounds like a morality issue rather than a legal issue. Don't forget, it was just prior to the election also. Some of those things are politically related, although I'm not saying this was."


News Hawk: User: http://www.420magazine.com/
Source: keysnet.com
Author: Sean Kinney
Copyright: 2009 Keynoter Publishing Company Inc.
Contact: skinney@keynoter.com
Website: Head shop raids fade from memory