CITY COUNCIL: DRUG BYLAW COULD GO TOO FAR, COUNCILLOR BELIEVES

A Langley City bylaw to regulate sales of drug paraphernalia passed
initial approval, with one councillor opposed.

Coun. Jack Arnold found himself alone in a battle over two little
words at the May 8 City Council meeting.

In response to a bylaw presented to Council that would regulate the
sale of drug paraphernalia, Arnold brought up his concern over the
words, "used or."

In a statement that explains exactly what the products to be regulated
are, drug paraphernalia is described as "all equipment, products, and
materials of any kind which are used or designed for use in smoking,
inhaling, ingesting, injecting, cultivating, growing, harvesting,
manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing,
preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing,
containing, concealing, or introducing into the human body a
controlled substance."

Arnold said the words, "used or," should not be included in the
statement, as just about anything could be used for drugs.

"When it says it includes anything that people can use for drugs, that
includes rolling papers, needles, pipes," he said, listing items
commonly used for legal activities, such as smoking tobacco and
injecting insulin.

The two words change the entire meaning of the bylaw, he
said.

The proposed bylaw states that every store clerk who sells any drug
paraphernalia must record the customer's personal information, the
description of the item bought, price of the item, and the date of
purchase, as well as provide picture identification of the customer to
the RCMP.

Micheal Vonn, policy director for the B.C. Civil Liberties
Association, said the proposed bylaw should be a concern to Langley
City citizens.

"It's not a little thing," she said. "We're concerned about the
overbreadth of it for the average person."

Like Arnold, she cited the example of buying rolling papers for
"grandma who likes to roll her own" and being added to a police registry.

"Good luck getting your name off of any police database," she
said.

She wondered why Council could not deal with simpler alternatives
first, such as creating a bylaw for the sale of drug paraphernalia to
be sold behind the counter.

"It would appear that this would be the logical step," she said,
adding that the bylaw being introduced now is very labour-intensive
for both the store clerk and the police.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is currently fighting what are
called surveillance databases in several municipalities and Vonn said
the B.C. Privacy Commission will be coming out with a report on the
issue very soon.

Arnold asked for an amendment to delete the two words at Monday
night's meeting, but it was quickly shot down by Council.

"There is a certain amount of common sense and logic here," said City
Manager Cliff Gittens. "It's referring to things obviously used for
the drug trade, not products obviously used for medical purposes."

Arnold said the definition may make sense now, but could lose its
intended meaning in the future.

"Hypodermic needles are not designed to do drugs," he said. "Bongs
are. Hash pipes are. And that's the type of thing we should be going
after."

The bylaw passed second reading - with Arnold opposed - and will move
forward as it was originally worded.

There are thought to be about five convenience stores in the downtown
area of Langley City that sell drug paraphernalia.