[TarpleyG]

Doesn't the country, in general, have more important things to worry about? Why is this cretin busy with this stuff? AshKKKroft and his bible-thumping political agenda is why I may not cast a vote for Bush next time around. This has got to stop!

I was listening to Howard Stern this morning and he brought this story up. He makes a very valid point asking why the AG's office isn't going after the likes of Enron execs, etc. for their actions instead of wasting time and money on this type of thing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. raids firms selling items used by pot smokers
Ashcroft blames Internet for paraphernalia
Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/02/25/MN171982.DTL

Saying high times are over for those who sell pipes and bongs favored by pot smokers, federal agents raided more than 100 homes and businesses throughout the nation Monday, including a glass-pipe company owned by actor- comedian Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong fame.

The raids stemmed from the indictments of 50 people, including six in Northern California, who face federal charges of trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia.

Chong -- a man whose name is virtually synonymous with recreational marijuana use -- was not among those indicted, and he was not arrested during Monday's raids.

But the 64-year-old actor's Chong Glass company in Los Angeles was cleared of merchandise. A separate search of Chong's Pacific Palisades home uncovered a small amount of marijuana, according to a federal law-enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Authorities called the people who were indicted some of the nation's most popular distributors -- through storefronts, web sites and wholesale outlets -- of the often elaborate, artistic contraptions marketed in head shops as ostensibly "for tobacco use."

Federal grand juries in western Pennsylvania and Des Moines, Iowa, returned most of the indictments as part of "Operation Pipe Dreams," which included the Northern California suspects, and "Operation Headhunter," which targeted head shops in southern Iowa. Drug Enforcement Administration offices in several states were part of the investigation.

'BILLION-DOLLAR INDUSTRY'
"With the advent of the Internet, the illegal drug paraphernalia industry has exploded," said Attorney General John Ashcroft in a statement. "Quite simply, the . . . industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without their knowledge. This illegal billion-dollar industry will no longer be ignored by law enforcement."

Family members of some of the Northern California suspects said they were angered by a 6 a.m. sweep Monday in which agents raided homes, handcuffed suspects and others, froze bank accounts and seized merchandise from shops and warehouses.

"Why after seven years in business does this happen? Why not just approach us?" said Fern Thomas, 29, a bookkeeper for 101 North Glass Inc. in Arcata, Humboldt County, which sells blown-glass pipes and other products to resellers.

Thomas's fiance, Jason Vrbas, was arrested along with co-owners Ryan Teurfs and Gabriel Watson. All three men are 29. Late Monday, the suspects were still in custody.

CLASHES ALONG HAIGHT STREET
Authorities have clashed with head shops -- best known in the Bay Area along San Francisco's Haight Street and Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue -- for decades over the sale of such items as hookahs, hand pipes and water bongs.

The debate, according to Steven Wishnia, a senior editor at High Times magazine in New York City, centers around "this weird semantic and semiotic definition applied to a piece of glass with a bowl at one end."

People who defend the sale of such pipes, he said, generally acknowledge they are meant for marijuana users. But many believe it's not a proprietor's business to predict the way a product will be used.

Chong, who made his name in shades of green with partner Cheech Marin and last year stayed in character by playing a hippie pothead on "That '70s Show," was shocked by raids on his business and his home, said his publicist Brandie Knight.

"It's awful," she said. "They're talking about war and everything else, and I can't believe they can't spend their time better. Chong Glass is artwork" -- it was the subject of a Hollywood art exhibit in November -- "and we've been very careful about saying it's for tobacco use only, and you must be 18 years or older (to buy it).

"We've done everything the right way, and the government is saying there is no right way." Asked if Chong currently smokes marijuana, Knight said, "No comment."

PENINSULA ARRESTS
On the Peninsula, agents arrested Waleed A. Zahrieh, 37, of Los Gatos, and Nessar David Zahriya, 39, of San Mateo. The pair allegedly sold illegal drug paraphernalia through businesses called Wicked Corp. and Sands of Time.

Reached Monday, Zahrieh's wife, who declined to give her name, said only that her husband sold items for tobacco use.

In Forestville, Sonoma County, agents arrested John Matthew Patrick, 38, who owns California Colorchangers, Inc. Its Web site, www.colorchangingglass.com, features an array of pipes and bongs. Its cover page states, "I agree to use the products offered herein for legal purposes only."

