SMOKE SHOPS UNDER SCRUTINY

El Cajon Council Considers Permanent Restrictions

EL CAJON -- Retailers specializing in tobacco and drug paraphernalia may
soon find it more difficult to set up shop here.

Smoke shops are nothing new in El Cajon, but they are coming under more
scrutiny after one opened last year in the middle of the city's downtown
redevelopment area.

In April, the City Council adopted a temporary ordinance banning smoke
shops downtown. The council is now set to consider placing restrictions on
where these stores can locate.

City Councilman Gary Kendrick has been working with the El Cajon
Collaborative's Substance Abuse Committee to create guidelines for such
stores, and the council is scheduled to discuss the issue at its meeting
Tuesday.

City leaders and community advocates are taking issue with these stores
because, they say, the tobacco pipes and accessories they sell, such as
water pipes, glass pipes and roach clips, are more often used to smoke
marijuana and other drugs. Kendrick and the Collaborative's committee are
pushing a law that would ban these types of shops from opening within 1,000
feet of each other, as well as schools, child care centers or other places
where children and teens gather.

By the committee's count, El Cajon has 11 smoke shops.

"We're precluded by state law from shutting down these kinds of businesses
because you could use bongs and these other smoking devices for tobacco,
but everyone knows that 99 percent of the people who use them use them for
drugs," Kendrick said.

It's a proposal that in concept is supported by the rest of the five-person
council. Brenda Simmons, a member of the Collaborative's committee and a
prevention specialist with the Institute for Public Strategies' East County
Community Change Project, said the focus is on stores that sell drug
paraphernalia, not those that sell legitimate tobacco products. The
institute helps communities develop strategies for change in public and
private policy.

"This isn't really about tobacco or tobacco products for us. It's about
drug paraphernalia and the normal sale of drug paraphernalia and drug use
in the community," Simmons said.

Condemning drug use, she said, but allowing these stores to operate
anywhere in the city sends a mixed message to youth.

Diana Hodgson, an El Cajon resident with three teenage boys, said three
smoke shops are located near her home. Hodgson, a drug and alcohol
counselor, said she was moved to get involved with the Collaborative's
committee when a new smoke shop opened downtown.

"In all honesty, I think a lot of people out there are upset about it and
have a concern about it," said Hodgson, who was among a group of protesters
who picketed the downtown smoke shop one Saturday in December.

Cities in San Diego County deal with smoke shops in different ways. Poway,
for example, requires a conditional-use permit. National City and Oceanside
regulate where they are located, and Chula Vista doesn't allow any
businesses that sell or display accessories that could be used to smoke or
ingest drugs.

The council meets Tuesday at 3 p.m. at City Hall, 200 E. Main St.