Pubdate: Fri, 08 Sep 2006
Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)
Copyright: 2006 The Herald-Sun
Contact:  http://www.herald-sun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428
Author: Brianne Dopart
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?228 (Paraphernalia)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

MINISTER'S INITIATIVE STILL TARGETS 'LOVE ROSES'

DURHAM -- Were it not for the work of the Rev. Melvin Whitley, 
Operation Pipe Dream might have become just that -- a pipe dream.

Whitley's initiative, which is aimed at banishing from Durham 
convenience stores the glass "love roses" that double as pipes used 
by addicts to smoke "crack" cocaine, has gotten a lukewarm response 
from local merchants.

More than three weeks after Whitley and fellow activist Bill Anderson 
besieged convenience stores across the Bull City asking owners to 
stop selling the so-called love roses, 31 of the 49 stores targeted 
were still selling the half-inch diameter tubes known to crack 
addicts as "stems."

But with the added support of City Council members like Mike Woodard 
and Thomas Stith, as well as the firm support of Durham Police Chief 
Steve Chalmers, Whitley is optimistic a local ordinance proposal he 
plans to introduce Sept. 21 will receive full City Council support.

Initially, Whitley said he received word that city officials felt the 
ordinance was unnecessary. Assistant City Attorney Kim Grantham 
explained that she felt state ordinances addressing the same topic 
negated the need for a local ordinance. But after speaking with 
Whitley, Grantham said they had "a meeting of the minds."

Whitley, Grantham said, explained the local ordinance would institute 
a fine for merchants caught selling "love roses" or other items 
determined to be drug paraphernalia. State laws against paraphernalia 
target those individuals caught in possession of paraphernalia, but 
not those who sell drug paraphernalia, she said.

While Whitley's ordinance, modeled after similar laws passed in 
Charlotte and Greensboro which carry fines of between $50 and $100 
for merchants who sell drug paraphernalia, packs "not much of an 
enforcement punch," Grantham said, it does have "symbolic value."

But Chief Chalmers, who personally promised Whitely he would support 
Operation Pipe Dream, said the way his officers would enforce the law 
would be anything but symbolic.

"My position has always been that we can do anything we can do to 
support community efforts [such as this one]," Chalmers said, "We're 
already talking about ways of enforcement."

Woodard said he couldn't think of any reason for a council member to 
vote against the ordinance. Woodard added that InterNeighborhood 
Council, of which he is president, was one of the original backers of 
the initiative.

Stith, who also promised to support the ordinance, called the 
initiative "a small step."

The success of Whitley's campaign also depends on his own vigilance, 
according to anti-drug activist Darryl Rouson. Rouson, an attorney 
and former St. Petersburg, Fla., NAACP president, won his battle 
against the so-called love roses five years ago but is fighting to 
see similar ordinances passed across the country. Hard work, 
forcefulness and persistence helped him get love roses outlawed in 
his own community, Rouson said.

Whitley found Rouson when searching the Internet for ordinances 
similar to the one he proposes in Durham. Whitley quickly learned 
Rouson, a former crack addict, had personal reasons for wanting to 
see the availability of the glass tubes end.

Rouson's descent into addiction began in 1983, two years after he 
became the first black prosecutor in St. Petersburg. Alchoholism 
turned to drug abuse, which led to a 10-year hiatus from law practice 
and an all-time personal low.

"I was living life 175 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone. I 
lost my family. My practice closed around me."

When he found clarity in 1998, a year after losing his wife to 
cancer, Rouson became determined to use his legal expertise to help 
others involved in struggles similar to his own. He began confronting 
store owners who sold love roses, at times taking boxes of love roses 
from stores and leaving in their place his business card.

Whitley will need to be stubborn, Rouson warned, and will need to 
step in for "defenseless addicts whose willpower has been undermined 
[by] addiction."

For his own part, Whitley continues to be confident about the initiative.

"It's like asking [the City Council] to vote for apple pie," he said, 
"Who could say no?"
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom