Pubdate: Thu, 29 Jan 2004
Source: Lincoln Journal Star (NE)
Copyright: 2004 Lincoln Journal Star
Contact:  http://www.journalstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/561
Author: Aaron Sanderford
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?228 (Paraphernalia)

FOUR INDICTED FOR SALE OF BONGS

A federal hammer fell this week on the owners and employees of Lincoln
pipe shops that sold items authorities eyed with a question:

Where do tobacco pipes end and marijuana bongs begin?

The U.S. attorney for Nebraska, Mike Heavican, announced the
indictments Wednesday of four people from two shops on federal drug
paraphernalia charges.

If convicted, they could face up to three years in prison for each
charge and fines of up to $250,000 each.

They also face federal inspection of their business bookkeeping,
authorities said, efforts that could lead to the forfeiture of money
made selling illicit items.

Wednesday's announcement followed a monthslong narcotics investigation
of shops that sell water bongs, hookahs and other items used to smoke,
conceal or consume illicit drugs under the premise of tobacco use.

Heavican would not say what motivated the timing of the investigation.
Nor would he say what other Nebraska cities might face future probes.

Three shops - Super Exotica, 2441 N. 48th St.; Exotic Gift Emporium,
2637 Randolph St.; and Pipe Dreams, 728 S. 27th St. - had thousands of
pieces of inventory seized from their shelves and storage areas
earlier this month.

As of Wednesday, federal grand jurors had found probable cause for
charges against people tied to Super Exotica and Exotic Gift Emporium.

Christian P. Firoz and Frank N. Firoz of Super Exotica were charged
with conspiracy to sell or offer sales of drug paraphernalia, as well
as with sales of drug paraphernalia to undercover narcotics
investigators in December.

Rajinder Kumar and Christopher D. Pinkelman of Exotic Gift Emporium
were charged with the same crimes under similar circumstances.

No one from Pipe Dreams had been indicted as of Wednesday, but
Heavican said the investigation was continuing.

None of the four indicted people has been arrested. They continue to
work and live in Lincoln, awaiting federal court appearances next month.

"I really don't know what's going on," said Pinkelman, reached
Wednesday at work. "I'm, to be honest with you, really freaked out
about this.

"I never thought something like this could happen."

Christian Firoz, who said he hadn't seen the indictment papers,
described the charges as "a mess for everybody."

Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady, who joined Lancaster County Sheriff
Terry Wagner, County Attorney Gary Lacey and Heavican at Wednesday's
news conference, saw no mess, only opportunity.

The U.S. Department of Justice unveiled plans last year to more
aggressively enforce federal laws against the sale of drug
paraphernalia.

Justice's renewed emphasis on prosecuting paraphernalia sales offers
police a chance to remove "head shops," which he said have for years
reinforced the belief that illicit drug use is socially acceptable.

Federal drug paraphernalia charges are felonies; Nebraska law treats
paraphernalia possession and sales as low-grade misdemeanors.

Lacey, whose state-paid prosecutors will pursue the case in Lincoln's
federal courts, lauded the joint investigation as a means to deter
people from using marijuana or more dangerous drugs such as
methamphetamine.

Heavican called the effort part of the United States' push for
narcotics "demand reduction." When U.S. officials ask countries such
as Mexico and Colombia to fight drug supplies, he said, officials
there ask Americans to fight demand.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft subscribes to the zero-tolerance
ideology of drug policy, said Eric Sterling, who oversees the Criminal
Justice Policy Foundation, a Maryland-based national civil liberties
organization.

The rationale, Sterling said earlier this month, is that sending a
message matters.

But the people who read newspapers and watch TV news are not the
people who would be affected by such messages. The people watching are
voters.

Paraphernalia cases make splashes without costing as much in dollars
or time as more detailed drug investigations, he said.

U.S. diplomats also point to the headlines when dealing with foreign
authorities in drug-producing countries as a concrete effort to reduce
demand, he said.

Said Sterling: "The goods are out there in the public eye, so it requires
absolutely zilch investigation.

"It's easy, cheap and headline-grabbing."

Heavican disagreed: Many drug dealers, addicts and users would not
seek "the carrot of treatment" without "the stick of prosecution."
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