FEDS CRACK DOWN ON INTERNET DRUG PARAPHERNALIA TRAFFICKING

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and John Brown III, acting administrator
of the Drug Enforcement Agency, announced on Feb. 24 the indictment of 50
people on charges of trafficking drug paraphernalia on the Internet, an act
that federal administrators lauded as a step forward in the war on drugs.

Operations Headhunter and Pipe Dreams produced the indictments against
national distributors, regional retail shops and individuals. Each count set
forth in the indictments carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison
and/or a $250,000 fine. DEA offices nationwide were involved in the
operations.

Ashcroft's announcement denounced the cyberspace expansion of the drug
paraphernalia industry, alleging it is invading the homes of families
without their knowledge.

Defendants were charged with conspiracy to sell and offering to sell various
types of drug paraphernalia, the DEA said. It also claimed defendants
knowingly and unlawfully sold items such as bongs, marijuana pipes, roach
clips and cocaine freebase kits, many of which were disguised as lipsticks
and markers.

Brown said the criminality of those who sell drug paraphernalia equals that
of drug dealing. Eleven Internet organizations were brought down as a result
of the operations, he said.

"People selling drug paraphernalia are in essence no different than drug
dealers," Brown said in a prepared statement. "They are as much part of drug
trafficking as silencers are part of a criminal homicide."

The operations were summarized by legislators and administrators as a boost
to the nation's drug prevention efforts and a message to drug and
paraphernalia dealers that the government is actively protecting America's
youth.

Many people are skeptical, however, that these actions are inefficient in a
time of increasing concerns about national security.

"The arrests are ridiculous," said Anthony Johnson, president of the MU
School of Law chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "The time and
resources are better spent going after terrorists," he said.

Keith Stroup, founder and director of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws, agreed with Johnson's sentiments.

"We think it's an extraordinary, foolish use of resources," Stroup said.

Malcolm Conant, a glassblower working for 101 North, an alleged
paraphernalia supply company in Arcadia, Calif., said the indictments are
unfair.

"These people were legit," he said.