IT'S UNANIMOUS - 'PIPE DREAMS' A BOZO MANEUVER

Two weeks ago, as part of "Operation Pipe Dreams," Drug Enforcement
Administration agents arrested three glassblowers operating a business on
South G Street, freezing their assets, putting them out of business and
throwing many others out of work.

Questions: Is Operation Pipe Dreams a worthy use of federal law enforcement
assets? Will it be effective in reducing drug use?

Answers:

Ever since the American Revolution, there has been a struggle going on
between the state and federal governments over where power should reside.
The "Federalists" won at the founding of our country and destroyed a
fledgling local democracy mass movement (the "Anti-Federalists"), which had
been at the core of the revolutionary energy that existed. Democracy has
suffered immensely ever since, with the Feds throwing their weight around.

This is just the latest outrageous abuse of federal authority over we the
citizens of the U.S. Prop 215, which legalized medicinal marijuana, was such
a significant moment in this struggle because it demonstrated that states,
through the ballot box, can successfully wrest power away from the Feds. 215
created what is frequently called "a crisis of jurisdiction." Its organizers
successfully shifted the point of battle from pot smokers vs. police to
state and local government vs. federal government. In other words, the
battle was transformed from a battle about pot smoking to a battle about
real democracy. ALL of our struggles for justice in this country could and
should be utilizing such a tactic, as it forces the key question: Who's in
charge here? The people via the ballot box or some distant governmental
agency or corporation? No matter the issue: clearcutting, cell towers, water
export, you name it: all of these are issues of power: who's in charge over
these decisions? People or our governmental (or corporate) servants?

Operation Pipe Dreams is disgusting. It's a waste of public money. It's
opposed by most Californians. It has thrown dozens of people out of work in
a struggling local economy. It will have no impact on drug use.

And we at the local and state level need to continue to craft strategies
that return governing authority to the people so that this kind of federal
abuse of power is no longer possible.

Paul Cienfuegos

I agree with Bruce Hamilton and your editorial (Eye, March 4, 2003) that the
raid by the DEA on 101 North was misguided, wasteful and an example of
bureaucracy run amuck. This is another example of a current trend in America
to find a culprit for every misfortune. Cigarette manufacturers are still
found guilty of causing cancer, even though smokers are fully aware that
smoking is dangerous. Companies which had only the slightest use of asbestos
must pay huge damages to people who, though healthy, have some slight risk
of someday having mesothelioma. A woman won a million-dollar judgement
against McDonald's because she suffered burns from the coffee when she held
the cup between her legs. Cause and effect can often be very farfetched.

I am sure that the people at 101 North were well aware of the fact that
their products were sometimes used as drug paraphernalia, but they did not
sell them as such and did not facilitate such activities. In a similar vein,
the firearm companies do not sell their weapons to criminals (gun
registration takes care of that) or encourage their customers to commit
murder. However, I do not foresee the current administration going after the
firearm companies anytime soon.

Forbes E. Forbes

Operation Pipe Dreams is a huge waste of taxpayers' money and a real blow to
the local economies of every city where businesses like these were targeted.
(A friend of mine who lives in Eugene said their local glassblowers were
employing 100 people - all instantly jobless thanks to the DEA.) Since this
operation does nothing to reduce the drug supply, there will be absolutely
no effect on drug use.

Becky Luening

This is just an example, reminder, and warning of what an out-of-control
government agency can do. This is exactly why it is important and
appropriate for our City to make a stand for the Constitution, and against
those who would desire to set us up with an "American Taliban" style of
behavior monitoring.

I refer to the 10th Amendment which states that any powers not expressly
given to the feds are reserved for the states. Nowhere in the Constitution
is there any reference to the making of glassware.

I heard the federal spokeswoman on the subject on a local radio station
where she stated frighteningly that "everyone knows" what glass pipes are
really used for. Well, everyone also knows that in an emergency, one uses
cheap commercial corncob pipes for the same purpose as the glass ones, so
why aren't the feds hauling away the top management of Long's Drugs in
handcuffs?

And no, this won't be effective in reducing drug use, nor will it, as
Director of National Drug Control Policy John P. Walters desires,
"...protect our young people from the harms of illegal drugs." I feel quite
adequate as a parent, to protect my children against the "harm" of glass
pipes. I just wish the government had equally zealous energies to protect my
children against the real and present harm of local school administrators.

Judith Maxey

The whole notion that putting a purveyor of glass pipes out of business will
prevent even a single person from using drugs is simply ludicrous.

In the era where schools, lunch programs for seniors, day programs for
people with disabilities, homeless shelters and a slew of other worthwhile
endeavors are going unfunded, this was one of the most ridiculous wastes of
federal money I can think of. I would say it's unbelievable, but with our
current administration, it is all too believable. Disgusting, but
believable.

Marcia Tauber