SARASOTA PIPE MAKER FACES DRUG PARAPHERNALIA CHARGES IN IOWA

Perhaps Chris Hill got too high-profile for his business - manufacturing
the glass and plastic pipes marijuana smokers commonly use.

He was listed among Inc Magazines's 500 fastest growing private companies
in 1999 and he had his brand name, Chills, stamped on the personalized
license plate on his Porsche.

But now the Sarasota businessman is facing up to 20 years in prison,
charged by federal prosecutors in Iowa with distributing drug
paraphernalia. Federal agents say they found his pipes when they raided
three Iowa smoke shops. His trial has not been scheduled.

Hill says prosecutors are picking on him.

"If anyone had ever said, 'You're breaking the law; you need to stop,' I
would have called my attorney and then I would have stopped," Hill said.
"But it's not that kind of party. They want to shoot first and ask
questions later."

The Iowa prosecutors declined to comment on the case when contacted by the
Sarasota Herald-Tribune. They would not say whether the government plans to
go after other wholesalers whose wares were found in the Iowa shops.

Hill's attorneys have their own theories.

"Maybe they're bored in Iowa," Victor Martinez said. "We have legitimate
drug problems to pursue, without having to really stretch it."

Hill says he took steps to make sure that the 1,100 shops that sold Chills
pipes operated within the law. His sales representatives asked store owners
if they sold "High Times" magazine or other "drug-oriented" publications,
he said.

He wouldn't sell to "head shops," businesses that blatantly cater to drug
users, he said.

But he did do business in Iowa with stores that had names like "Hemp Cat"
and "Head on In."

Since his indictment last September, Hill has stopped making pipes. His
inventory now consists of tobacco and rolling paper.

One bit of evidence prosecutors are using against Hill is his company's
logo _ the face of a space alien labeled WORLD DOMINATION, saying it's a
sign of a conspiracy.

Hill says prosecutors have been watching too many James Bond movies.

"They're accusing me of trying to take over the world," he said. "Maybe I
should have a little white cat and shave my head."