STORE NO PLACE FOR BONGS

Dear Editor,

I have lived in Walnut Grove for the past eight years. My kids grew up
here, and despite my recent discovery, I still consider it to be one of the
best places to live.

Imagine my shock when shopping at a local convenience store to find it
selling bongs and pipes. The bongs, glass containers that can be used to
smoke marijuana or freebase cocaine, and pipes, which can be used to smoke
crack cocaine among other things, are displayed on the front counter, with
a neon sign proudly claiming, "New Item."

I felt compelled to make inquiries about these items to the store owner,
resulting in comments like: "I don't sell to children; it's my business,
and I have a right to sell what I want; if I don't sell to them, someone
else will or they will just go to 208th and buy it;" and the kicker, "you
don't pay my rent."

Well, in fact, I do pay the store's rent, in part, every time I or my
children purchase a product.

I have discovered that there is no law preventing stores from selling drug
paraphernalia. Despite the RCMP's efforts and my appeals to the moral
aspect of contributing to drug abuse, our requests to remove the product
have gone unheeded.

I intend to do my small part by ensuring my family refuses to patronize a
store that does not respect my efforts to keep my children and my community
drug free. I hope others will send the same clear message to owners of
stores who sell such items.

C. King, Walnut Grove