STORE WITH CONTROVERSIAL GOODS BEING CLOSED

Sherwood Park Mall not renewing The Den's lease after complaints of
weapons and drug paraphernalia for sale

Smoke and newspaper shop The Den in the Sherwood Park Mall will be
shut down by February following a string of complaints about its merchandise.

Joe DeMont, general manager of the mall, said the manager of The Den
was told repeatedly to stop selling the pipes. When the manager
refused, DeMont decided their lease would not be renewed.

"Landlords have long memories," he said. "You don't co-operate with
me, I don't renew your lease."

DeMont said there has been the occasional complaint over the many
years the store has been operating, but complaints over the pipes
have been going on for two years.

"The pipes that she's selling - I know exactly what they're for," he
said. "They're drug pipes. I don't care what she says."

The News made multiple attempts to contact the manager of The Den;
however, she was not available at the times store employees believed
she would be.

A group of parents complained that the store was selling meth pipes.

Jane Roberts was shopping at The Den for cigarettes when she noticed
drug paraphernalia and a group of young people buying knives. She
created a Facebook group to petition, and the mall responded by
saying the issue will be resolved in the new year.

"I know when I was in high school they used to sell pipes that you
can smoke pot out of, but now they're selling long cylinders with
glass bulbs on the ends.," Roberts said. "There's nothing else you
can smoke out of those but meth."

She said it wasn't just boys buying knives or people buying drug
paraphernalia there, it was the location.

"There's a time and a place," she said.

"I'm not a prude, I just don't think the newspaper and gum store in
the mall is a place for people to buy meth pipes and knives. I just
don't see how it fits. It seems like the proprietor wants to make
some dollars and doesn't really care how they do it and that's what
really grosses me out about it."

She said it's a trend where mini marts are selling pipes for drugs.
She said when she worked at a hardware store, the store was not
allowed to sell light bulbs.

In the meantime, DeMont said the pipes are still there, but there is
nothing the mall can do.

"We only have so much control over what the stores sell," he said.

DeMont said if people have a complaint about what is being sold at
the mall they can complain to the store.

"We find them offensive too, but they're legal," he said. "If she's
not in breach of her lease, there is nothing we can do."

The Den is a tobacco store and the sale of pipes are in the terms of lease.

"What they're used for and what they're meant to be used for are two
different things," he said.

DeMont said he takes customers' complaints seriously and will try to
resolve any problems that arise.

"Nobody has a life-long lease, the landlord still has the hammer in
that way," he said.

Const. Wally Henry, media liaison with the Strathcona County RCMP,
said unless residue is found from drug use, there is nothing illegal
about the pipes because they are intended for tobacco. There is also
no legal age restriction for buying the pipes.

"If you want to pervert its use to do something illegal that's when
you'd have to face consequences," he said.

"If I stopped you in your vehicle and you had one of those pipes in
your ash tray, and the police could prove you're using it for illegal
drug use, that's where the potential prosecution could come in."

He said knives can also be legally purchased by anyone.

"It's not good, but it's legal," he said.