CLEARING THE AIR

With the proliferation of medical marijuana centers across Colorado,
local drug-enforcement officials have adjusted their attitude when it
comes to policing smoke shops that sell drug paraphernalia. No longer
are authorities concerned about supplies used for smoking marijuana.
Nor are they overly concerned about scales, stash cans or little
baggies commonly used to package cocaine and methamphetamine, said
Pat Downs, director of the Southwest Drug Task Force.

"Nowadays, with the advent of the medical marijuana laws, that
changes things a little bit because, technically, if you have a
medical marijuana license, you can smoke marijuana in the privacy of
your home, and you have the ability to have the paraphernalia to do
that," Downs said. "It's not as much drug paraphernalia as it used to be."

That wasn't the case five years ago when the Task Force obtained a
warrant to raid Still Smokin, a head shop on north Main Avenue.

Authorities seized hundreds of water pipes for smoking marijuana and
thousands of metallic, ceramic and glass pipes for smoking weed. They
also collected hundreds of glass pipes for smoking methamphetamine or
crack cocaine; thousands of small bags commonly used to package
methamphetamine or cocaine; different types of scales and weighing
devices; urinalysis test kits; detoxification supplies; and stash
cans disguised as soda cans.

The owner, James Bender, pleaded guilty to one count of selling drug
paraphernalia and was sentenced to 10 days on electronic home
monitoring. Efforts to reach Bender for comment on this story were
unsuccessful.

But his attorney, Arrlon Stoker of Farmington, said the bust was a
sham then and wouldn't have any legal merit today with the
legalization of medical marijuana.

"My thoughts were, don't you have something better to do?" Stoker
said of the 2005 bust.

And as for now, he said: "How would you ever be able to discern who
is buying it for a legalized medical purpose as compared to another purpose?"

The bust occurred before the Obama administration announced in
October 2009 that federal prosecutions of medical marijuana would be
discouraged.

Now Durango boasts three smoke shops that sell much of the same
merchandise as Still Smokin, including scales, glass pipes,
detoxification kits and the little baggies commonly used to keep drugs.

Two of the shops - Wild Side Gifts, 2151 Main Ave., and Gandolf's,
2165 Main Ave. - are within two blocks of Durango High School. The
third, the Downtown Smoke Shop, is in the Central Business District
at 1101 Main Ave.

All three store owners said they don't sell to minors. And all three
said they prohibit customers from talking about drugs or using slang
words such as "bong," which describes a water pipe used to smoke pot.
Head shops have maintained this policy for years, believing that if
customers refer to the merchandise by tobacco names, no legal trouble
can befall them.

Downs said it doesn't matter what customers call the merchandise;
either way, a case can be made that the stores are selling drug
paraphernalia. But again, the Task Force has other priorities.

"We work on other things than drug paraphernalia," Downs said.

It would be hypocritical for law enforcement to shut down
paraphernalia stores while medical marijuana centers are allowed to
sell many of the same supplies, said Tom Gorman, director of the
Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Traffic Area, or HIDTA, which
divvies out federal funds to drug task forces in a four-state region.

If smoke shops are catering to meth users, they should be dealt with,
said 6th Judicial District Attorney Todd Risberg. Otherwise, they
should be left alone.

"(The Drug Task Force) has more important things to do," Risberg
said. "If it's a legal business, we don't have a problem with it."

The merchandise sold in smoke shops have legitimate uses, but when
it's used for illegal activity is when a problem arises, said Durango
police Capt. Micki Browning. And the problem doesn't arise with the
smoke shop; rather it is with the individual who engaged in the
illegal activity, she said.

"They've been properly permitted, and they are retail establishments,
and we treat them just like any other retail establishment," Browning said.

"The retail establishment will tell you there's a legitimate use for
each and every one of those items," she added.

The Downtown Smoke Shop, which opened eight months ago, carries glass
pipes, water pipes, hookahs, scales, vaporizers, stash cans, little
baggies and gas-mask bongs - cheap gas masks with a water pipe
attached. The store claims to have the lowest prices in town.

Owner Mohammad Assi said many of his customers have medical marijuana
cards, and about 60 percent are 50 or older.

His family operates smoke shops in Chicago, California, New Mexico and Cortez.

"Here in Colorado, to be honest with you, it's easy to get a card,"
Assi said. "A lot of people have the medical marijuana card."

Assi smokes four packs of cigarettes a day, but he's never tried
marijuana, he said. He's been smoking a hookah since age 11.

He doesn't sell merchandise used to consume crack and meth, he said.

"I don't want to make money to hurt people," he said.

Gandolf's prides itself on buying glass and tie-dye clothing from
local artists. It sells glass pipes, water pipes, detoxification kits
and bags that conceal the smell of herbs. It doesn't sell tobacco.

When Gandolf's opened 1 1/2 years ago, the "tobacco" section occupied
5 percent to 10 percent of the store, said owner Kristine Rhodes. Now
the glass-pipe section occupies more than half the store.

"This is what the public wants," Rhodes said. "There must be a need,
or there wouldn't be three glass shops in town."

She said 80 percent of her glassware is made locally.

"I want to have an upstanding store that is good for the community,
that helps the community," Rhodes said.

She was pleased to hear local drug-enforcement officials aren't
overly concerned about smoke shops.

"I was kind of concerned when we first opened," Rhodes said. "I tried
to keep a pretty low profile. But now, all is well. I feel kind of
blessed, relieved that they don't come in and bother us in any way."

Randy Saylors, president of Wild Side Gifts, insists on his customers
using tobacco references when inside the store. That may change over
time as medical marijuana becomes more acceptable, but for now, he
wants to play it safe.

"It's sort of a gray area right now," Saylors said. "If a guy has a
medical marijuana card, I'm not as concerned about it, but at the
same time, I can't turn it all around."

Downs, the task force director, said his agency still monitors the
smoke shops and will investigate complaints made against them - for
example, customers smoking weed in the parking lot or drugs being
sold on location.

It is well understood that the little 1-inch-by-1-inch baggies are
used to distribute crack and meth, but with a medical marijuana law
on the books, it is difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that
the bags aren't being used to distribute medical marijuana, he said.

"We believe we know what they're being used for, but having a
successful prosecution for that is unlikely," Downs said.

"Things are changing, and I guess we just have to see what the next
step is as far as the medical marijuana laws go," he said.