MARIJUANA COUNTER-CULTURE TAKES HIT FROM LEGISLATIVE CRACKDOWN

Past the skateboards, clothing and wooden racks of records at 167 1/2
Marshall St. lies a tiny room where the black carpet-lined shelves of Skye
High showcases are nearly empty for the first time in the shop's seven-year
history.

Usually the shelves are covered in an array of multi-colored glass pipes,
but a recent Drug Enforcement Agency crackdown on stores marketing illegal
"tobacco" paraphernalia led to a half-price sale.

More than a month after the DEA conducted its largest paraphernalia
confiscation mission to date, worries have faded and some local sellers of
bongs and pipes are now restocking.

The crackdown on Internet sites and shops, known jointly as "Operation Pipe
Dreams" and "Operation Headhunter," involved more than 1,000 local, state
and federal authorities across Pennsylvania, Texas, Iowa and Idaho.

DEA spokesperson Frederick Geiger said there were no "take downs" or
arrests in New York during the busts.

"Operation Pipe Dreams and Headhunter are significant victories for parents
across the country," said DEA spokesperson Will Glaspy.

"Paraphernalia dealers are as much a part of drug trafficking as the drug
dealers. How can parents tell little Johnny not to use drugs when he's
walking by a headshop each day after school?" Glaspy added.

The operations, which originated from Pittsburgh and Des Moines, Iowa, took
18 months of planning and led to charges against 55 people across four states.

In the press, Attorney General John Ashcroft hailed the confiscation of
thousands of tons of paraphernalia as a victory against the $50 million
industry.

But while government and law enforcement officials rejoiced at the $2
million dollars worth of confiscated materials, which ranged from pipes to
bongs to "dugouts" or pipes disguised as high lighters, phony cigarettes
and lip stick cases, not everyone was pleased after the arrests.

This crackdown is just the latest battle in the government's perpetual war
against drugs.

A Recovering Journalist

In 1996 Bruce Mirken, the future communications director for the
Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project (a lobbyist group that
fights for medical marijuana legislation), was a freelance journalist in
California.

At the time, California voters were preparing to vote proposition 215,
which allows for medical marijuana use, into law.

Mirken was asked to write an article for "AIDS Treatment News" on what
society knows about the medical benefits of marijuana.

Mirken, who characterizes himself as "a recovering journalist," began to
get angry at what many people regard as government persecution regardless
of the facts about marijuana.

"First off, MPP is not a pro-marijuana group, we're an anti-jail group. And
the facts are that this is a drug that is measurably less addictive than
tobacco or alcohol and we arrest 750,000 people a year on marijuana
charges," Mirken said.

Mirken believes that declassifying marijuana as a "Type 1" hallucinogen and
introducing new marijuana legislation would cause a great shake-up in law
enforcement agencies across the country.

"You have to realize there is an enormously well-funded
drug-war-industrial-complex. Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal
drug by far and if it was made legal, a lot of law enforcement people stand
to lose their jobs," he added.

In support of its case, the MPP cites the following facts: eight states
including Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Maine, Alaska, Nevada, California and
Colorado have legalized medical marijuana use.

Additionally, 80 percent of Americans in a recent Time/CNN poll think
adults should be able to use marijuana legally for medical purposes. A
Zogby Group poll found that 66 percent of New Yorkers agreed with such
legislation.

Cannabis Campaign

Last month, the New York State Assembly Health Committee voted 16 to 6 on a
bill that would legalize the medical use of marijuana. The bill will go on
to the Codes and Ways and Means Committees and then to the state's Senate
for a vote.

The bill would allow physicians and other health care professionals who can
prescribe controlled substances to certify that a patient has a
life-threatening, degenerative or permanently disabling condition that is
best treated with medical marijuana, according to the office of Assembly
Member Richard N. Gottfried, chairman of the Health Committee and sponsor
of the bill.

A patient would be allowed to possess a small amount of medical marijuana,
which he or she could purchase from a strictly regulated non-profit
organization that was registered with the state.

"If a patient and his or her doctor agree that marijuana is the most
effective treatment for a serious illness, government should not
interfere," Gottfried said.

"The choice between swallowing a medication in a synthetic pill or inhaling
the natural form should be a medical decision, not a legal or political
issue," he added.

For some, marijuana reform isn't even a medicinal issue. The rainbow
colored glass pipes that greet customers who stroll into Underground
Leather on the SU Hill represent the perpetual dissent of the marijuana
counter culture. Tucked between a parking garage and The Varsity restaurant
on South Crouse Avenue, no one there seems worried.

Sidebar: "Notable Numbers"

50-Million dollars spent each year on illegal drug paraphernalia (illegal
pipes are classified by the DEA as any pipe or bong which conceals the use
of whatever is being smoked or which is clearly not meant for tobacco).

8-States with legalized medical marijuana laws on the books. The validity
of those statutes is currently being challenged in court by the government
(i.e. whether they can exist when they clearly conflict with federal law).

80-Percent of Americans think adults should be able to legally use
marijuana for medical purposes according to a November poll by Time/CNN.

750,000-People arrested each year for marijuana offenses in the United States.

2-Major lobbying groups in the U.S. for medical marijuana, both based in
Washington, D.C.: The National Organization for The Reform of Marijuana
Laws and the Marijuana Policy Project. Other groups that have supported
limited-use marijuana legislation in New York State include: the New York
State Nurses Association, Gay Men's Health Crisis and the New York AIDS
Coalition.

1986-The year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency approved THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in
synthetic pill form. Many doctors believe smoking marijuana is more effective.

60-Known chemicals in marijuana.