HEAD SHOP CRACKDOWN

DEA Hits Local Yokels

Call them "head shops," "bong shops," or stores that specialize in smoking
accessories. Whatever one calls them, stores that sell paraphernalia that
can be used for marijuana are abundant in Boulder, as are glass blowing
artists who make pipes.

Local cops have seldom made an issue of it, usually opting not to pre-judge
the motives of people who buy or sell glass pipes. But customers and
merchants may have a new concern, namely the federal Drug Enforcement
Agency, which has been coming down on so-called "head shops" in college towns.

Adam Engleby thought everything was cool in his Big 12 town. His shop, Hemp
Cat in Iowa City, sold "smoking accessories,"-or bongs, pipes, and rolling
papers. But the Iowa City Police Department visited regularly, and they
never had any problem with Hemp Cat's back room. After all, Iowa City is a
progressive, tolerant college town, and local police reflected the relaxed
attitude.

The Iowa City Police Department's Sgt. Brotherton has said as much. "We
don't see [the Hemp Cat] as a major problem," he said. "We weren't paying
much attention."

But what was an acceptable arrangement for the community wasn't good enough
for the feds. On February 11, Engleby's home and business were raided by
teams of civilian-dressed law officers, headed by the Drug Enforcement
Administration.

"The DEA led the raids," Engelby said. "The only badge I was shown was a
DEA badge. They had warrants for 'drug paraphernalia' and any sort of
records, and they took everything. They took our rolling papers, they took
real tobacco pipes, and, of course, they seized all of our computers-four
of them, two at the store and two at home. They even took my wife's computer."

"The Iowa City PD never hassled us in six years of business," groaned
Engleby. "No one ever came in and told us to stop, no one complained."

Engleby finds himself among a growing number of "alternative store" (the
industry cringes at the term "head shop") owners and operators being rudely
awakened to the reality of federal drug paraphernalia laws.

Unlike many state and local paraphernalia statutes, which allow for a
subjective, contextual interpretation of whether a given object is indeed
drug paraphernalia-sometimes a spoon is only a spoon-federal law is black
and white: Possession of a bong is a federal offense, and so, of course, is
sale or manufacture of a bong, or conspiracy to do so. It can get you three
years in federal prison. And it doesn't matter if the bong has never been
used or if it is a jewel-encrusted work of art; a bong is a crime. And to
make things even rosier, since 1990 federal law has made drug paraphernalia
violators subject to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO)
statutes and money laundering charges, as well.

"It's simple," said head shop defense attorney Robert Vaughan, the
long-time publisher of an industry newsletter. "If you have a bong, you're
violating federal law. You can get a license to own a tommy gun, but you
can't get one to own a bong."

"Stores that have bongs are screwed," the Nashville-based lawyer said.
"They can't win. The Supreme Court upheld its so-called objective standard
in US v. Pipes and Things in 1994, and now categories of items are per se
illegal."

Jerry Clark and Kathy Fiedler, of Des Moines, were already well aware of
federal paraphernalia laws. Their shop, Daydreams, was raided by the feds
last year, and they are scarred by the experience.

"We were raided by US Postal Inspectors, the DEA, and local cops and
sheriff's deputies," Clark said. "And we're barely hanging on now. It's
hurt us financially; we've lost over $250,000 in inventory and paid out
lots of money in legal fees. And they're using the RICO act on us, so we're
facing 10 to 12 years. They've seized my partner's properties under the
asset forfeiture laws. But all we can do is try to litigate our way out or
come to a negotiated settlement.

Clark and Fiedler remain in business, but they are angry.

"You have to get mad at the people who created this stupid law," Clark
says. "But looking at the penalties we face, we're not going to do anything
to rock the boat."

We don't feel like felons," added Fiedler, more hurt than angry. "These
people don't have any idea who's smoking-they think it's the kids, but our
customers are lawyers, preachers, even people from the state Attorney
General's office. They're nice, average people, but instead of drinking a
six-pack, they'd prefer to smoke things."

Attorney Vaughan, who is representing Clark and Fiedler, says it would be
funny were it not for the serious consequences.

"With Operation Pipeline they managed to knock out all the big boys," he
said. "But all they've created is a whole multi-level cottage industry, and
lot's of these people don't even know about the federal law, they don't
have any historical memory of Pipeline, and enforcement is sporadic. What a
waste of time and resources and peoples' lives. It's as if the feds were
out arresting the guy smoking a joint on the corner."