On Monday, authorities refused to go into detail about their investigations except to say they involved undercover work. They said businesses could no longer protect themselves by posting signs or Internet warnings indicating their products were for tobacco use only.

The suspects, if convicted, face a maximum of three years in prison, a $250, 000 fine, or both, for each count in the indictments.

E-mail Demian Bulwa at dbulwa@sfchronicle.com.

[Tamara]

Can't get Osama, but Jeff Spicoli is easy prey for the uber G-man. :rolleyes:

[Joe Demko]

I will certainly be able to sleep better knowing that this dangerous criminal is off the streets.

[OF]

Wo(S)D. What a disgusting waste. Maybe after people see Tommy Chong in jail they'll realize that something is terribly wrong with war on drugs. This used to be a free country...at least last I checked.

:banghead: :fire: :cuss:

- Gabe

[Brett Bellmore]

I wouldn't go so far as to say Ashcroft would be the reason I'd vote against Bush, (Steel tarrifs and ZERO VETOS woud come to mind first.) But he has been a disappointment at the least. A few good words at the beginning, and ever since he's been defending gun control laws and pleading with the Supreme court to not even grant cert. to challenges.

[Augustwest]

Fewer innocents have died under his watch, but AG Ashcroft is no more a friend of freedom and justice than Janet Reno was.

[Carlos Cabeza]

Ya think those guys resisted arrest ? ;)

[mercedesrules]

edit: deleted

[GSB]

Thank heaven we are now safe from the Bong Scourge. :rolleyes:

[Augustwest]

Ya think those guys resisted arrest ?

Does, "Duuuude, this is such a bummer" qualify as resisting? :p

[El Tejon]

Well, O.K., he's the AG and its his decision. However, I wish he would go after ABC News with the same vigor!:D

[Art Eatman]

Given Ashcroft's background, I'm sure he's supportive of these raids.

Howsomever, the DEA has been looking for any possible excuse to do this sort of thing, for a long, long time. They've done other, similar deals. They've gone after "High Times" magazine for years, but that nasty old First Amendment keeps getting in the way.

I imagine a DEA staffer wrote the press release...

Still, it's Congress who wrote the laws, and y'all helped elect them.

Folks here were jumping up and down with happy smiles when Ashcroft spoke out in favor of our view of the Second Amendment. But we're stuck with the whole package of any Official Person...

Art

[Felonious Monk]

I am SO pissed.

Outlaw glass smoking devices. Yeah, THAT'LL stop 'em!

Fine. Individuals so inclined to use plants for sacrament or recreation will then make their OWN water pipes out of 2 liter bottles and plumbing fixtures.

No, wait--OUTLAW 2-LITER BOTTLES! Yeah, THAT'LL stop 'em!

Fine. Individuals so inclined to use plants for sacrament or recreation will then poke holes in tinfoil to make a bowl, and use paper towel tubes to make a "Steamboat".

No, wait--OUTLAW PAPER TOWELS! Yeah, THAT'LL stop 'em!

Fine. Individuals so inclined to use plants for sacrament or recreation will then fry it with a little butter to release/activate the delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, and bake it into sacramental wafers...unleavened bread... brownies...pizza....oatmeal...ANYTHING.

"No, wait--.....why don't we just stop making such a big deal out of otherwise peaceful people doing something FAR less likely than alcohol to cause them to damage themselves OR another person..."

<Ashcroft walks away, with the light REALLY coming on for the first time...>



...camera cuts to scene of sun rising over heartland America...music turns from ominous to promising...

...camera fade-in to footage of William F. Buckley delivering the final statements of his speech at a symposium on the Lost War on Drugs:

"Those who suffer from the abuse of drugs have themselves to blame for it. This does not mean that society is absolved from active concern for their plight. It does mean that their plight is subordinate to the plight of those citizens who do not experiment with drugs but whose life, liberty, and property are substantially affected by the illegalization of the drugs sought after by the minority.

