AUTHORITIES LIGHT A FIRE UNDER 'HEAD SHOPS'

"If you want a bong," a sign at the Cracker Box Palace reads, "go
somewhere else."

Storeowner John Lopez insists he sells water pipes, artsy hand-blown
contraptions made for smoking tobacco, not bongs for smoking weed.

Though the difference between bongs and water pipes may be as hazy as
the smoke they produce, the distinction is stark in the eyes of the
law.

Bongs, long associated with marijuana, are illegal; tobacco-associated
water pipes are not.

Frustrated by the fine distinctions, authorities say they are tired of
playing semantics. On Monday, they declared war on the dozen or so
establishments around town that sell what they consider to be drug
paraphernalia.

"We're putting them on notice: Stop and desist," Javier Pena, head of
the Drug Enforcement Administration in San Antonio, said at a news
conference.

No criminal charges have been filed.

Warning letters began arriving Monday morning at Cracker Box Palace
and a dozen other so-called "head shops" in San Antonio.

Monday's crackdown by local and federal authorities is part of a
yearlong nationwide effort to shut down businesses that traffic in
drug paraphernalia.

Last year's Operation Pipe Dream and Operation Headhunter targeted
drug paraphernalia sales over the Internet and across state lines,
with Tommy Chong, half the comedy team of Cheech and Chong, the most
famous target.

Operation Pipecleaner, announced last week, targets mostly mom-and-pop
head shops.

Critics call the crackdown misguided.

"It's an unbelievable waste of federal and local resources, especially
at a time when we're supposed to be fighting a war on terror," said
Kris Krane, associate director of the Washington-based National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

He said the recent crackdowns have largely succeeded in shutting down
the targeted businesses but have failed to stop people from enjoying
an illicit pastime.

"If somebody wants to smoke pot, they're going to do it," Krane said.
"Every college kid knows they can hollow out a soda can and make a
bong or go to 7-Eleven and buy some rolling paper."

There's nothing cut and dried about regulating the sale of such items
as water pipes, roach clips and rolling paper, San Antonio Police
Chief Albert Ortiz acknowledged Monday in announcing the new initiative.

Authorities must prove intent, which means convincing a jury that the
average vendor knew the paraphernalia being sold would be used for
illicit purposes.

"We'll have to look at the entire context," Ortiz said.

And shop owners such as John Lopez and his wife, Tiffany, have always
insisted their colorful pipes are used by law-abiding citizens looking
for a cleaner way to smoke tobacco or for a pretty adornment for the
coffee table

Tiffany Lopez says she throws in a small sack of tobacco - cherry,
vanilla or natural - with each pipe. A reminder, she says, to
customers who might consider using the devise for something other than
tobacco or art.

Hours after authorities hand-delivered the two-page warning to their
doors, targeted shop owners and their employees scrambled to make
sense of the fine print.

Mike Valentine, who represents Planet K, an Austin chain with four San
Antonio stores, said: "We're still trying to digest everything."

What would become of the Cracker Box Palace?

The Lopezes said they weren't sure. Water pipes, which range in size
as much as they do in price, $20 to $325, make up about 30 percent of
the merchandise in the small store on Hildebrand.

Maybe they could stock the back room with more of the provocative
T-shirts and posters they sell up front. But maybe not.

"Essentially, we're out of business right now," the heavily tattooed
John Lopez said. "From steaks to beans."