Justice Department busts 55 for selling bongs!
 

55 Charged in Drug Paraphernalia Sales
U.S. Authorities Charge Dozens With Peddling Illegal Drug Paraphernalia in Stores, on Internet

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Feb. 24 ?
Federal authorities charged 55 people Monday with trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia from coast to coast, using both traditional stores and the Internet.

A federal grand jury in western Pennsylvania handed up indictments against 27 people as part of "Operation Pipe Dreams," an investigation stretching from Pittsburgh to Phoenix to southern California, Attorney General John Ashhahahahaha said.

Another nine people were charged in four grand jury indictments returned in Des Moines, Iowa, under "Operation Headhunter," which involved paraphernalia marketed nationwide by distributors in Michigan, California and Texas.

In all, 55 people were named in nearly three dozen indictments returned throughout the country.

Federal law makes it a crime to sell products mainly intended for the use of illegal drugs, including such things as bongs, marijuana pipes, "roach" clips, miniature spoons and scales. Those charged with selling and conspiring to sell such items face up to three years on prison and maximum fines of $250,000.

A search warrant in the Iowa case turned up more than $2 million in illegal paraphernalia, authorities said.

Ashhahahahaha said the sale of drug paraphernalia has exploded on the Internet, making it easier for teenagers and young adults to buy it. The items often are disguised as such things as lipstick cases to escape detection and are marketed under code names and symbols.

"Quite simply, the illegal drug paraphernalia industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without their knowledge," Ashhahahahaha said in a statement. "This illegal, billion-dollar industry will no longer be ignored by law enforcement."

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/...0224_1213.html

This article is for those of you who continue to believe that the current White House is for "less government". This comes on the tail of the A*s*h*c*r*o*f*t medical pot busts in California (overriding state laws). Eventually they'll get around to the adult industry if the war doesn't keep them busy enough.

Republicans doing what they do best

Republican's don't buy drug paraphernalia and 420 is vulgar to them.

drugs are illegal

The crackdown has begun, makes me think twice about even selling paraphernalia now..

Republicans need to die.

The fact that John A*s*h*c*r*o*f*t himself, not some random prosecutor, held a press conference about this is not a good sign for those who sell bongs.

The other question is, what are they going to do with the customer lists from the companies that they busted? I wouldn't want to be on those lists now that John A. has them in hand.

don't post your bongs here anymore, fuck knows who's watching.

...and of course wasting 1000's upon 1000's of dollars going after people selling bongs is such a great use of people and resources especially given the current mess.

Good grief.

wonder if they actually have a guy sitting in a room somewhere coming up with these stupid ass operation names?

Bongs are dangerous to national security. We need to be more alert as a nation, and less paranoid about our wonderful authority figures.

Drugs are illegal. I don't care if you agree with every law, how can anyone be surprised when they are enforced? If you really want to take the risk, that's your choice. Cool, go ahead. But it's illegal. You can't whine about it, you know it's illegal.

I hadn't considered that. Fuck, the harm they could cause. What about those roach clips though? Those things are lethal!

I've changed my mind. It's about time the US government clamped down on this dangerous and un-American shit!

Zig-Zags are next.

Guess I need to throw out those indian feathers attached to a fucking roach clip. Good lord man. A fucking bong? :1orglaugh

DAMN I better quit pushing this site with a Big
Banner Saying "WIN A FREE BONG" !
http://www.sexytokers.com/
I use mine for Pipe Tobaceeeee Tho..LOL

I have to agree those pot heads are dangerous. I mean all they think about is who the hell is going to 7/11 for the damn natchos.

Web sites names in the indictments include pipesforyou.com, colorchangingglass.com, puffpipes.com, aheadcase.com, omnilounge.com, 420now.com, Gothicdungeon.com, Testingfree.com, Themallusa.com, and Pipesforyou.com.

great...i bought several pipes from omnilounge

They said Tommy Chong was somehow involved in this, though no charges have been filed against him yet.

