DEA SUBPOENA FOR RONIN'S 'POT' TITLE

What do murder and marijuanagrowing have in common? Both have howto
manuals written about them that have drawn the eye of the law. A Denver
judge ruled against Paladin's First Amendment right to publish and
distribute Hit Man after the book was found among the possessions of an
alleged murderer (PW News, Nov. 17). Now the question is whether a similar
decision concerning its 1987 title Marijuana Hydroponics: HighTech Water
Culture.

Last summer, the Drug Enforcement Agency subpoenaed Ronin to provide the
names of all the customers in Arizona who had purchased Marijuana
Hydroponics. Since then, the DEA has also subpoenaed a Tempe, Ariz.,
gardening store called Aqua Culture Inc., for the names of customers who
bought the book. The 118page guide contains stepbystep photos and tips
on growing marijuana and is still widely available, not just in specialty
shops but in chains such as Borders.

Beverly Potter, owner of Ronin, said she had responded to the DEA with a
polite letter saying hers was a lawabiding company and "that we were
concerned about the civil rights of our customers." Though Potter is being
advised by, among others, lawyers from the ACLU that she could win a First
Amendment suit, so far she is refraining from taking further action. In
Tempe, Aqua Culture Inc. owner Russ Antkowiak said he never carried the
book and is also refusing to honor the subpoena.