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TOPEKA - Sometimes, a crack pipe is just a crack pipe. That was the message to a Senate committee Wednesday from a Wichita state representative and a leader of the local branch of the NAACP. But proprietors of two Wichita stores that sell unorthodox smoking apparatus told the committee their products were for tobacco use only, and they had a petition with 4,000 signatures swearing to that.

The occasion for the debate was a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on a bill to crack down on businesses selling items that can be used to smoke illegal drugs such as crack.

Both sides came prepared with visual aids, showing the committee an array of mini pipes, water pipes, gram scales, stash cans, bongs and blunt rolls.

Drug paraphernalia is illegal in Kansas, but prosecutors must prove the items contain drug residue or that the person in possession intended to use the item illegally.

House Bill 2359 seeks to change that and make it a crime to possess items primarily designed for drug use.

Kevin Myles, president of the Wichita chapter of the NAACP, said dope pipes are sold openly on convenience store counters in Wichita, "just a couple of feet from the candy and bubble gum."

He said it attracts the criminal element, reduces property values and introduces kids to the drug culture.

Rep. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita, said the Legislature sends a mixed message when it outlaws paraphernalia and then allows it to be sold openly in neighborhood mini marts.

"I visited a few of these convenience stores and as a matter of fact, I have witnessed those items on the front countertop of a local gas station just three blocks from our state Capitol," she said.

Opposing the bill were Shawn Harrison of Orion'z Outer Limits and Bret Welch of the Mystic Planet, Wichita stores that specialize in exotic pipes.

Both said their business is legitimate, they card everyone who comes in, never sell to anyone under 18 and immediately eject anyone who so much as mentions illegal drugs.

They said that between their two businesses, they had collected the signatures of 4,000 customers attesting that "We who sign below affirm that we acquired our water pipes and other smokers' accessories for the use with tobacco."

"I've been in business 11 years," Welch said. "The city and state do not hesitate to accept taxes" from the sale of his products, he added.

Sens. Phil Journey, R-Haysville, and David Haley, D-Kansas City, both questioned how the state could prosecute someone without showing they intended to illegally use a product that could have more than one use.

"These are not dual-use or multi-use items," Myles replied.

Referring to a 3-inch glass tube with an enlarged bowl and a fake flower sticking out of it, Myles said, "This is not a vase, with a hole in the bottom, where you couldn't put any water in it."



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What sort of restrictions should we put on crack pipe possesion/sales if any?

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they're going after the stuff in MN too, but they're pitched as tobacco usage products and quite frankly, I've never seen the crack pipe variety, just the weed type, which you can find at head shops, some music stores, adult shops [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

rb