I have not spoken of the cost to our society of the astonishing legal weapons available now to policemen and prosecutors; of the penalty of forfeiture of one's home and property for violation of laws which, though designed to advance the war against drugs, could legally be used -- I am told by learned counsel -- as penalties for the neglect of one's pets. I leave it at this, that it is outrageous to live in a society whose laws tolerate sending young people to life in prison because they grew, or distributed, a dozen ounces of marijuana. I would hope that the good offices of your vital profession would mobilize at least to protest such excesses of wartime zeal, the legal equivalent of a My Lai massacre. And perhaps proceed to recommend the legalization of the sale of most drugs, except to minors. "

[TallPine]

Quite simply, the . . . industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without their knowledge.

How does he figure that ...? No one has invaded my home - if they had, they would have ruined the carpet.

Ashcroft is nuts!

[Bruce H]

Seening as how I live in his home state I'll chime in. He never accomplished much while in state govt. Jean Carnahan beat him because too many were tired of him. He is just another control freak who really needs to be in jail. If he were half the bible thumper he claims to be and really believed it his actions would be different than they are. Just like a pond, scum rises.

[Grey54956]

I don't know if I would qualify JA as a fascist, but I think that some proposed legislation, as well as recently designed security measures creates a pro-fascist enviroment. I am no conspiracy theorist, and I don't wear a tinfoil hat, but I am beginning to see some definite and scary possibilities materializing.

Here is kind of what I am seeing:

Laws are being put in place to control morality and safety. Laws are being enforced, like this one, which are fairly silly or misguided. Mix this with Homeland Security, and the Patriot Act, and you've got the potential for a true Big Brother Society.

Take for instance if strong anti-gun legislation, and guns be slated for confiscation, many people would think to bury/hide firearms. However, there is a record of purchase for many of these arms, and so, records could be used to identify a gun owner/purchaser. These individuals could then be tagged as potentially dangerous travellers in the new airport security system (i.e. red flagged). Should these individuals attempt to use the air transit system, rail systems, etc. security will be instructed to immediately place these individuals in custody. Once in the hands of the authorities, the game is essentially over.

In other words, the government can at any time criminalize anybody, and then reduce them to second or third class citizen status by denying them public transit. Eventually, the instant background check system that will soon be in place for air travel will be applied to all public services, enabling the incarceration of any of the governments enemies.

Creepy?

[jimpeel]

After 9-11, when people started saying things like "It's our very freedoms that make us vulnerable" I knew that those freedoms would come under incessant attack. This is but another cog in the wheel that is lifting the revolution platform ever higher. God help us all when the cogs run out.

The only reason that drugs are illegal is because the government has not yet discovered an effective way of taxing them. On that day, drugs will begin to flow like the waters of the Mississippi and the backflow of dollars to the public treasury will be unparalleled in American history. Politicians will praise drug use -- in moderation, of course -- as the saving grace of the country; while, in the no longer smoke-filled rooms of Washington, the lights will burn well into the night as plans to spend this ill-gotten largess are launched by those who have a druglike need to institute their newest program rub their hands in great expectation.

[seeker_two]

Five will get you ten that Father Ashcroft will find away to tie this (and the rest of the WOD) to the War on Terrorism & get to use the new toys he has thanks to the Patriot Act(s)....:fire:

[2dogs]

But many believe it's not a proprietor's business to predict the way a product will be used.


Hmmmmm.............sounds like a familiar and valid arguement.

I'll tell ya what, Dopey. I'll support your right to responsibly use what ever recreational drug you choose until (what little) brains you have dry up, if you support my right to own whatever type firearm I choose, unfettered.

No, you won't do that because you are (likely) a commie punk liberal.

But I'll tell ya what..........................I still support your right to the poison of your choice..................with any luck there will be one less of you to take away my rights.
:neener:

[greyhound]

Five will get you ten that Father Ashcroft will find away to tie this (and the rest of the WOD) to the War on Terrorism & get to use the new toys he has thanks to the Patriot Act(s)....

They already have....remember those moronic "Jim? and Pete?" commercials they started running at the Super Bowl? "Jim" would say the WOD is a waste, and "Pete" would show him how drug trafficking finances terrorism? What a waste of $$$.

I love the term "Father Ashcroft"! LOL!:D

[Justin]

Now John Ashcroft is having people arrested because he doesn't like the shape of the glass objects they own?

What has that guy been smoking?

[Felonious Monk]

"Father Ashcroft"-- Didn't they call Stalin "papa" or "Baba" or something? (you're scaring me).

