FEDS BUSTING DOT-COM SITES TOUTING DRUG PARAPHERNALIA

The $200 water pipes lining the shelves at Puff 'n' Stuff on El Cajon
Boulevard look like props from an old Cheech and Chong flick.

Some stand 2 feet tall and come equipped with artistic ceramic bowls in all
the colors of the psychedelic rainbow.

"These are strictly for smoking tobacco," said Sabrina, a clerk at the
store who asked that her last name not be used.

But don't tell that to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

The federal government this week charged 55 people with operating dot-com
sites that distribute drug paraphernalia, including water pipes, roach
clips and miniature scales.

Ashcroft said the crackdown was necessary because the products could be
bought by minors over the Internet without parental permission.

"The illegal drug paraphernalia industry has invaded the homes of families
across the country without the knowledge of their families," Ashcroft said.

Such tough talk scares the owners of some local head shops, who wonder if
their storefront businesses could be the Justice Department's next target.

Several dozen San Diego County shops ­ including The Black in Ocean Beach,
Glass Act on El Cajon Boulevard and Visions in Pacific Beach sell the same
types of elaborate, pricey, glass-and-ceramic water pipes that were
advertised on the Web sites shut down this week by the Justice Department.

"The government probably wants to stamp out this market," said Vic McCully,
owner of Synthetic Trips on University Avenue.

McCully said he has no problem with the Justice Department closing Internet
entrepreneurs who have been shipping bongs and other related items to minors.

"No one can come into (Synthetic Trips) who's under 18," said McCully, who
opened the store in 1967.

Behind him were shelves stocked with oversize water pipes featuring garish
depictions of cobras and grinning satyrs.

At least one local head-shop owner said he is considering discontinuing his
extensive line of water pipes and converting the store space to carry
alternative books, DVDs and other products in light of the government's new
hard line.

"I don't want to do jail time for selling somebody a water pipe," he said,
requesting anonymity.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said the raids on the Web sites Monday
targeted companies that were specifically advertising their products as
drug-taking accessories.

But the distinction between selling water pipes purportedly for use with
tobacco and pipes for smoking marijuana is not a clear one, DEA spokeswoman
Magdalena Martinez said.

"If (a certain pipe) is illegal, it's definitely possible" that the
government could go after small retailers selling that product, she said.

Certainly, the drug paraphernalia market, which has an estimated $1 billion
in annual sales, is enjoying sky-high visibility.

April's issue of High Times, for instance, is jammed with ads for
everything from bongs and rolling papers to hydroponic growing systems and
detoxifying drinks.

The magazine's centerfold? A pictorial selection of huge marijuana buds
dubbed "Mother's Finest," "Super Kali Mist," "Buddha's Sister" and "New
York City Diesel."

"I think the government's attitude is that water pipes and other stuff are
against the law and that anybody who sells them is a criminal," said Steven
Wishnia, a senior editor at the magazine. "But whether they're going to
want to bust every little Joe's Hippie Hut in the country is another thing."

Wishnia estimated that there are several thousand head shops in the United
States, as well as many retail stores that sell water pipes and other
similar goods on the side.

In the Monday raids, investigators nationwide seized thousands of tons of
illegal products, the Justice Department said.

Defendants in Operation Pipe Dreams have been charged with conspiring and
offering to sell various types of drug paraphernalia, both felonies.

The 55 defendants were charged in 35 indictments. Each charge can bring
three years in prison under federal statutes.

Eleven Web sites of online drug paraphernalia retailers ­ including
ghettoweb.com, puffpipes.com, and smokelab.com. ­ now redirect users to a
message from the DEA informing them that those sites have been "restrained"
by the government