MERCHANTS TO BE URGED TO STOP SALE OF THE 'ROSE'

Police Say That Item Can Easily Be Used As A Pipe For Crack

Crack cocaine is plentiful in Winston-Salem, but police say that
convenience-store owners could help reduce drug abuse by removing
small glass tubes that sell for about $3 from their shelves.

The tubes are often kept behind the counter, police say. They are 4
inches long and have a small, plastic rose inside.

But the item has no practical use other than as a crack pipe, said
police Capt. David Clayton, the commander of the department's
special-investigations division.

"What appears to be a legitimate product is easily converted into drug
paraphernalia," Clayton said. "It makes it easier for the drug addict
to get a product to smoke (with)."

Police and the Forsyth County District Attorney's Office plan to
deliver a letter soon to convenience-store owners asking them to
voluntarily stop selling the tubes.

The letters will warn business owners that they could face criminal
charges if they continue to sell items that can be used as drug
paraphernalia. It is part of a move by police and prosecutors to
reduce the availability of drug paraphernalia in neighborhoods with
drug activity.

"We're telling business owners that this product is showing up on the
streets of Winston-Salem as a crack pipe," Clayton said.

The Greensboro Police Department arrested business owners during a
sting operation in November at 10 stores. Clerks were charged with
selling drug paraphernalia and other offenses.

Some of the people arrested in Greensboro, however, complained that if
the police had asked them to stop selling the items, they would have
stopped.

"We're giving the business owners in Winston-Salem an opportunity to
do just that," Clayton said.

But police may follow up the letter with an undercover operation and
could charge owners who continue selling the tubes, he said.

The tubes are nearly identical in size and appearance to other crack
pipes that police have found during investigations.

To use the tube as a pipe, someone simply peels the lid off, takes the
flower out, and inserts a small piece of a pot scrubber - an item also
sold at some convenience stores.

The crack sits on top of the piece of pot scrubber, and the drug user
inhales from the other end of the tube.

Azzat Amer has owned convenience stores for about 10 years, and now
owns A.Z. Patterson Grocery on Patterson Avenue, a car-repair shop and
pizzeria.

He sells the tubes at his convenience store, and he said they have
been around for as long as he has owned a store.

The tubes, he said, are brought by distributors who also sell such
items as cookies, aspirin and cigarette lighters.

Amer said he would stop selling the tubes if police ask him to.

"I have to respect the law," he said. "If they say stop, I'll stop."

But he also questioned how serious a problem the tubes are. People can
use soda cans as drug paraphernalia, he said. Plus, convenience stores
sell lighters, which people use to smoke crack.

"You cannot stop the crack," he said.

Police say they think that getting rid of the tubes could help.

"If we're going to reduce the drug abuse in our community, we've got
to do everything we can," Clayton said.