A CRACK PIPE BY ANY OTHER NAME?

Saying some inner-city stores are trying to skirt laws that ban the
sale of drug paraphernalia, a West Side alderman on Friday said he
would introduce an ordinance to prohibit stores from selling "passion
mini-roses."

At a City Hall news conference, Ald. Ed Smith (28th) said drug users
are buying up the mini-roses--small glass tubes with a tiny synthetic
rose inside--to use as crack-cocaine pipes.

He said the tubes are available for $2 apiece, or $9 for a box, at
convenience stores in inner-city neighborhoods. They are packaged as a
gift for a significant other, with a picture of a couple romancing
each other on the box and a small rose painted on the side of each
tube.

But Smith charged that the real purpose of the tubes is to smoke
crack.

Drug users simply toss the rose, insert a piece of scrubbing
material--like that used to clean dishes--as a filter, and then fill
the other end with crack cocaine, he alleged.

"What we're going to do is ban this in the city of Chicago," said
Smith, who vowed to introduce an ordinance at the next City Council
meeting. He also vowed to contact state and federal authorities and to
ultimately work toward a nationwide ban.

Smith said he didn't know the product's manufacturer, but he said it
was distributed by Jacob's Paradise, of Covina, Calif. A flier
indicates the firm markets rolling papers and pipes that could be used
to smoke marijuana. Company officials were not available for comment.

Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Church, alleged that the
pipes are the latest effort by unscrupulous retailers to skirt laws
that prohibit the sale of drug paraphernalia.

He noted that he was among community activists that closed down
several North Side stores several weeks ago that were selling
marijuana pipes under the guise of tobacco pipes.

"There is a new move, and a back-door approach, to try to re-enter
drug paraphernalia, which was banned back in 1988 in Illinois, under
the disguise of tobacco use or mini-roses," Pfleger said.

"It's insulting," he added. "Nobody is buying a mini-rose for their
girlfriend or for their mother for Mother's Day. This is a crack pipe."