Pubdate: Thu, 03 Nov 2005
Source: Winston-Salem Journal (NC)
Copyright: 2005 Piedmont Publishing Co. Inc.
Contact:  http://www.journalnow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/504
Note: The Journal does not publish letters from writers outside its 
daily home delivery circulation area
Author:  Bertrand M. Gutierrez

COUNCIL URGED TO BAN SALE OF TUBE THAT CAN BE USED AS A CRACK PIPE

A petite rose stem in a narrow glass tube that is sold in convenience 
stores can be rigged up into a crack pipe, police say.

"Hey, let me get a stem," is all that needs to be said to pick up one 
for $3 at some convenience stores, according to antidrug activist Ben 
Holder, a Greensboro native who said he drives through Waughtown daily.

Speaking before the Winston-Salem City Council last week during a 
public meeting, Holder urged the council to pass the same law that 
Greensboro adopted last summer. It makes the sale of the rose tube - 
or possession of it with intent to sell - illegal.

To make his point, he reached into a brown paper bag and pulled out a 
"stem" that he said he bought from a store on Kernersville Road. They 
are not sold over the counter anymore, he said yesterday, and you 
have to ask a clerk for them.

Winston-Salem city officials said yesterday that they were concerned 
that a law, if they chose to adopt one, might not lead to 
prosecutions. They suggested that it would be difficult to to make a 
court argument about the sale of such products because there is 
nothing illegal about them.

"We've been watching the Greensboro ordinance to see if it will hold 
up in court," said Lee Garrity, an assistant city manager.

Since Greensboro adopted the law last summer, no cases under the 
"drug-stem" law have gone to trial, said Capt. Rick Ball of the 
Greensboro Police Department. In fact, no storeowners have been 
cited, but the law has helped take the makeshift crack pipe off the 
streets, he said.

Storeowners were notified that violation of the law could lead to 
misdemeanor charges.

"Since that time, we have done spot checks. Just based on trends and 
patterns, it's helped. It's curbed a lot of the activity," Ball said.

Rather than adopt the law, the city of Winston-Salem began a mailing 
campaign last year asking convenience-store owners to voluntarily 
remove the rose tube from their shelves.

Even though the law has not been adopted here, sales of the stem have 
dwindled, police Capt. David Clayton said. "The reason we didn't seek 
an ordinance," he said, "is because storeowners were giving voluntary 
compliance."

Holder said during the city-council meeting that the makeshift crack 
pipes are still being sold along Waughtown Street and other places in 
the city. It's just behind the counter now.

Though the rose tube still may be bought, its availability apparently 
has diminished.

At seven convenience stores on First Street and Waughtown Street 
yesterday afternoon, clerks said that they did not sell the rose. 
Most understood the terms "stem" and "rose tube" but said that the 
item was not for sale.

Mayor Allen Joines said that police officials will recommend whether 
the law should be adopted here.

"Police are looking to see if that is needed. I'd like to see what 
they say," Joines said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman