Pubdate: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) Copyright: 2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer Contact: http://www.seattle-pi.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/408 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Paraphernalia (Paraphenalia) Note: See MAP Focus Alert #263 at http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0263.html regarding the war on bongs. SELLING BONGS MAY LEAD TO PRISON Eugene Pair's Business Busted As Part Of DEA Sweep EUGENE, Ore. (AP)-- For six years, Jason Harris and Saeed Mohtadi sold glass smoking pipes entirely in the open in Oregon and over the Internet. Anyone could buy one of their pipes -- which are a kind commonly used for smoking marijuana -- at their Eugene store, Higher Source, or with a Visa card online. Harris and Mohtadi apparently believed the pipes, which were advertised for use with tobacco or incense, were legal. What they didn't know until quite recently was that agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration were conducting an "undercover" investigation of their businesses, involving secret purchases from the wide-open businesses, surveillance and even a "trash pull," in which agents rifled through the businesses' garbage. Last month, as part of a nationwide bust called Operation Pipe Dreams, agents swept in and arrested the two businessmen, charging them with selling drug paraphernalia. They each face three years in prison and $250,000 fines, as well as forfeiture of their businesses and homes. Across the country, 50 people were arrested in the sweep, the biggest drug paraphernalia clampdown in the agency's history. Harris and Mohtadi seemed to believe that their businesses had stayed on the legal side of federal law, which bars the sale of items "primarily intended" for drug use. People who supplied materials to Jerome Baker Designs, or blew glass for the company, estimate that at least 50 full-time workers lost their jobs with the shutdown of the business. They say hundreds of other local pipe makers are out of work because distributors and retailers they supplied nationwide have closed or have stopped buying inventory for fear of arrest. The law, 21 U.S. Code Section 863, originally was enacted as part of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. It specifically bars the sale of glass smoking pipes, as well as those made of almost any other material, but allows pipes "traditionally intended for use with tobacco." In determining what use a pipe is intended for, officials can look in part at how it was advertised and what the makers and retailers say it should be used for, the law says. Harris and Mohtadi have been heavily involved with the burgeoning art glass scene in Eugene, and local gallery owner Candy Moffett said their work can be regarded as fine art. "Are the glass pipes art?" she said. "Yes. Just as Jason has a control and mastery of the medium, I think his pipes are artworks. They are done in such a masterful way, they are sculptures. Look at meerschaum pipes. There are meerschaum pipes considered sculptures. These are, too." At the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Portland, Ken Magee, assistant special agent in charge, scoffed at the notion that glass pipes could be considered art. "I find that somewhat laughable, referring to drug paraphernalia as collectible art," he said. "I find it somewhat engaging that you would refer to this as 'collectible art' when it's drug paraphernalia." Eugene lawyer Greg Veralrud, who is representing Mohtadi, said it was too early to talk about any specific defense to the federal charges, but laid out several possibilities. "My client is a young man with a young family," Veralrud said. "I know he's also in a little bit of a quandary. He made an effort to do this aboveboard. There is not a whiff of unlawful activity. He's never been secretive about it." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom