Authorities Smoke Out Water Bongs

Jim Finnel

Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Have you ever looked at California’s bong law? Have you ever really looked at it?

Selling glass pipes and water bongs is perfectly legal in the state, so long as their intended use is for smoking tobacco and not pot. That difference in intent may seem like a fine line, but it can mean the difference between making a buck and being totally screwed. Just ask the owners of the seven East County smoke shops whose businesses were raided last week by police and sheriff’s deputies.

Acting at the behest of San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, authorities on Jan. 21 served search warrants at shops in El Cajon, La Mesa and Santee. They seized an estimated 15,000 glass pipes, bongs and other items as part of an investigation into whether the owners violated the state’s drug-paraphernalia laws.

None of the owners could be reached for comment by deadline, but an employee at one of the shops raided in El Cajon says authorities have it all wrong.

The DA’s office “sent us a letter saying water pipes were illegal and that we needed to take them down, but they’re not illegal,” she says, declining to give her name. “We called the DA’s office about that, but they never called us back. Then police came in and said, ‘You didn’t take the water pipes down, so we’re seizing them.’ We lost about $50,000 in merchandise.”

Asked to comment on the employee’s claim that the seized items were legal under state law, El Cajon Police Lt. Steve Shakowski cited California Health and Safety Code 11364.7, which states that selling paraphernalia for the purpose of ingesting illegal drugs is a misdemeanor. As to how authorities knew the items were going to be used to ingest illegal drugs and not tobacco, Shakowski was blunt:

“I’ve been a cop for 25 years and worked narcotics for 11 of those years,” he says. “During that time, I have not encountered anyone who smoked tobacco out of a water bong. I’m not saying there aren’t people who do—I’ve just never encountered them. We’re making a distinction between hookah pipes and water bongs. Hookahs are from an older tradition—they look different and typically were used for smoking tobacco. The water pipes we seized—and we didn’t seize any hookah pipes—are generally not used for legitimate purposes.”

Common knowledge aside, says DA spokesman Paul Levikow, authorities knew the intended use of the items because they knew it.

“Our undercover agents went into the shops making it clear what they wanted to use the bongs for,” he says, adding that the agents visited all seven of the shops prior to the raids. “The clerks knew what the buyer was buying the bongs for.”

Regardless of the intended use of the paraphernalia, Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project in San Francisco, says the real issue is whether the raids were a good use of law-enforcement time and resources.

“You’re dealing with a jurisdiction”—San Diego County—“that’s intensely hostile to marijuana,” Mirken says. “There’s not the slightest evidence that paraphernalia laws have any impact on marijuana use. Even if these people have technically broken the law, this is law-enforcement activity that accomplishes precisely nothing.”


News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: San Diego CityBEAT
Author: David Silva
Copyright: 2009 San Diego CityBEAT
Contact: San Diego CityBeat - Contact Us
Website: San Diego CityBeat - Authorities smoke out water bongs
 
Do you really think that Government will let this happen, just think about the money made on just pot alone ect. DA's, Attorneys, Police, Jails, Wardens, food, clothing for the jails, Court order drug rehab.
In addition, we didn't even go into the other side that grow for profit, how much do you think a good OZ of bud would go for?:peace:
 
its happening. its been slowly happening for many years. its excellerataing. eventually all the states, or a majority of states will have changed their laws. the old ways are dying (literally). its a matter of time. i wanna live to see it.

i'm not concerned with price. my plan is not to buy, at least on a regular basis anymore. unless of course it became cheaper than the alternatives :cool:
 
Do not get me wrong, I would love to grow in my own garden as I do with my Lettuce and tomato's. Yes I can buy the same in the store but nothing taste better then your own. The government does not want or the growers want anyone to self-supply. As long as people are paid by the hour to lock me up, argue my case, or make big bucks growing, will things change? That would mean the D.E.A would have to go to Afghanistan and pull up poppy fields and have some really bad guy's waiting for them, as they swing in as a big dope on a rope. They would rather swing in like they are going for Osama in Northern Cali. It is just so fat and easy to go after your own people.:peace:
 
I hope other organizations have the opportunity to chime in on these topics besides MPP. No offense but it seems that MPP focuses on the money aspect way too much. No one has made an argument that medical marijuana patients can legally posses marijuana. A MMP can't state to the pipe salesman that he posses the required documents and wants a BONG to smoke the sweetest kind of indica?
 
Sounds like another BS illegal entrapment bust by San Diego County. I lived there for over 10 years and everyone I knew there smoked dope on a daily basis. They need to get off their duff over there and make some changes. Busts like these are just plain ridiculous. They cannot prove intended use without a doubt. This will get thrown out but the head shop will never see their "Bongs" again. What a shame. Glad I moved.
 
It's the arguments of a 3 year old

"because I said so"
"because I know"

I suspect this is a case of the punishment being the raid process itself. I can't imagine how the shops will lose in court. However the cost of harassment, backed by deep pockets of the county create an artificial barrier to entry in the bong market.

They'll have the effect they desire because entrepreneurs can't afford to fight city hall

The solution is new politicians that act consistently with the will of the voters
 
Why would another country allow the states to come in and pull poppies or anything else? Somebody is getting paid off to allow this. What business is it of the states to say what another country can or can not do? I hear you folks have enough problems at home to deal with first before you force your will on other countries. This world would be a much better place if problems at home were fixed first before looking for other troubles. As a Canadian I do not think we should be in Afganistan. The only reason I would want to be there is to smoke some of the fine hashish they have there.
 
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