2dogs-- I'll tell ya what, Dopey. I'll support your right to responsibly use what ever recreational drug you choose until (what little) brains you have dry up, if you support my right to own whatever type firearm I choose, unfettered. No, you won't do that because you are (likely) a commie punk liberal. But I'll tell ya what..........................I still support your right to the poison of your choice..................with any luck there will be one less of you to take away my rights.That may have been the truth in the 70's; it may even be the norm today, that pro-drug people are also liberal commie blissninny scum...
Not everyone looks and acts like Cheech and Chong.

1) I am a college graduate with post-grad studies completed toward an M.A.
2) I am in a high-tech career field, married, with kids. Homeowner. Taxpayer. CCW Licensed. I am an elder in my church.
3) I vote conservative with libertarian leanings, usually Republican, on ALL issues EXCEPT this one.
4) I am for the option to use marijuana, peyote, (ANYTHING natural) as a sacrament OR simply as a "relaxation enhancer" just as one would have an evening cocktail in one's home (note: this does NOT include cocaine, acid, speed--chemically produced derivatives that can kill if abused).

4) THERE ARE FAR MORE JUST LIKE ME THAN YOU'D EVER THINK.


Stereotypes won't stand the light of scrutiny on this issue.
...and yeah, I AM a little like Reverend Jim on Taxi. :scrutiny: ;)

[rock jock]

I don't remember reading where the AG has the latitude to enforce only the laws that are popular, or that he personally likes, or for that matter, those approved by THR.

[gun-fucious]

(Soft knocks at the door)
CHONG: Who is it?
CHEECH: It's me, Dave. Open up, man, I got the stuff.
(More knocks)
CHONG: Who is it?
CHEECH: It's me, Dave, man. Open up, I got the stuff.

http://starbulletin.com/2002/08/02/features/artaa.jpg
The world's coming to an end
And I don't even care,
As long as I can have my limo
And my long blonde hair.

[Augustwest]

I don't remember reading where the AG has the latitude to enforce only the laws that are popular, or that he personally likes, or for that matter, those approved by THR.

Attornies General, DAs, etc. have a great deal of latitude in choosing what they will or won't prosecute.

[Brian Dale]

This sounds like an effective way of testing the procedures that might be used for other types of raids. It's safer to go after people that sell pipes to dope smokers than to jump right in on other types of citizen targets. As it stands, I'm dismayed that the Feds' limited resources were used for a series of raids that will not enhance our country's security at all. Did violent criminals and terrorists all disappear yesterday? Did I just not get the memo? If it's a practice run, I call "Foul." We don't provide those folks with all of their expensive tools so they can practice on the citizenry.

{Tinfoil hat ON} If I wanted to build an office empire (build my budget, hire more people, gain more authority by safely increasing the number of reported arrests and convictions for an activity that's hard to garner support for: dope smoking), then this would be the sort of thing that would be tempting. {Tinfoil hat OFF}

And I do not ever use illegal drugs. I just don't want to. Sure, I've got the Master's degree, I'm a Vol. FF, blah, blah, blah ... but I do not have to justify myself in order to argue that these raids look like a bad idea.

2dogs, please try to make your point without ad hominem attacks and insults.

[gun-fucious]

heres an archive of Tommy's site:
http://www.thememoryhole.org/drugs/pipe-sites/chong-glass.htm

[2dogs]

yeah, I AM a little like Reverend Jim on Taxi.

Ok, so we know you are a likable, funny guy. That's good.:D

2dogs, please try to make your point without ad hominem attacks and insults.

SYLLABICATION: ad hom·i·nem
PRONUNCIATION: hm-nm, -nm
ADJECTIVE: Appealing to personal considerations rather than to logic or reason

OK, I swear never to insult commie, punk liberals.:rolleyes:

It seems perfectly logical and reasonable to expect someone to respect my rights if I respect theirs. It may be an over generalization, but unless the world has changed beyond recognition in the last 30 years I'm willing to bet that most drug users consider themselves liberal, or libertarian (more likely the former) and I welcome the libertarians since they understand the concept of rights, responsibilty and personal liberty.

[2dogs]

Uh, Bob, one other point.

When I talk about "commie, punk liberals" I am talking about them as a subset of "liberals". Now granted they are probably a 99.9999999999% subset, but ,well, what can I say.

