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Put That in Your Pipe and Smoke It
By Dorian Hargrove | Published Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009
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Photo by Dorian Hargrove
Imperial Beach — During the past year, city officials in Imperial Beach have tried to pass an ordinance banning the sale of tobacco paraphernalia commonly used to smoke illegal substances.
Last October, deputies raided two “smoke shops” for selling drug-related paraphernalia; that same month, the city implemented a temporary moratorium in order to prevent any such businesses from opening.
On Wednesday, January 21, the Imperial Beach City Council made the temporary moratorium permanent. However, the ban does not apply to any established businesses.
City attorney James Lough read the ordinance to councilmembers:
“What you have in front of you is a long and tortuous effort; surprising, considering how short the [language of the] ordinance is. It’s a prospective ban on tobacco paraphernalia, not tobacco — it’s not a ban on tobacco. The purpose of this ordinance is to work on the ill effects of over concentration of certain types of products that can be used for legal and illegal purposes.
“The ban here is not related to, um, items that are banned by the health and safety code related to drug paraphernalia. And while there are some common definitions, what we are targeting here is the sale of tobacco paraphernalia, which we can regulate. The definition of tobacco paraphernalia includes water pipes, bongs, chillums…I didn’t even know what some of these were…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
“Um, what is a ‘chillum’?” asked councilmember Fred McLean.
“Uh, I believe,” said Lough, “it is a device that chills, like, with ice or something, the smoke that goes through it.”
The city council voted 4-0 in favor of the ordinance, with councilmember Jim King absent. The law goes into effect after official adoption during a February 4 council meeting.
If there were people with active brain waves on the Imperial Beach city council, then they could've come up with this:
Flat-rate city-wide tobacco-paraphenalia sales tax of $500 per item. Slip in a 25% fine payout to citizens reporting those uncollected taxes by sneaky businesses, and the cost of enforcement is already covered.
Hey! It's not like La Mesa has a HIGHER sales tax on bongs than that...
By a2zresource 4:03 p.m., Jan 26, 2009 > Report it
Wow, I smoked pot for two decades and I never heard of a chillum -- those wacky kids and their crazy drug toys ---
By jayallen 12:02 a.m., Jan 27, 2009 > Report it
This "War on Bongs" is ridiculous...and counter productive too.
see:
http://www.reason.com/news/show/130844.h...
Just because these dorks want to prevent people from getting high...(too often with the death penalty), they've unleashed a pandora's box of problems.
see:
http://reason.com/news/show/131131.html
In an economic crisis, why are we still wasting our time, and destroying ourselves, with this pointless attack on those who use proscribed intoxicants?
Let's stop.
By Fred_Williams 9:27 a.m., Jan 27, 2009 > Report it
What a waste of time. The average pot smoker can replicate any of the items sold in those stores with three common household items.
By brianbaxter 10:53 a.m., Jan 27, 2009 > Report it
No, BrianBaxter, these oh-so-very-clever city officials are going to eradicate the horrible drug menace NO MATTER WHAT!
Accordingly, apples, empty beverage cans, aluminum foil and toilet paper rolls are now all illegal.
After all, anything that people might use to get high must be made illegal...right?
By Fred_Williams noon, Jan 27, 2009 > Report it
IB is going to ruin it's image if this keeps up. You say "IB" and "stoned surfer" is the first thing that comes to mind.
- Joe
By tikicult 5:49 a.m., Jan 29, 2009 > Report it