VENDOR COMPLAINS ABOUT SALE OF PIPE

DUBLIN - City officials might not invite back a well-known vendor at
last weekend's St. Patrick's Day Festival after a complaint that he
sold a high school sophomore a small pipe usable for illegal drugs.

Police said they found nothing incriminating at the Call of the Wild
booth Sunday and didn't issue any citations.

Sebastopol vendor Kerry Mitchell said he specializes in authentic
American Indian arts and crafts, including finely crafted miniature
pipes, and lists among his clients Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Cher
and Ann-Margret. Mitchell, who is part Indian, considers his work sacred.

However, Bob LaFave, owner of Village Pet Shop in Dublin and a fellow
vendor, complained that Mitchell's booth sold a small pipe to a
teenager whose family he does business with.

State law allows businesses such as head shops to sell small ceramic
and wood pipes -- as well as larger water pipes -- because they can be
used to smoke tobacco. The pipes are considered drug paraphernalia
only when residue of a controlled substance is found in them.