MORRISON BACKS BAN ON DRUG PARAPHERNALIA

Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison is supporting a legislative push
by the Wichita Branch NAACP and a statewide task force to ban the sale
of drug paraphernalia in Kansas.

"He wholeheartedly supports banning all drug paraphernalia," said
Ashley Anstaett, communications director for Morrison's office. "He
prosecuted one of the first drug paraphernalia cases in 1981."

The recommendations by the NAACP and the Drug Paraphernalia Task Force
aim to strengthen current law by defining drug paraphernalia more
specifically and stiffening penalties for violators, among other provisions.

The proposal is waiting to be assigned a bill number and a hearing
before a House committee.

State Sen. Donald Betts Jr. said he has introduced the Senate version,
which is also waiting for a bill number and committee assignment.

Betts said support from Morrison and the Kansas Bureau of
Investigation greatly strengthens the cause.

"No problem," Betts said. "The bill's going to pass."

Morrison's case in 1981 resulted in two Johnson County store owners
being found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to
sell with controlled substances. They were fined $2,500 each and
sentenced to 90 days in jail.

The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the decision in 1983.

Under current law, something cannot be classified as paraphernalia
unless it contains drug residue.

The law allows merchants to defend what they're selling by saying the
items are novelties or are used for tobacco products.

Kyle Smith, deputy director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and
chairman of the statewide Drug Paraphernalia Task Force, said the new
proposal would eliminate those grounds.

"Whether we caught it before or after you light up, it's
paraphernalia," Smith said.

The bill would also make the definition of drug paraphernalia more
detailed to include, among other examples, "bongs or smoking pipes
designed to draw smoke through water or another cooling device" and
"any smoking pipe manufactured to disguise its intended purpose."

Smith said that definition would control items such as the 4-inch
glass tubes holding fake flowers, which some merchants call vases,
that can be used as crack pipes.

The bill would also make it a felony to sell drug paraphernalia within
1,000 feet of a school.

Cristi Cain, coordinator of the Kansas Methamphetamine Prevention
Project and a task force member, said public education has increased
awareness about the paraphernalia problem.

The task force was created in March and started conducting seminars in
May.

"A lot of people, parents specifically, didn't have any idea that
these items were so commonly sold in our community," she said. "A lot
of people just pay at the gas pump and don't go into a convenience
store.

"We're educating them about the danger that could occur in that store
to them as a customer or to the store's employees when you're bringing
in someone who's possibly high on meth or crack."

Kevin Myles, president of the Wichita Branch NAACP, said he's pleased
that the effort has progressed beyond targeting one convenience store
- -- U.S. Gas at 25th Street North and Hillside in Wichita -- to a
statewide effort.

Myles said the NAACP and the task force will work together to see the
proposal through the legislative process.

"This idea has certainly garnered widespread support from all areas of
the community," Myles said, "and I'm optimistic we'll get it done and
passed this session."