As for the vast number (let's see........there's Malone Laveigh...........and, um, er, the Clintons...............uh no, Charlie Rangle...................uh, no....................Charlie Schumer...........................gee, not him either. Maybe you can name a few) of liberals (in the classical sense, not the modern) who do support my rights, well I applaud them.

You see, that big subset wants to deny me the right and means to defend my life, and the lives of family, friends and others. That to me is the equivalent of wishing (and possibly making) me and mine dead. So to that subset I say kiss my happy @$$. They are my enemies, and as such are on a par with Nazis, Stalinists, Pol Pot, Yasar Arafat, Osama and every other demented escaped denizen from hell who would just as soon deprive others of life.

Hope that isn't to ad hominem.

:)

[rock jock]

Attornies General, DAs, etc. have a great deal of latitude in choosing what they will or won't prosecute.
Prosecute, or enforce? Those are separate issues.

[Standing Wolf]

More Great Victories in the war on drugs.

[gun-fucious]

Classs!
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?s=&postid=483647

[Ian]

(note: this does NOT include cocaine, acid, speed--chemically produced derivatives that can kill if abused)

Ah, shouldn't you also exclude alcohol and virtually every medicine ever produced? They're chemically produced and potentially lethal...

And remember that one guy a year or so ago who died from extreme over-use of aerosol deodorant? Perhaps that should be banned.

How about fugu? It's a Japanese delicacy made from poisonous blowfish, and kills a couple people every year.

These arbitrary "common sense" drug laws that people support are no better than the "common sense" gun laws that we know are so bogus. If someone wants to go shoot up with heroin, so what? People have the right to hurt themselves if they want to.

FWIW, I don't touch narcotics myself, and I fully support your absolute RKBA. :)

[MicroBalrog]

As for the vast number (let's see........there's Malone Laveigh...........and, um, er,

You know, I used to feel sorry that Jody, Shatoga, TexasVet and crew never visited THR. Now I don't.:fire:

[Bruce H]

Anybody here fish. Do you have any hemostats for removing fish hooks? You have paraphenalia. How is this any different from firearms? How does Tommy Chong control what happens to his product after delivery? Think people. This same principle can be applied to firearms and don't give me any sass about the 2nd Ammendment.

[sm]

Ya know, I'm growing more and more of an "attitude" with gummit meddlin.

I think I'll just move to the hills and make moonshine whiskey ( and I don't even drink)I'm sure there's a market and the gummit will be too busy surfin' the 'net. With the puny engines and front wheel drive vehicles the gummit has...old backroads , big blocks, beefy suspensions might be fun! :D

Sell for cash thus no taxes...really get the 'revenuer's' stirred up. Yep "alternative fuels" might be the way to go. Maybe expand into guns and tobacco. Work should be fun they say.

[Cal4D4]

Easy low risk target. Any decent "HRT" or SWAT squad ought to be able to take out a head shop with hardly any fatalities. Train up all your newbies for assaulting the more mainstream citizens. Keep the level of fear and insecurity at higher levels for better control. The only real cost is loss of support from the governed. Who needs 'em?

[Hkmp5sd]

Chong -- a man whose name is virtually synonymous with recreational marijuana use -- was not among those indicted, and he was not arrested during Monday's raids.

They did arrest Tommy Chong and he plead guilty back in May. Yesterday (9/11), he was fined $100,000 and sentenced to 9 months in jail.

[2dogs]

MicroBalrog

I'm not sure what your post was getting at.............................I wasn't criticizing Malone, I was putting him in the category of rare "liberals" who do support gun rights (which maybe means he isn't one?). And as such I have no problem with him.

Just in case you misread.:)

[gun-fucious]

Ashcroft Cracks Down On Dirty Bongs, Raids Chong



Posted on 02/28/2003 5:30 PM PST


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - On Monday, federal authorities charged 55 people with trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia. Shooting fish in a barrel, one of those investigated was actor, director, comedian and bong designer Tommy Chong.

Chong's company, Chong Glass, was raided, as was the actor's home. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the search of the "Up In Smoke" star's home turned up a small amount of marijuana.

