Pubdate: Thu, 24 Jul 2003
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2003 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: James Sullivan

MARIJUANA MAINSTREAM: AMERICAN AS MARY JANE

The latest issue of Rolling Stone featured a sobering report about the Drug 
Enforcement Administration's recent raids on head shops, those bastions of 
1970s commercial kitsch: the smiley faces, the feathery roach clips, the 
blacklight posters. The feds are seizing bongs, water pipes and other 
smoking accessories from mini-mall storefronts across the country.

Ten pages later in the same issue began the cover story on Eminem, 
headlined "The Voice of America." The lead image: a full-page close-up of 
the paleface rapper sucking in a monstrous hit from a hefty orange bong.

The DEA may be winning the occasional battle. But when it comes to 
marijuana, the government is clearly losing the big war in the popular 
consciousness. Even the names of the agency's own undertaking are catchy 
and wry: Operation Pipe Dreams and Operation Headhunter.

Culturally, we may be more permissive about of pot smoking than ever before.

"Saturday Night Live" has a recurring skit called "Jarrett's Room," a mock 
dormitory broadcast in which a crew of addle-brained best buds mug for the 
camera, shamelessly brandishing their favorite bong on network television. 
On the same show a while back, the hip-hop group Cypress Hill smoked pot 
openly during its musical performance.

In "Half-Baked," the movie that introduced comedian Dave Chappelle, the 
dudes call their most precious domestic accoutrement "Billy Bong Thornton." 
The movie features comical, knowing cameos by some of the country's 
favorite entertainers, including chronic vipers Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg.

Chappelle's girlfriend is named -- what else? -- Mary Jane. When she tries 
to convince him his habit is a bad one, a "gateway" drug, he blanches.

"Everyone knows it leads to other stuff," she hectors.

"Yeah," he drawls. "Mostly junk food."

In San Francisco, some Haight Street proprietors have been more furtive 
than usual. By most accounts, though, they're less concerned than their 
counterparts in the suburbs of Middle America. One smoke-shop owner near 
the Castro said business is down about 25 percent, but that's because of 
the economy. Customers who might have bought a few hundred dollars' worth 
of gear a couple of years ago are now shopping on the cheap, he said.

He recited the cynical rumor making the rounds -- that one of the Bush 
daughters allegedly ordered a pipe online, thus triggering her dad's fury 
and the current crackdown.

"A lot of the wholesalers we used to buy from are out of business," said 
the owner, who declined to give his name, not wishing to attract more than 
his share of attention. He still had a full stock on hand behind the 
counter, including several giant hookahs, bongs modeled after Ed "Big 
Daddy" Roth's bug-eyed Rat Fink character and a fist-size pipe in the shape 
of "South Park's" Cartman.

Peninsula paraphernalia distributor Sands of Time, he noted, was recently 
slapped with an enormous fine.

"In my opinion," he said, "the government should crack down on alcohol."

Neil Young seems to agree on his forthcoming concept album, "Greendale." At 
one point in the narrative, environmentalist Sun Green runs afoul of the law.

"Next day Sun Green got busted for pot, and it made the headline news," 
Young warbles. "But then the judges all got drunk, and the story got confused."
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