I think this is bullshit, personally. It's true, the law is the law. But not every law is moral or just, and it takes a person of wisdom to make that distinction. John Ashbannednameforsomereason isn't one of those people.

Fucking idiot.

Of course you can whine about it. You can whine about anyhting you want. You can vent and bitch about anything you want. It may not change anything, it certainly wont set the world to rights but you can whine about it.

As far as I know it's still illegal for London taxis not to carry a bale of hay. Good idea then for all the police to arrest taxi drivers because it's illegal? I for one would be very surprised where that to happen. Laws don't always make sense to many so of course they have a right to bitch about them.

I'm just glad the although the UK still has many daft laws wasting time and resources chasing down people selling bongs isn't possible.

This is amazing:

Those charged with selling and conspiring to sell such items face up to three years on prison and maximum fines of $250,000.

Three years in jail for selling a bong. What a fucking nightmare.

are water-pipes legal?

;)

and is shit like herbalsmokeshop.com legal?

hmmm

Just testing my smoke alarm..
http://www.bubbashouse.com/SexyToker/smokingbong.gif

tommy chong has his own line of bongs.....i bought one from omnilounge

he might be fucked!

In related news, nobody with the administration says FUCKING ANYTHING about a nation addicted to Pharmeceutical Drugs.

-Ritalin
-Viagara
-Whatever else Betsy Allamerica begs her doctor for.

Someone should sort through the garbage of top Republicans and see what pill containers can be found....

PORN IS NEXT fellas....

hey smartguy...

Did you know the porn you have on your server is illegal to view in some states?

:321GFY

A recent CNN poll showed 80% of the people thought marijuana should be legal for medicinal purposes, and 7 states have voted in medical marijuana. Yet the justice dept could care less about what the majority of people want and continue to persecute those that follow their own state laws.

When a government no longer represents the will of the people they become a tyranny.

Who's that quoted by? :glugglug

:rasta

I'm sure someone has said it before but it came off the top of my head.

Next it'll be "buy a bong, help the terrorists" commercials.

Bongs are the next terrorist threat. A large number of evil doers are planning on launching loaded bongs from pickup trucks from Texas bases. The Office of Homeland security is issuing an alert describing how to use surplus plastic sheeting and duct tape to cature those bongs so they can be repurposed into Bagdad chaff.

sad but probably true...

Imagine being the guy that could get up to 3 years in prison for selling miniature spoons. Miniature spoons for christ sakes!

Black Bubba: "Hey buddy, what are you in here for?"

PotHead: "I sold some tiny spoons over the Internet."

Black Bubba: "Oh, I see. Now how's about you drop dem pants."

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

WTF.......since when have bongs been illegal? Is that a state thing or nationwide? There's got to be no less than 100 head shops in San Fran selling any kind of paraphanlia you can imagine, and the same seems to go for the rest of the state.

This is yet another indicator, however, of what a bunch of hypocrites both parties are. Republicans campaign on supporting states' rights. What the hell happens to them once they get elected to a national office? When Bush campaigned originally he supported a state's right to legalize medical marijuana. Now look at him...vote libertarian!


The Dallas Morning News - October 20, 1999

Bush backs states' rights on marijuana
He opposes medical use but favors local control
By Susan Feeney

WASHINGTON - Gov. George Bush said he backs a state's right to decide whether to allow medical use of marijuana, a position that puts him sharply at odds with Republicans on Capitol Hill. "I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose," the governor said recently in Seattle in response to a reporter's question.

Chuck Thomas, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a medical marijuana lobbying group, praised Mr. Bush as "courageous" and "consistent on states' rights. I would hope he would be an example for Republicans in Congress."

Aides said Mr. Bush does not support legalizing marijuana for medical use. But his position supporting state self-determination opens the door to medical marijuana use in some places. President Clinton and most Republican lawmakers, by contrast, oppose all state medical marijuana legalization laws, saying they could lead to abuse.