The sweep, which the Drug Enforcement Agency coyly dubbed "Operation Headhunter" (targeting head shops in Iowa) and "Operation Pipe Dreams" (which snared suspects in Pennsylvania and California), were aimed at blunting the force of the chronic problem of internet-based sales of drug paraphernalia. Attorney General John Ashcroft described it as an "illegal billion dollar industry."

Online head shops (and their brick and mortar relatives) offer hookahs, hand pipes and water bongs, long hiding behind the assertion that they're not responsible for whether buyers use their products for smoking traditional tobacco or for illicit substances.

Chong was shocked by the raids. His publicist, Brandie Knight told the SFC, "It's awful. They're talking about war and everything else, and I can't believe they can't spend their time better."

In 2002, Tommy Chong showed many of his company's nicest pieces at an art show in Los Angeles in 2002. The Los Angeles Times described the show, at Ghettogloss, as "suspiciously rehearsed," but noted the installation's displays of colorful pipes, wooden sculptures, and graffiti art. While the theme of the even clearly encompassed marijuana culture, Ghettogloss owner Fiora observed at the time, "This is a legitimate art opening."

On the Chong Glass web site, every page is adorned with the warning "ALL PRODUCTS FOUND ON WWW.CHONGGLASS.COM ARE FOR LEGAL BLEND AND TOBACCO USE ONLY." A cybertour of the tubes, handpipes, hammers, sidecars and sherlocks available for purchase confirms the artistic aspirations.

The high prices also suggest that garden variety stoners may not be Chong's target clientele. The "Big Bamboo w/Percolator" costs $280, but comes with the promise that it's "what Tommy Chong's son uses."

The 64-year old Chong is best known for his partnership with Cheech Marin, during which the pair made seminal films including "Up In Smoke" and "Still Smokin.'" Chong also appeared in a more recent head classic, "Half-Baked." Most recently, the actor played generally blitzed photomatte owner Leo on FOX's "That '70s Show." It's possible the feds may have been tipped off to Chong by the titles of his films and his on-and-off-screen persona of blissful oblivion.

As neither Chong nor Chong Glass were specifically named on any of Operation Headhunter or Operation Pipe Dreams' indictments, it's unclear what kind of repercussions the actor will face.

[Brian Dale]

It's possible the feds may have been tipped off to Chong by the titles of his films and his on-and-off-screen persona of blissful oblivion.

{swivels head so that the spray of decaf misses the monitor and keyboard}
That - is - SOOOOOO - Funny! :D

When I was in junior high, I had a copy of the Big Bambu album

{edited to add - by Cheech and Chong: Cheech Marin, who recently played a detective in a TV series IIRC, and Tommy Chong from the story above}
{wisecrack on the nature of a "record album" deleted b/c it was dumb}.

Inside the album cover was a doubled sheet of paper the consistency of the paper used to roll Bull Durham or Drum tobacco. Yep, a free gimmick - a giGANtic rolling paper. Paraphernalia. Any guesses about the topic of one of the comedy routines on the record? Yep. And nobody ever got prosecuted, AFAIK.

There are more important uses for Federal resources.

[feedthehogs]

Ashcroft reminds me more of Stacy Keach everyday.

First rule of war on terror,
Go after the potheads, confiscate their stuff, smoke and wear tin foil hats.

Shake the 8 ball and Osama and Sadam will appear and reveal their locations.

Pot will also cure the nausea created by throwing the constitution out the window.

[Jim March]

I've never done pot or any other recreational drug in my life. Don't drink, don't smoke. Hardest "drug" I've done was Vicodin prescribed for a toothache...finished half the bottle over the course of a week or so, normal dosages, put the rest away for a rainy day.

BUT.

I have had JUST about enough of this crap.

Swear to God, if it's down to Bush vs. Dean and Dean promises not to put a FREAKIN' PSYCHO in as AG, and names somebody reasonably sane for the job before election day, I'm gonna vote against the shrubya and I'm gonna grin while I do it.

There's a limit.

Grrrrr...

Chong's sole "crime" was not keeping his acting career alive, so he had to settle for this to keep the bills paid.

I'm serious. I've freakin' HAD IT.

