old artical on the war on colored glass , why arent rolling papers illegal or writing paper for that matter.?
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old artical on the war on colored glass , why arent rolling papers illegal or writing paper for that matter.?
old article huh?
Dont worry about posting links or any pertinent information, we here at cann.com have ESP, extra sensory perception.
Gee, lets see, rolling papers are actually meant for ciggarettes, and have been used for that long before marijuana became popular.
btw, b&
Yeah, that hardly makes sense lol, but ok..
idk when i got pinched they charged me with papers :mad:
Did you have any weed on you, resin, the car smelled like it?Quote:
Originally Posted by endo..jay
Bong shops under attack!
by Reverend Damuzi and Dana Larsen (20 May, 2003) DEA attacks dozens of headshops, seizing stores, homes, and websites.
Ashcroft and Walters announce the arrests for drug paraphernalia.
Across the US, a combined force of the DEA, US Marshals, US Secret Service, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, and local police took their positions outside dozens of headshops.
It was February 24, 2003, the date chosen for the most widespread anti-paraphernalia raid ever: a two-headed drug war monster called Operation Pipe Dreams and Operation Headhunter.
As agents smashed into headshops, arrested owners, seized millions of dollars worth of merchandise and confiscated homes and stores, a wave of fear spread through the cannabis community. What do these raids mean to the future of our culture in America?
Police trail
The case originally stemmed from an investigation of Akhil Kumar Mishra, who owned two head shops in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2000, Mishra was sentenced to two years in federal prison and his wife got five months, solely for selling paraphernalia.
The investigation of Mishra led DEA agents to another Pennsylvania store, called Heads-n-Threads. According to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the owner agreed to cooperate with the DEA, and turned over "records of online sales, Internet addresses and credit card information."
Those records eventually led to raids on major distributors and online headshops in 10 states: Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon, California, Arizona, and Texas.
There were over a dozen individual headshops targeted, including seven in the Pittsburgh region. Federal indictments were brought against 27 people in Pittsburgh, nine in Des Moines and 19 others elsewhere in the US.
10 of the busted distribution companies were based in California, including Headcase, 101 North Glass, California Colorchangers, and Omnilounge. Other companies raided include the Zong Toy Company, Houston's Smoke Stax, and Detroit's Strange Daze Boutique.
Stores & homes seized
All the raided stores had their entire inventories hauled away, with authorities claiming they had grabbed "thousands of tons of drug paraphernalia worth tens of millions of dollars." In many cases the stores themselves were also seized, along with offices and even private homes.
One example is Jason Harris in Eugene, Oregon, who had five buildings seized, including his Higher Source headshop, his Universal Glass Company store, two buildings housing Jerome Baker Designs, and his family home.
The California based Chong Glass, owned by pot comic Tommy Chong, was also raided during the nationwide action, although Chong himself was not charged or arrested.
Most of the 55 busted headshop owners and glass merchants were released after being held overnight, reportedly on a $24,000 guaranteed bond. Those who were arrested face a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but their businesses are already crippled due to the seizure of their inventory.
For the children
The herb-hating trio of Attorney General John Ashcroft, Drug Czar John Walters and Acting DEA Administrator John Brown were all proud of their massive sweep. All of them claimed they were protecting children and families from the perils of drug abuse.
"The illegal drug paraphernalia industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without their knowledge," said Ashcroft.
"Today's actions send a clear and unambiguous message to those who would poison our children," said Walters.
"People selling drug paraphernalia are in essence no different than drug dealers. They're as much a part of drug trafficking as silencers are a part of criminal homicide," concluded Brown.
Websites seized
In a pioneering move, many of the pipe sellers' websites were also seized by the DEA, including puffpipes.com, aheadcase.com, pipesforyou.com, omnilounge.com, colorchangingglass.com, jeromebaker.com, smokelab.com, 420now.com, testingfree.com and others.
Under a court order, anyone trying to go to these websites is now redirected to a DEA website, where they are shown a glorious American flag and the following message:
By application of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the website you are attempting to visit has been restrained by the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Section 853(e)(1)(A).
Attorney General John Ashcroft refused to say if those who attempt to access the sites would be traced or investigated. But as the DEA now controls those websites they likely have access to the complete server logs and other electronic records.
eBay's drug bazaar
One online company which has so far escaped prosecution is eBay, the huge online auction company. eBay seems immune, still displaying hundreds of fine glass pipes of exactly the same kind once sold by headshops on their now dismantled webpages.
Strangely, eBay also helps the California Department of General Services to sell items confiscated during drug raids and airport searches.
Past pipe pops
Previous busts were a sign that authorities were looking at popping pipe dealers. In August 2001, Chris Hill of the Florida-based Chills was arrested and charged by the Iowa District Attorney for selling bongs. Hill is currently in prison serving his 14-month sentence (CC #41, Bong makers busted).
In April 2002, Pennsylvania residents Jason Greenwald and Lynn Salsbury were arrested and charged for selling glass pipes from their Internet accessory shop, Half Baked Ideas.
In September 2001, Barmes Wholesalers in Indiana was raided, and most of its inventory seized. The action against Barmes was also launched by a DA in Pennsylvania, after Barmes pipes were found during a raid on a local hemp store.
These raids were clearly a prelude for the larger inter-state action, and were launched by the same coalition of DAs from Iowa and Pennsylvania. These two states have long been known for their strict enforcement of federal paraphernalia laws, but they are now stretching their influence with raids against manufacturers in other states who make pipes sold in their two territories.
Cultural genocide
Glassblowers' reactions to the busts varied from outrage to fear. Many were hesitant to talk with Cannabis Culture, and some were openly hostile to a post-raid interview with a marijuana magazine.
