BUBBLE GUM AND 'BLUNT WRAPS'

Mom Fighting Drug Paraphernalia Sold In Corner Stores

Bonnie Neil is an unlikely anti-drug crusader.

The mother of four children ages one through 15 has had her share of
battles with substance abuse.

"Pot, coke, heroin and needles, there's nothing I haven't tried,"
said Neil, who has been clean since July 1, 1999 and hasn't had a
drink in two years. I've been to hell and come out the other side."

She lost several years with her oldest child while she went through
her addiction and hoped his understanding of her problems would
prevent him from experimenting with drugs.

But those hopes were dashed last month when she learned the Grade 9
student and a buddy got their hands on some marijuana and smoked it
in a pipe purchased at a Thorold Stone Road convenience store.

So, Neil finds herself an unexpected ally of those who urged teens to
just say no when she could not.

Neil has written letters and placed phone calls to politicians and
the media, calling for the loophole that makes it legal to sell items
such as pipes, 'blunt wraps' (rolling papers) and bongs - even to
kids too young to legally buy alcohol or tobacco - to be tightly closed.

"I know my son's going to experiment," said Neil.

"Peer pressure is so high. I don't forget when I was his age. You
can't stop that, but you can certainly stop contributing to the problem."

According to Det. Sgt. Shawn Briggs of the Niagara Regional Police's
street crime unit, there is little police can do.

"Theoretically, it's not an offence in itself to be in possession of
a (crack) pipe," he said.

"The possession of crack is a criminal offence. The pipe is just a
tool to use it."

However, Briggs would like to see the law changed to protect minors.
"I agree wholeheartedly that these pieces of merchandise without
question aid a potential user in furthering their drug habits and/or
experimentation," he said. "Is there a moral issue? I would think there is."

A clerk working in the Busy Bee store where Neil's son bought the
pipe said only the manager could comment on merchandise sold in the
store. He said he could not reach the manager by phone and he was
unaware of when the manager was expected to return.

However, the man did say there are "not too many" young people who go
into the store to buy those types of items.

The clerk also indicated there have been no complaints from shoppers,
saying simply: "It is legal."

But Neil said that's not a good enough reason to sell something
intended for use with illegal substances.

By her own admission, Neil found her way from pot to crack to heroin
without having those items "on store shelves, right there by the candies.

"I don't understand. There should be an age limit on people getting
their hands on that ... and if they're going to have this stuff, it
should be tucked away and you have to ask for it. "

Neil said she went to the Big Bee store on Montrose Road Wednesday
morning and was "shocked" at the ease with which the items could be purchased.

Neil said she spent about $20 and purchased a pipe with a pot leaf
logo painted on it, filters and a small packet of salvia - a
hallucinogenic root people use to get an inexpensive "natural" high.
"I was sick," she said. "It was right there by the candies like it's
nothing and I was like, 'Holy jumpin' this is too easy.'"

The store's owner denied selling salvia, but said he has no qualms
about selling pipes, bongs or rolling papers to kids.

"Is it not legal? Is there something wrong with that? Everyone sells
them," said the man, who did not provide his name, but identified
himself as the owner.

He said parents - not corner-shop operators - have the responsibility
to ensure children don't dabble with drugs.

When asked if he felt an obligation to refuse to sell those items to
someone too young to purchase tobacco or alcohol, he said: "Why
should I? I'm not doing anything wrong."

Mike Reda, who owns the Big Bee name along with several stores in
Hamilton where the company is based, said he advises owners against
selling those items.

"We don't promote it and we always tell (independent owners) this is
not good for your community," Reda said. "I can tell them
friend-to-friend to take it out, but you can't make them."

Neil's hope there will be a law put in place to restrict those sales
may be a lot to wish for.

Although drug laws fall under federal jurisdiction, it's the
provincial government that would decide if the items Neil is talking
about should be restricted to adults only. And Queen's Park won't be
in session until after the October election.

"The question, from our point of view is, 'Is it fair to make
something like that a Criminal Code offence?'" said Niagara Falls MP
Rob Nicholson, Canada's Justice Minister, said. "Store owners should
be in the business of responding to what customers want."

Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor said he'd like to see the government
make it harder for kids to get their hands on drug-themed
merchandise, either by including it in with legislation against
grow-ops or by outlawing the display of such items in convenience
stores, just as it intends to do with cigarettes.

"That pipe can only be used for one thing as far as I'm concerned and
it's illegal," he said."To allow children to go in and buy it, that is wrong."