[Cal4D4]

What a screwy application of law! Feddies raid shops selling inert glassware. Local D.A. rejects cultivation cases of fewer than 25 plants - especially when no property seizure is possible and the "name three and go free" doctrine is followed. Ed Rosenthal is busted while cultivating medicinal weed under local LE consent. Alcohol is still named as the #1 drug of abuse and societal damage and The Lancet gets 15" of newspaper column bemoaning the "brown plague" of tobacco smoking and the 4.84 million who died worldwide in 2000 from it. Chong's arrest got 4" of column on the same page (and nobody seems to have died worldwide from dope smoking in 2000 or any other year). I am left just a little confused by all this. Time to go to the range.

[Combat-wombat]

I feel so much safer now.:rolleyes:

[gun-fucious]

i notice above that selling hookas online is an illegal BILLION dollar business

one might think a billion dollar business would have long ago greased the legal skids via the campaign contribution

i kinda doubt the entire firearm ecosphere is a billion dollars a year

[GinSlinger]

Jim March:

Hardest "drug" I've done was Vicodin prescribed for a toothache...finished half the bottle over the course of a week or so, normal dosages, put the rest away for a rainy day.

Just so you know, you MAY be violating a WOsD statute. Most of the prescription statutes that I am familuar with are state/local, but most frown upon keping a prescription for a "controlled substance" longer than the normal dosage would allow.

This is where we have come to folks. If any of you want to prepare for what the end days of gun ownership may look like, just study the war on marijuana. Originally the government required you to have a tax stamp which you could only get if you carried you pot to a post office or other source. Course to do that you were already in possesion of unstamped marijuana and would be arrested. It was tax code. After thirty some years of that the gov't finally lost in court. For two years (give or take) marijuana was legal before the gov't just out-and-out banned it.

Prohibition took a constitutional amenment. The WOsD and gun-grabbing clearly won't.

GinSlinger

[Nightfall]

Properly used federal resources gives me warm, fuzzy feelings. More glass making terrorists off the street! Yay! Now if only they could do something about all those damn guns...

:barf: :rolleyes:

[Orthonym]

1. I don't know how good those glass pipes are for smoking dope, but as art objects they're, well, UGLY!

2. Dave's not here.














(Oh, and I'm not Dave!)

[Hkmp5sd]

but as art objects they're, well, UGLY!

They are a lot better looking than anything currently considered "modern art". Fortunately, I prefer look at guns over looking at bongs.

[Augustwest]

Prosecute, or enforce? Those are separate issues.

Pretty sure the head of the "Justice" Department has enough leeway not to commit resources toward this nonsense.

[Master Blaster]

I seem to recall, that durring the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's, there were crack downs on purveyors of paraphenallia, just like the current one.

Carter cracked down (Bongs, and sprayed paraquat in mexico creating a domestic marajuana growing business), Regan cracked down , Bush 1 cracked down, Even Bill pass the bong Clinton cracked down on evil drug paraphenallia.

The problem is each time the cases came to court, the arguement was made that these devices were for legal tobacco smoking, leaves banana peels etc. This is an irrefutable agruement in the long run, otherwise meershams would also be illegal, as well as cigarette papers, and heck even cigars, (inner city folks remove tobacco and then smoke the weed stuufed cigar known as blunts) And what about hollowed out cucumbers that can be used to smoke the devils dandylion.

Headshops closed, and then reopened again as tobacco shops.

Deja Vue.

:rolleyes:


Bunch o Crapo, to distract the masses,
Something to put in the paper to show that the $Billions spent on the war on some drugs is making progress, despite the fact that we all know it is an abject utter failure, and a complete counterproductive waste of money.

[Matt1911]

Hmm,if they can do this with tobaco pipes(what they are marketed for,your use may vary),can they do this with say ..Holley carbs,headers,(race car parts,what they are marketed for,your use may vary)?All which COULD be use on you pollution controlled daily driver and is against the law to do so.What other things will we be seeing twisted in this manner?

[Giant]

Ban everything that could kill ya! How about the guy several years back who drank too much Di Hydrogen Oxide and died? Yeah, what about that?

Ban it all! Di Hydrogen Oxide included...

Shrubya can't have my vote!

Giant

[Sergeant Bob]

Ban it all! Di Hydrogen Oxide included...
You're right, but I think it's dihydrogen monoxide. It kills more children each year than guns!

Edited to correct: Also refered to as dihydrogen oxide.
Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division (DMRD) (http://www.dhmo.org/)