Mainstream media reports covered only a small portion of the damage done to what Attorney General Ashcroft called a "billion dollar" glass pipe industry. The busts of websites and storefronts were sensationalized, but thousands more individual glassblowers were also affected.
Their products have become nearly unmarketable, they are left unpaid for pipes recently shipped to busted stores, and suddenly they find themselves struggling with mortgages, car payments and hungry children. Hundreds of small businesses collapsed entirely.
The attack that destroyed and terrorized the glass pipe industry reminded some of the FBI's attack on activists, labor unionists and dissidents in 1920, or the roundup of thousands of Muslims after 9/11. Some glassblowers have taken to referring to the day the US glass industry went down as 2/24.
Many glassblowers were shell-shocked, and some were ready to abandon pipes altogether â?? one glass artist is already blowing phat psychedelic dildos instead.
While dreading the next round of raids that might see them in jail alongside the dealers that sold their glass, most glassblowers we spoke to were defiant. Popular ideas included mounting a legal challenge and making pipes with "Fuck Bush" marbles.
"They just lit a fire under tens of thousands of artists' asses," one glassblower told Cannabis Culture. "Not one person in my field will forget to vote come re-election, guaranteed. Also, many of us are considering running for office ourselves. Most of us are young, and that means we have more energy to fight than 50-year-old politiciansâ?¦ we can make a lot of noise and we will!"
"You don't arrest the artists unless you are attacking a culture's beliefs, mores and values," said another glassblower earnestly. "It's nothing short of cultural genocide!"
Despite anger toward the DEA, others in the industry thought they would be better off distancing themselves from pot culture altogether, perhaps selling their pipes in health food stores with legal smoking mixes like mullein, coltsfoot and peppermint.
Yet many high-profile glass distributors busted on 2/24 were already marketing their products for "legal smoking use only," as were Chills and Barmes before their earlier raids. Their only reward was alienated customers, and obviously no protection from persecution.
It is likely that the next wave of oppression will target the writers, artists, and even musicians who teach about the benefits of cannabis and other magical plants. Some day soon, the very magazine you hold in your hand could be illegal contraband. Let's work together to keep that day from ever coming.
-|-
Blame Canada
Although Canada also has laws against the sale of "instruments for illicit drug use" these laws are now rarely enforced and pipes and bongs are widely available. This is in large part due to the efforts of Cannabis Culture publisher Marc Emery, who founded Vancouver's pioneering Hemp BC store in 1994, and then helped establish a network of independent and defiant "hemp stores" across Canada.
Enterprising American pipe merchants might be wise to relocate their businesses and web domains to Canada. To avoid the perils of cross-border shipping, a secret warehouse could be based in the US. Shipments could have a Canadian return address, so that they would be untraceable.
Magazines threatened
Magazines and books with detailed marijuana grow advice can expect increased scrutiny and the possibility of more direct censorship.
Marijuana magazines like Cannabis Culture, High Times and others are definitely threatened by these raids. The paraphernalia crackdown will cause both magazines to lose advertising dollars, and more ominously could presage future action directly against the magazines themselves.
Advertising for pipes, bongs and especially marijuana seeds could easily spur legal action against pro-pot magazines, or even just their distributors and the stores that carry them. How many major magazine distributors would be willing to suffer raids and harassment for the sake of their few pot-friendly publications?
Canadian domains
On the electronic front, the seizing of websites has now become a frightening reality for those with a subversive message or product.
In an effort to protect ourselves from potential future legal action or the seizure of our websites, Cannabis Culture and Pot-TV have registered new domain names within Canada, at cannabisculture.ca and pot-tv.ca.
The .com and .net root name servers are based in the USA, and so the cannabisculture.com and pot-tv.net domain names are within the grasp of US authorities. But because .ca is registered within Canada, we hope that this gives these domain names some additional protection from potential action by the DEA.
We have no reason to expect immediate action against our magazine or our website, other than the general climate of fear generated by these increasing anti-pot police actions. We are just being cautious in an effort to protect ourselves in a worst-case scenario.
While our regular domain names will continue to work as normal, we are going to now promote the new .ca domains in our magazine and online. We encourage you to update your bookmarks to the new .ca websites.
â?¢ Cannabis Culture: www.cannabisculture.ca
â?¢ Pot-TV: www.pot-tv.ca
Award for longest post ever goes to............seedbare well done
One time I posted the complete works of Shakesphere.
That's not true, man. I dunno what it's like in America; can you only buy papers in head-shops? Over here every single shop sells a selection of different papers (mainly Rizlas), different sizes and thicknesses, and most shops sell Rips, too (a roll of papers, basically, with the sticky gum down one side... just unroll how long you want your joint and tear). There's no way that papers are only for cigarettes...Quote:
Originally Posted by tokosan
I love buying papers when I go and buy cigarettes... It's so funny, it's like;
"Can I get 20 Benson and Hedges...."
"Okay"
".. and a packet of king size silver Rizlas, please."
"okay... uhhh".
You can always tell when they've realised why you've bought ciggies and papers.. lol
yea post i hated
haha yea they pulled me over in the middle of my 3rd joint they didnt get me for dui though..so at leaste i was high getting arrestedQuote:
Originally Posted by tokosan
Quote:
Originally Posted by GHoSToKeR
well, idk about America, I live in China as you know....
but im pretty sure that they legally sell them under the premise that people buy them for rolling tobacco, after all, it even says that on alot of the packs, as a disclaimer.
tokosan is right, the reason they are legal is because they are actually meant for tobacco. then again, head shops sell bongs as if they are meant for tobacco too, so i dunno. you can buy papers pretty much anywhere they sell cigs here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tokosan
Bit contradictng yourself there u said u went to leeds yesterday. a few thousand miles away im thinkin
well were in america and some people still roll cigarettes, old timers mostly