COPS RAID SHOPS FOR 'PARAPHERNALIA' SEIZURE:

Police Cart Off Boxes Of Goods Worth Thousands.

Months after the Anchorage Assembly made it a criminal offense to sell
items defined as "drug paraphernalia," Anchorage police seized boxes of
stuff from two local novelty stores last week. At least two other stores
removed items from shelves.

Police were spurred into action last Monday after a citizen reported
"suspicious activity" at Really Neat Stuff, said police detective Dennis
Allen. The citizen described a store with toys in the front and saloon-type
doors opening to a back area that housed other items, Allen said.

An investigating officer visited the store, at 6140 Old Seward Highway, and
found "bongs, metal, wooden, acrylic and glass pipes used mainly for
ingesting marijuana," according to court papers. A few hours later, police
arrived at Really Neat Stuff and seized goods -- owner Chris Main estimated
70 boxes -- worth thousands of dollars.

"I've been ambushed," Main said. "If I had known it was against the law, I
would have taken it off my shelves."

Main wasn't the only person surprised by the seizure. Jill Williams, after
hearing about the raid, drove from her home to her Midtown business, The
Look, and removed 40 pipes from shelves. And Joel Mathes, owner of Exit
Glass on Spenard Road, locked his door and boxed up some items, which he
says he sells for tobacco use. His store also sells hemp products, jewelry
and body lotions.

Police seized items from the Black Market, a downtown store, on Tuesday.
The store owner did not return calls.

No charges have been filed.

"It's a waste of everybody's money," Williams said of the seizures. The
police "could be doing something more important than that."

Changes to the city's drug abuse and paraphernalia code were contained in
an ordinance amending the municipality's criminal code. The 11-page
ordinance, among other things, redefined child abuse, child neglect,
harassment by electronic communication and resisting or interfering with an
officer, and it defined and criminalized the sale or possession of drug
paraphernalia.

Besides making the sale of drug paraphernalia a criminal offense, the
ordinance defined them as "any items whose objective characteristics or
objective manufacturer's design indicate that it is intended for use in the
consumption, ingestion, inhalation, injection or other method of
introduction of a controlled substance into the human body."

The ordinance added crack cocaine bongs, stems and pipes and
methamphetamine bongs and pipes to a list that includes scales and balances
to measure controlled substances; blenders, bowls, containers, spoons and
mixing devices used with controlled substances; and objects like metal,
wood, acrylic, glass, stone, plastic or ceramic pipes, water pipes, chamber
pipes and carburetor pipes, to name a few.

The ordinance was introduced by officials of then-Mayor Rick Mystrom's
administration. It was adopted in July after Mayor George Wuerch took
office. The changes to the law took effect in October.

The Look and Black Market were two of four businesses simultaneously raided
by police in November 1997. Authorities had planned to bring criminal
charges against the store owners for selling drug paraphernalia, but a
conflict in city law prevented municipal prosecutors from filing charges.
Seized items were returned to the businesses in January 1998.

Municipal prosecutor John Richard said Friday that operation didn't go
well. The ordinance was contained in the city's criminal code but included
only civil penalties, such as fines and orders to stop selling. The
Anchorage Municipal Code now states that violators face up to a year in
jail and a $5,000 fine. Violators also forfeit any confiscated items. News
of the law change came as a surprise to many people. Main said he didn't
know about the Assembly's action. Williams wonders whether the Assembly
sneaked the ordinance through. Mathes doesn't think the city has the power
to enforce the law.

There are similar ordinances nationwide, Richard said. In most places
they've been upheld by courts, he said.

Richard expects the battle over the Anchorage ordinance to be decided by
the Alaska Court of Appeals.

"It's not like these are actual drugs, but they are particularly defined in
what we believe gets by any challenge of vagueness," he said.

The purveyors typically post signs that say the items are for smoking
tobacco, but Richard said he believes the city can provide expert testimony
that the items are not used for that purpose.

Meanwhile, Main is busy finishing his store. A recent separation from his
business partner required him to open the new store on the Old Seward Highway.

"I'm scared. I'm scared I'm not going to be able to pay the rent," he said.

Mathes said he's made and produced pipes for his store for 3 1/2 years.

"The only people who have illegal intentions for these products are the
police," he said. "It's a political problem. (The law) is so ambiguous and
so vague that it is open to political interpretation."

People now have to prove that the items aren't used for illegal purposes,
he said.

"They are making people prove they are innocent, not actually proving that
people are guilty," he said.

Mathes and Main said they plan to address the Assembly. Williams said she
would consider testifying.