But Mr. Clinton - in a move philosophically in tune with Mr. Bush - has said Republicans in Congress went too far in seeking to block the District of Columbia's medical marijuana ballot initiative, which won 69 percent support last year.

The president recently vetoed the district's $4.7 billion budget approved by Congress, in part because of a provision to overturn the medical marijuana law.

"For us, that's an issue of local control," of not "micromanaging local government," said White House spokesman Jake Siewert. The veto was not about the merits of the issue, he said.

Among the Republicans leading the charge against the district's law are GOP House leaders and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Bush supporter and chairwoman of the District of Columbia Appropriations Subcommittee.

The district should not be "a haven for marijuana use, even for medicinal purposes," Ms. Hutchison said on the Senate floor. "I don't think we should take an illegal drug and allow it to be legalized in our capital city."

Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have approved medical marijuana laws, giving the issue prominence in key Western states.

Mr. Bush, campaigning for president in Seattle on Saturday, told reporters he felt certain that such a move was "not going to happen in Texas." The state has no direct referendums or voter initiatives.

Although addressing the states' rights issue, Mr. Bush didn't comment directly on the District of Columbia issue. His position of opposing the medical marijuana but saying states should decide is unique among presidential contenders, Mr. Thomas said.

Staff writer Wayne Slater in Austin contributed to this report.

Sounds like something a druggie would say....

way to impress people.

:1orglaugh

Unfortunately you are right. I will bet sometime during the second Bush admninstration the AG will nail a spammer who sent a bestie email to an eight year old's mailbox.

Rest Assured.

JeremySF, notice how no store in San Fran got busted ?
interesting....

:eek7

This is from the Declan McCullagh http://www.politechbot.com/ mailing today, they'll log your IP. I imagine they'll get all the sales records for everbody that bought stuff too:

---------------------------------------

State and federal authorities recently conducted raids of various
companies/individuals that sell "drug paraphernalia", such as pipes and related materials. Pipes, etc were seized along with their websites.

According to a Voice of America article, Mr. Ashhahahahaha says they plan to redirect the seized websites to to the DEA website.

A frightening quote from the a Voice of America article:
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?o...255885C43351A6

"Mr. Ashhahahahaha says customers who want to visit some of their favorite drug paraphernalia websites are in for a big surprise in the days ahead. They will be automatically redirected to the website for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration."

In essence the DEA is going to usurp the freedom of speech and expression of the people who run those seized websites. This would be akin to the U.S. Dept of Justice redirecting the "aclu.org" website to the "usdoj.gov" website.

And then there are the serious privacy issues involved if the DEA redirects the seized websites, since they'll be logging all visitors, obtaining their IP address and other highly personal information.

I encourage everyone here who values the freedom of speech and expression to contact their local ACLU chapter (list can be found at http://www.aclu.org/ and/or other organizations that works with such issues.

Bottom line is this is a serious issue and if the DEA is able to do this, they could potentially redirect *ANY* website - remember that the owners of the websites seized have *NOT* been convicted of any crime.

---------------------------------------

I dont think they will get the maximum of 3 years. Depends on the federal guide lines how much stuff they got with or tryed to sell. I say they will get a slap on the wrist.

What a fucking joke, man the US government needs to take a long hard look at where it should focus it's attention. Yeah, consentrate on busting people for selling bongs, not feeding the homeless or improving your terrible school conditions. Good use of taxpayer money, those guys were a real threat to society. :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

I wouldn't move to the USA for $10 million dollars.

Where's that dude that posts here who runs the bong shop? I'd be interested to see if he's staying open.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Rich
[B]What a fucking joke, man the US government needs to take a long hard look at where it should focus it's attention. Yeah, consentrate on busting people for selling bongs, not feeding the homeless or improving your terrible school conditions. Good use of taxpayer money, those guys were a real threat to society. :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

I have to agree with you on this part.