SHOP INAPPROPRIATE FOR DOWNTOWN: CIPOLLA

Decisions, decisions.

This past summer, two women in their late teens were surveying a
selection of flavoured rolling papers displayed behind the counter at
Happy Dayz, the downtown business that bills itself as "the
tobacco-free smoke shop."

"I'm torn between pina colada and peach passion," declared one
shopper, a cheerful 19 year old who declined to give her name.

"You can just call me Mary Jane," she added with a giggle.

Nearby, a seemingly endless assortment of custom-made pipes occupied a
series of shelving units, their multi-coloured contents secured behind
glass doors.

Elsewhere were more elaborately designed bongs - elongated tubes that
use water to filter out impurities in smoke.

Just what sort of smoke is pouring forth from those products once they
leave the store is anybody's guess, though at least one city
councillor has his suspicions.

"We work hard as parents to keep kids away from drugs, but when you
start to see blatant publicity of drug paraphernalia, what kind of
message are we sending kids?" Ralph Cipolla said this week.

Prompted by concerns from parents and merchants, Cipolla wants city
staff to investigate whether local licensing bylaws could be used to
regulate such businesses, and even bar them from the downtown.

"You can't stop people from opening up a business, but you can
legislate where it goes," he said. "You might say it is only allowed
in industrial areas, where kids don't have access to it."

Suggestions that his store is dealing in products that promote pot use
are off-base and ill-informed, owner Darcey Mullen said in an
interview this past summer.

All products, Mullen told Orillia Today, are intended strictly for
tobacco use, though customers wanting to use them for that purpose
will have to go elsewhere to purchase a tin of North Carolina's finest.

"(Smoking) is a dirty habit," Mullen, a non-smoker, added at the
time.

The Mississaga Street store is a sliver of a space wedged snugly
between two other shops on a downtown block that boasts a mix of
storefront styles, ranging from modern-day treatments to Victorian
makeovers.

The walls are painted tar-black, all the better to show off the
merchandise that lines the shelves on either side of the narrow aisle.

At the time of the interview, a red and white flag suspended from a
wall next to the cash register depicted what appeared to be a spiky
cannabis leaf, though Mullen was quick to point out that the leaf was,
in fact, hemp - marijuana's impotent cousin.

Another flag, however, was clearly emblazoned with the word
"marijuana," while a t-shirt jokingly read "Thank you for pot smoking."

"That's what the client wants," he said of the none-too-subtle
references to the illicit weed. "People want to push the limit."

While acknowledging council has no evidence to show the store's
products are used to consume illegal drugs, Cipolla said the easy
availability of those products sends a troubling message to local youth.

"What people do in the privacy of their own homes is their own
business, but when it affects kids and they have access to this stuff,
that doesn't cut it with me," he added.

Long a familiar sight in the downtown districts of Toronto and other
large urban centres, shops specializing in pipes, papers and other
smoking paraphernalia are popping up in small communities with
increasing frequency, said Mayor Ron Stevens.

"I think it is getting far out of hand," Stevens added. "The issue is,
if they are not illegal, how can we stop them? That's the problem."

While declining to comment on the business in question, Downtown
Orillia Management Board manager Pat Thor said "the DOMB certainly
encourages a family-oriented environment in the downtown. We promote
it as a family-friendly environment and we hope it remains that way."

In a letter received by council this week, a local parent whose son
died as a result of drug use, requested the city consider licensing
and regulating shops that sell "drug paraphernalia and smoking
accessories."

"I believe in the right of adults to use substances they choose and to
sell accessories to other adults," wrote Michael Rothwell. "I also
believe that children have corresponding rights to have reasonable
steps taken for their own welfare."

He said that age restrictions would be helpful in preventing youths
from purchasing materials commonly used to smoke drugs.

"Once addicted to a drug, individuals have a very difficult time
making better choices for themselves," he added.

Reached on Thursday, Mullen warned that any attempt to drive his shop
from the downtown would face a costly legal challenge, mounted by a
retail council working on behalf of more than 400 Ontario-based pipe
shops.

"It would be a lost battle for the city," he said. "Everything is sold
for legal purposes and legal purposes only. I do not sell drugs, I do
not advocate the use of drugs. What more is a guy to say?"

"If someone uses it for (drugs), they are the ones breaking the law,"
he added.

Mullen, who owns a second store in Midland, said he commonly turns
away potential customers who appear too young to be smoking any product.

"They don't need to see it and I don't want them in the store," he
said.