Pubdate: Sun, 27 Mar 2005
Source: Jackson Sun News (TN)
Copyright: 2005 The Jackson Sun
Contact:  http://www.jacksonsun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1482
Author: Wendy Isom
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

PASTOR CRUSADES AGAINST 'LOVE ROSES'

Bob Clark walked into three randomly selected Jackson convenience
stores earlier this month looking for crack pipes. His mission: locate
and stop the sale of ''Love Roses'' at local stores.

''I'd like to buy a crack pipe,'' said Clark, pastor of Skyline Church
of Christ in Jackson, after walking into the stores. The prices for
the artificial roses, which come in glass tubes, varied from store to
store - 99 cents, $2.19, and $2.99.

What happened afterward ''was striking,'' he said. ''All three clerks
reluctantly turned to the 'Love Roses' display, pulled out a glass
tube, and told me how much it cost,'' Clark wrote in his weekly church
column, which is also posted on his online blog Web site. ''All were
relieved when I told them I really didn't want to buy the crack pipe,
I was just seeing where they were available so I could encourage store
owners and managers not to sell them.''

Now, Clark and some of his members have gotten the attention of some
in the Tennessee legislature. His hope is that the Tennessee
legislature will consider banning the sale of the ''Love Roses'' -
small 4- to 5-inch tubes with a small artificial rose inside - as an
amendment to the methamphetamine bill or through some other
legislation. His efforts started after

hearing former addicts at a weekly church prayer support group discuss
the ease with which the tubes were available to smoke crack or meth, a
growing epidemic in West Tennessee.

''Kudos to you for putting your mouth and feet where your faith is,''
Maria Mitchell, of Jackson, said to Clark after learning of the
pastor's involvement to rally legislation against the sale of ''Love
Roses.''

Such legislation, however, would likely face legal
obstacles.

Madison County Sheriff David Woolfork said he and officers with the
Metro Narcotics division are aware that the tube containers are
apparently being used to smoke drugs. But when it comes to drug use,
drug addicts typically use a lot of commonly sold items to melt down
or smoke drugs, including aluminum foil and spoons, he said.

Those items, like the ''Love Roses,'' are not illegal to
sell.

But ''if there's some drug residue found on the device from smoking an
illegal substance, then they (the users) could be charged with
possession of drug paraphernalia,'' Woolfork said.

Of the pastor's involvement to target stores and store owners who sell
merchandise favored by drug users, the sheriff said, ''I think that's
well and good on his part.''

Clark said he was first made aware of the prevalence of the sale and
usage of the glass tubes for drug use through former drug addicts who
attend Skyline's prayer support group for addicts. The church holds a
prayer support group for addicts at 7 p.m. every Tuesday. Participants
told the pastor that the tubes are used primarily for smoking crack or
methamphetamine.

''Some members of the group were talking about how you could go into
practically any convenience store and buy a crack pipe,'' the pastor
said. After that, ''I began noticing them when I went into different
stores ... I thought, 'Maybe they don't know what they're selling.'
''

Vicki Pate, a member of Skyline Church of Christ, wrote a letter of
concern to state Rep. Johnny Shaw, D-Bolivar, on March 21 asking him
to add an amendment about the sale of ''Love Roses'' to the
methamphetamine bill. Shaw responded to Pate's request.

Shaw said on Friday: ''We want to do all we can to stop
every effort to use dope in any form. Hopefully, even
at this late date, we can amend a law that's already on
the books.''

Shaw said he was unable to get the amendment put on the recent
methamphetamine bill, but next week, he said, he will be researching
what laws are on the book for another opportunity to introduce the
amendment regarding the sale of ''Love Roses'' over the counter.

Other cities in like Seattle, have expressed concerns over similar
items. In the fall of 2001, the Drug Paraphernalia Project by the
Seattle Police Department targeted mini-marts that were selling glass
tubes containing small fake roses, and pens with glass tubes. The
items, which commonly retail for just a few dollars, can be used to
smoke crack.

In response to concerns expressed by members of the community in West
Seattle about these improvised crack pipes being found on the street,
the South Precinct's Community Police Team distributed letters to 19
West Seattle mini-marts and gas stations officially informing them
that the roses and pens they were selling were in fact being used as
crack pipes, and that if the businesses continued to sell them, they
would be in violation of state law.

''The idea was to give all these people the opportunity to get rid of
these products without prosecution,'' said Tuere Sala, a prosecutor
with the city of Seattle, who was the city attorney's office liaison
for the South Precinct.

According to one of the Community Police Teams' operation orders, the
target of the project was ''mostly concerned with the sales of
straight glass tubes, with or without the rose, to include pens and
pipes.''

Noam Reuveni of The Seattle Weekly newspaper contributed to this
report.

On the Net

To read Pastor Bob Clark's column in its entirety on the day he went
searching for crack pipes, log onto his blog Web site at
http://www.bobclark.blogspot.com.

Lawmakers

Call your state senator:

# District 24: Sen. Roy Herron - (615) 741-4576 or (731)
364-5415

# District 26: Sen. John Wilder - (615) 741-2368 or (901)
465-4647

# District 27: Sen. Don McLeary - (615) 741-6966 or (731)
784-1122

Call your state representative:

# District 71: Rep. Randy Rinks - (615) 741-2007 or (731)
925-0014

# District 73: Rep. Jimmy Eldridge - (615) 741-7475 or (731)
394-8447

# District 75: Rep. Willie 'Butch' Borchert - (615) 741-6804 or (731)
584-4326

# District 76: Rep. Mark Maddox - (615) 741-7847 or (731)
364-2685

# District 79: Rep. Chris Crider - (615) 741-7478 or (731)
686-3636

# District 80: Rep. Johnny Shaw - (615) 741-4538 or (731)
658-7689

# District 82: Rep. Craig Fitzhugh - (615) 741-2134 or (731)
635-1230

# District 94: Rep. Dolores Gresham - (615) 741-6890 or (901) 465-9679
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin