Pubdate: Mon, 03 Jun 2002
Source: Stranger, The (US WA)
Copyright: 2002 theStranger.com
Contact:  http://www.thestranger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2241
Author: Brook Adam

BONG HIT

Police Raid West Seattle Tobacco Shop

On Wednesday, May 22, five police officers in a Dodge Maxi Van descended on 
West Seattle's Admiral Smokes shop.

Accusing storeowners Mike Miller and Todd Marsh with possession and sale of 
drug paraphernalia, officers seized and carted off the store's stock of 273 
hookahs, water pipes, glass pipes, metal pipes, and pipes disguised as 
cigarettes. They have not been fined and no charges were filed, but the 
back half of their tiny 26- by 16-foot shop is empty, while the front still 
sports a range of cigars, cigarettes, and packaged tobacco.

Miller and Marsh are outraged. The two men, both in their late 30s, opened 
the Admiral last September--a small shop located at the corner of 
California and Admiral in West Seattle between a bakery and a shoe-repair shop.

Miller, a tall stout man with a shaved head, says he and his partner don't 
sell the illegal "glass rose" crack pipes that have gotten other Seattle 
business owners into trouble ["Crack Pipe Crack Down," Amy Jenniges, April 
11], and they throw out anybody who asks for water pipes by illegal names.

But according to Police Operations Lieutenant Mike Nolan, selling any sort 
of paraphernalia is illegal, and the Admiral's 13 signs--"Waterpipes are 
for tobacco use only"--are no excuse.

Nolan says every shop in the area that continues to sell paraphernalia will 
get its turn.

Marsh, a quiet former pool champ whose long black hair is slicked back, 
isn't so sure. "I think we're being unfairly singled out," he says.

Trouble began at the Admiral on January 4, 2002, when Officer Willie Askew, 
a member of the South Precinct Community Policing Team, first visited the 
store following a complaint from an irate customer. Askew refused to 
comment on this story.

Miller, who later discussed the complaint with the customer, says the 
patron complained to police because Miller had refused to let him use the 
bathroom.

However, according to Miller and Marsh, when Askew arrived, he was only 
interested in drug paraphernalia.

"If someone wants to use [my products] for illegal purposes, they're not 
telling me when they buy [them]," Miller says.

Since the bust, Miller says authorities continue to harass him. Raj 
Veluppillai and Jim Martines from the Washington State Liquor Control Board 
visited the shop, stating that they'd received a tip Miller was selling 
untaxed tobacco. However, the agents found that the tobacco was on the up 
and up.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jackl