CHAIN AGREES NOT TO SELL WATER PIPES

A Case Against Spencer Gifts in Oxford Valley Mall Has Led to a Halt
at 600 Stores Nationwide.

When a Bucks County police department took a chain store to court for
selling water pipes in malls, it started a chain reaction that ended
the sales of such merchandise in more than 600 stores nationwide.

In an agreement signed last week in Bucks County Court, Spencer Gifts
Inc. said it would stop selling tall water pipes, also known as
hookahs, in all of its stores, said Daniel M. Keane, chief Bucks
County deputy district attorney, who helped broker the deal.

In exchange, Judge Kenneth G. Biehn dismissed charges against Steven
Silverstein, 46, president of Spencer Gifts Inc., and Wayne Oles, 53,
manager of the chain's Oxford Valley Mall store.

Middletown Township police charged the men in February with delivery
of or possession with intent to deliver drug paraphernalia and
criminal conspiracy after store clerks gave an undercover officer tips
on how to smoke marijuana from the pipes. Hookahs are used to smoke
tobacco and other substances in some parts of the world.

Executives at Spencer Gifts headquarters in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.,
did not return calls for comment. Oles referred questions to his
attorney, who could not be reached for comment.

Spencer, a speciality gift shop that is prominent in malls, had been
under growing pressure to discontinue sales of hookahs and other items.

In January, an employee and a manager at a Spencer store in Hanover,
Mass., were charged after allegedly providing marijuana-smoking
instructions with a hookah sale.

In Massachusetts and Michigan, parents have protested at Spencer sites
that sell lollipops that are made with hemp but that contain no
intoxicants.

At the Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem, the store voluntarily pulled the
pipes off shelves after a visit from police last year.

A clerk at a Spencer shop in Jersey City said that store had stopped
selling hookahs in April.

"We want the message to these stores to be that it's more trouble to
be involved in selling these items than it is worth," Keane said.

To amplify that message, Keane inserted a condition in the agreement
that requires Spencer to donate $2,000 to each of three Bucks County
charities: Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Network of Victim
Assistance, and A Woman's Place, a shelter for victims of domestic
violence.

Keane said he chose charities that deal with the effects of drug and
alcohol abuse. He said Silverstein handed him a check for the full
amount at Thursday's hearing.

"They were cooperative with us from the day we served the search
warrants," he said. "We were trying to find a way to resolve this so
that the public's interest would be served."

Middletown Detective Daniel Baranoski went under cover at the Oxford
Valley Mall store last year after hearing complaints from parents.

Baranoski said in an interview in February that although it may be
legal to use a hookah for tobacco, Spencer was marketing the pipe for
marijuana use.

He said the pipes were displayed with thousands of T-shirts,
keychains, Frisbees and other items depicting marijuana plants.

Keane said Spencer had educated store clerks about the legal use of
hookahs, but that some clerks had ignored those instructions and
promoted the pipes for marijuana smoking.

Keane said Silverstein did not mention how much money Spencer would
lose in the discontinued sales.

"I think in the end, Spencer realized it was probably in everybody's
best interest if it didn't sell these items," he said.