U.S. SAYS IT HAS CUT OFF SUPPLIES OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA

Federal officials said today that they had shut down the major suppliers of
drug paraphernalia in the United States in a series of nationwide raids,
arresting 55 people who prosecutors said had trafficked in an array of
merchandise that included lipstick-shaped marijuana pipes and gas-mask bongs.

Drug paraphernalia, once the province of neighborhood head shops, has
"exploded" into a multimillion-dollar industry through the Internet, as
suppliers have shopped their wares on public Web sites with little fear of
prosecution, officials said in announcing the arrests.

Federal officials said the raids had yielded several tons worth of drug
paraphernalia used both by suppliers to help produce drugs for resale and
by users to conceal drugs. Investigators said the items — which included
drug pipes hidden in school highlighters, soft-drinks cans and lipstick
cases — would sell for tens of millions of dollars on the open market.

The authorities also shut down a dozen or so Web sites that had been used
to sell paraphernalia. People who tried to log on were instead directed to
a Drug Enforcement Administration Web site that informed them that the
dealers were out of business.

While trafficking in drug paraphernalia is a violation of federal law, it
is a crime that has rarely attracted the interest of the federal
authorities. But Attorney General John Ashcroft said the department decided
to launch a multiagency undercover operation after a recent case in
Pittsburgh involving a national dealer had pointed up the depth of the problem.

Some groups opposed to the Bush administration's drug policies questioned
whether the Justice Department was wasting its resources on a fairly
obscure part of the drug-trafficking industry.

But Mr. Ashcroft, joined by the head of the D.E.A. and the White House drug
czar, said the rising ease with which young people could get their hands on
paraphernalia was a growing concern to him and others in the administration.

"This is a federal case because it's against the federal law," Mr. Ashcroft
declared. He said the paraphernalia business "has invaded the homes of
families across the country without their knowledge."