SMOKE SHOP READY TO OPEN

A number that a police spokeswoman said is slang for marijuana use was part
of a sign at the Gas Pipe's new Los Ranchos location until it was replaced
Wednesday afternoon.

The Gas Pipe location at 6666 on Fourth Street is scheduled to open March
15, according to the sign.

The store will sell rolling papers, tobacco pipes, water pipes, hydroponic
growing lights, greeting cards and darts, store officials have said.

The Gas Pipe's attempt to open in the village last year was met with
widespread community opposition. Critics said items the store sells are
used for illegal drug use and former Los Ranchos Mayor Harry Stowers called
the store a "head shop."

Residents also objected to the store's location -- on a route students use
to walk to and from the nearby Taft Middle School.

Village trustees denied the Gas Pipe a business license, and owner Jerry
Shults subsequently sued the village on the basis that denying him a
business license violated his right to equal protection under the law and
that the village's zoning ordinances did not prohibit his intended use of
the building.

A settlement was reached earlier this month, with the Gas Pipe agreeing to
restrict some items it normally sells and not to allow people under 18 into
the store, among other concessions.

Until Wednesday afternoon, the outdoor sign at the Gas Pipe had said the
store's grand opening would on be "4 20."

Albuquerque Police Department spokeswoman Beth Baland said Wednesday that
"4:20," is slang for marijuana use.

"It's some kind of slang for using marijuana," Baland said, when asked what
she understood the numbers to mean.

"Sometimes the taggers use it on the walls."

On April 20, a "Four-Twenty" gathering was held by more than 200 marijuana
users and supporters of legalizing the substance in Albuquerque's Roosevelt
Park.

A store manager removed the "4 20" from the sign at the Gas Pipe on
Wednesday after a Journal reporter took a picture of it. The "4 20" had
followed the words "Grand Opening" in the sign.

"It was some guy's idea of a joke," the store manager said as he was
removing the numbers.

He replaced it with letters reading that the store's grand opening would
take place April 20.

The manager declined to be interviewed further.

Shults in a phone interview Wednesday said the numbers and the date are
significant because that's the anniversary of his first store's opening in
Dallas in 1970.

Shults said he was not aware of "4:20" being slang for marijuana use.

"This was totally a coincidence as far as I'm concerned and we are
complying with the village's wishes," Shults said.

Los Ranchos Mayor John Hooker, who broke a tie to approve the settlement,
said Wednesday he was not aware of "4:20" being a code for smoking
marijuana. He also said he hoped there was no connection between the old
number on the sign and marijuana use and that it was merely a coincidence.

Trustees Penny Rembe and David Siegel voted for the agreement, arguing that
if the village lost a lawsuit with the Gas Pipe, it would also lose the
concessions they stood to gain by passing the compromise settlement.

Siegel said Wednesday he is "very concerned" about the Gas Pipe being in
the village and that "it's pretty clear" what the nature of the business
is. He added, however, that the village did not have legal means for
keeping them out.

Trustees Leo Bartolucci and Barbara Chavez voted against the settlement.

Bartolucci said Wednesday he had no idea "4:20" was slang for smoking pot,
and added that the number being on the Gas Pipe's sign could have been a
coincidence.

"I'm 77 years old, we didn't know what pot was until the '60s," he said.

Bartolucci added that he has concerns about whether the settlement
agreement with the village can be enforced.

As part of the settlement with the village, the Gas Pipe agreed to the
following:

* It will not sell adult toys or "display smoking accessories in its window
or in a position from which they can be readily viewed from the outside."

* It will "not carry any literature or items of apparel that contain or
display words that advocate the use of controlled substances."

* It will not permit anyone under the age of 18 to shop there.
Identification will be requested if someone appears to be around the age of 18.