LANDLORD UNDER FIRE OVER HEAD SHOP

James D. Strader cannot understand why people are mad at him.

Mr. Strader had been trying to sell rental property at 671 Mill St. for more
than a year, but no one bought it. So when the opportunity came to lease the
property, he jumped at the chance to cut his losses.

"It's expensive to have a piece of vacant property," Mr. Strader said. "I'm
not in the position to shell out $587 a month. The taxes alone are over five
grand a year. I'm not making a dollar on it; I'm just not losing money."

Mr. Strader has recieved numerous complaints that his new tenant, Robert
Fleming, will soon open High Life, a shop that contains an extensive
selection of paraphernalia labeled for use only with tobacco, but
traditionally used with illegal drugs.

Shops like High Life are commonly known as "head shops," named for "pot
heads," a slang term for marijuana smokers. In addition to bongs and pipes,
head shops often sell incense, tapestries, T-shirts and other novelties.

Mr. Strader acknowledges that his tenant will sell all of these items, and
said he understands why people might be upset that the product list includes
drug paraphernalia. However, the shop is legal and approved by all legal
authorities, including the police department, which he said looked the place
over "close."

The Watertown land lord said that he is not entirely happy with what Mr.
Fleming is selling, But that he will honor the lease and "keep my word."

"Nothing would please me more than to find out that he's selling milk and
eggs a year from now," Mr. Strader said, commenting that he believes Mr.
Fleming is simply an entrepreneur trying to make a living.

Rocco S. Crescenzi, president of Citizens Against Illegal Drugs Inc., said
that regardless of the shops legality and Mr. Fleming's intentions, head
shops present a risk to Watertown,s youth by giving drug dealers a
marketplace outside the shop.

"We're not going after people." Mr. Crescenzi said. "I think he's in the
situation because he thinks it's a money maker. We're not after him; we're
after the paraghernalia."

Mr. Crescenzi said that even though items are labeled for use only with
tobacco, he has never seen a bong, which filters and cools smoke through
water to ease lung trauma, used with tobacco. Mr.Crescenzi said bongs are
used exclusively with illegal drugs, such as crack and marijuana.

It has become Mr. Crescenzi's goal to close this shop, because of the
outrage people have expressed to him and his organization.

"Neighbors start making the snowballs and give them to the guys they think
will throw them," he said. "That's where we come in. We're trying to save
the kids."

Mr. Crescenzi said he is working with the city and will try to work with Mr.
Strader to close this shop quietly, but warned that more drastic measures
may be necessary.

"It's better to do these things peacefully than to look like vigilantes," he
said. "We don't want to picket."

Mr. Strader said Mr. Crescenzi and others opposed should have demonstrated
before the lease was signed, while local officials were approving the shop.

He also said he sympathizes with the group's concerns but said there are a
lot of people who don't have a problem with it.

"I'm not saying it's not morally wrong," Mr. Strader said. "But everything
is legal."

He said he just doesn't want to be the bad guy, to his tenant or to the
concerned citizens.

"I don't like looking like a villain. This makes me look like a villain, and
I am not a villain."

Attempts to contact Mr. Fleming for comment were unsuccessful.