REEFER MADNESS

Ridding America Of Bongs Shows Wrong Priorities

One might have thought that a healthy fear of ridicule and a keen ear for
inadvertently funny symbolism might have stopped federal authorities from
calling their recent nationwide crackdown on head shops "Operation Pipe
Dreams."

As it stands, there's plenty to laugh at thanks to anti-drug zealotry at
the highest levels of the Justice Department. When coordinated raids in
half a dozen states netted the government tons of paraphernalia and 55
arrests last week, bong-sucking potheads didn't figure -- no pun intended
-- high on most Americans' list of subversives who needed to be rounded up.

With the nation on Orange Alert at the time, the only bearded men most
Americans wanted to see in custody were members of al-Qaida. Americans with
marijuana smoke coming out of their ears like Cheech and Chong are
considered at best charming anachronisms. They don't rise to the occasion
as national security threats despite trafficking in roach clips, bongs and
miniature spoons.

The raids were based on information gathered from the 2000 prosecution of
the owner of two former head shops in Downtown Pittsburgh. Akhil Kumar
Mishra, the owner of Novelties International at 130 Fifth Ave. and Hari's
Karishma at 238 Forbes Ave., was sentenced to two years in federal prison
for conspiracy and selling products used primarily for illegal drugs.
Mishra's wife, Rajeshwari, was sentenced to five months.

One has to ask if this is the right time to open a new, and petty, front on
the so-called war against drugs and whether the federal government is
devoting too many precious resources to busting suppliers of exotic pipes.
Does Attorney General John Ashcroft truly believe that taking the bongs
away will stop Americans from smoking pot? Surely, someone at the Justice
Department knows better than that.

Given the urgency of the hour, it doesn't seem right for the attorney
general to pursue his fixation with reefer madness.