PHILADELPHIA | BY DANIEL KELLEY
You still can't say "marijuana" in the
head shop.
For years, the stores that sell marijuana pipes
and bongs have insisted that the products they sell are for tobacco use,
choosing their words carefully to avoid being ensnared in laws against
marijuana paraphernalia.
As states and cities across the country have
lowered the penalties for possession, a patchwork of federal, state and local
laws means little has changed at the head shops.
“The map of the United States is colorful as to
where you can lawfully buy paraphernalia and not use magic code words,” said
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Seventeen states have decriminalized marijuana -
meaning that possession, but usually not the sale - of small amounts leads to a
minor fine and no criminal record. Four states - Washington, Colorado,
Alaska and Oregon - along with the District of Columbia, have legalized marijuana,
meaning that there is a state-approved marketplace for pot.
In Philadelphia, lawmakers decriminalized
possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana — about an ounce — in October
2014, meaning that a person with a small amount gets a fine rather than being
hauled away in handcuffs.
But at Wonderland, a head shop festooned with
Grateful Dead iconography, the mere mention of marijuana is enough for clerks
to refuse a sale.
“Even the mention of medical marijuana means I
cannot sell anything to you,” said a clerk at the store, before declining
further comment and refusing to identify an owner or manager.
That situation is ironic but not surprising to
Philadelphia marijuana activist N.A. Poe, who in June led a protest featuring
hundreds of people smoking marijuana.
“Before we did that protest, we went and sat
down with civil affairs, told them what we were going to do,” Poe said,
referring to the Philadelphia Police Department’s Civil Affairs Unit. “And then
we marched down Market Street with a police escort.”
Which is to say that it is possible to smoke
marijuana in front of the police, even though one cannot in many locales
discuss weed in certain stores.
Experts say prosecution for marijuana
paraphernalia alone are fairly uncommon.
Many people interviewed for this story, however,
point to a 2003 DEA sting called Operation Pipe Dreams, which ensnared 55
people for distributing drug paraphernalia, including actor Tommy Chong, one
half of the stoner comedy duo Cheech and Chong. He pleaded guilty and served
nine months in prison for selling the “Chong Bong,” which was delivered to an
undercover business in the Pittsburgh area.
Even in places where possession of small amounts
of marijuana is decriminalized for individual tokers, paraphernalia laws may
still apply.
In Maryland, lawmakers decriminalized possession
of marijuana in 2014. Aficionados caught with less than 10 grams pay a $100
civil fine.
But possession of a pipe with marijuana residue
could lead to a $500 fine and a criminal record. A measure that would have decriminalized
marijuana pipes and bongs in the state was vetoed in April by Governor Larry
Hogan, who said cited concerns that the bill did nothing to prevent driving
under the influence.
The legalization of pot in the District of
Columbia has completely changed the conversation there, said Adam Eidinger, the
owner of Capitol Hemp in Washington, D.C. Police raided the shop in 2011.
Just a few years ago, Eidinger was forced at
least once a day to eject patrons of his pot accessories store who uttered the
forbidden "M" word. He even tried playing loud music in the shop to
thwart surveillance by police.
“We sold pipes for marijuana, but if you
mentioned marijuana, I’d tell you to leave, even though I knew - and the owner
of every head shop knows - that every single pipe we sold was going to be used
for marijuana," Eidinger said.
After closing the store in 2012, he was able to
re-open it about two weeks ago after leading a campaign to legalize pot in the
nation's capitol city.
“It changes the dynamic you have with your
customers when they can say what they want without you having to worry about
getting your business shut down,” Eidinger said.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Dan Grebler)
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