SHOPS WALK A FINE LINE WITH DRUGS

Mike Martin is quick to point out that his shop doesn't sell bongs.

"Bongs are illegal in the state of Oklahoma," he said. "We sell water pipes
intended for tobacco use only."

That intent -- regardless of what common sense suggests will actually be
smoked in the pipes -- is one of the things that keeps Drew's Tobacco World
on the right side of the law.

"The public is apt to operate on common sense," said Scott Rowland,
attorney for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. "They
are apt to say, 'C'mon, that's not a tobacco pipe. Everyone knows that's
used for marijuana or methamphetamine.'

"But common sense doesn't matter in court."

When it comes to drug paraphernalia, what does matter in court is a list of
standards so full of loopholes that semantics become the difference between
legality and illegality.

State law lists things ranging from water pipes to cocaine spoons as
illegal. Under Oklahoma statute 2-101, some items to be considered drug
paraphernalia include:

Metal, wooden, acrylic, glass, stone, plastic or ceramic pipes with or
without screens, permanent screens, hashish heads or punctured metal bowls;

Water pipes;

Carburetion tubes and devices;

Smoking and carburetion masks;

Roach clips, meaning objects used to hold burning material -- such as a
marijuana cigarette -- that has become too small or too short to be held in
the hand;

Miniature cocaine spoons and cocaine vials;

Chamber pipes, carburetor pipes, electric pipes, air-driven pipes,
chillums, bongs, ice pipes or chillers.

However, the statute also spells out exceptions: "The term 'drug
paraphernalia' shall not include separation gins intended for use in
preparing tea or spice, clamps used for constructing electrical equipment,
water pipes designed for ornamentation or pipes designed for smoking tobacco."

Rowland said, "What the statute does is set up a list of things that are
commonly used as drug paraphernalia ... but the fact is, almost anything
can be used as paraphernalia. So then the question becomes, do you try to
make everything illegal that could possibly be used as paraphernalia, or do
you do nothing?"

On the federal level, officials chose to attack last month. On Feb. 24,
Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Drug Enforcement Agency announced 50
arrests nationwide on complaints of trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia.

Operations Pipe Dreams and Headhunter targeted Internet companies that sold
items similar to those found in Oklahoma City tobacco stores.

"People selling drug paraphernalia are in essence no different than drug
dealers," said John B. Brown III, acting drug agency administrator. "They
are as much a part of drug trafficking as silencers are a part of criminal
homicide."

The key difference, if one exists, between the people who were arrested in
the federal sweep and those operating shops locally is that the agency
claims "all the defendants knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully sold the
items for use with illegal narcotics."

That sort of intent, Rowland said, is difficult to prove.

"Just selling bongs and water pipes is not enough," he said. "Those factors
must be considered in terms of paraphernalia. Proximity to drugs is one
consideration. Whether or not there is residue of illegal narcotics is
another."

At Martin's shop, packaging is everything. Nothing is labeled as being
intended for use with drugs, and nothing bears the images of controlled
substances.

"If a customer comes in with a marijuana leaf on his shirt, he's kicked
out," Martin said.

Other smoke shops aren't as scrupulous.

Ziggyz Smoke Novelty Shop sells an assortment of products emblazoned with
marijuana leaves, as well as pseudoephedrine, finger scales and books on
how to cook methamphetamine.

"We're not really a smoke shop or a head shop," said one employee at the
store. "We're just a general merchandise store."

That kind of subjective distinction, Rowland said, is precisely the problem
when it comes to enforcement.

"It's a really murky line," he said, "but it's an important one. If we
don't push against that line from time to time, we're going to have these
places showing up on every street corner."

Facts About Drug Paraphernalia

Possession of paraphernalia is a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to a
year in county jail, a $1,000 fine or both.

Residue (the presence of an illegal drug) and proximity (the nearness to
illegal drugs) are the two biggest factors in determining whether something
can be considered paraphernalia.

Most drug paraphernalia arrests are made in conjunction with more serious
drug offenses.

Oklahoma has no statute against trafficking in drug paraphernalia. Federal
charges can still apply.

SOURCE: Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs