Why is it legal for stores to sell marijuana paraphernalia? Why are some but not others shut down?
Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at
11:49 am
Bob B asked:
I have recently seen reports of several shops (everything from a headshop to a gas station) being shut down and fined for selling pipes, bongs ect… The law states they are legal so why are they raided sometimes? How can they be legal? They are obviously used to consume marijuana. Now lets not turn this into a discussion on if weed should be legal or not but how can it be ok to sell sometimes but not other times? Technically how can a piece of glass be illegal to sell?
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I have recently seen reports of several shops (everything from a headshop to a gas station) being shut down and fined for selling pipes, bongs ect… The law states they are legal so why are they raided sometimes? How can they be legal? They are obviously used to consume marijuana. Now lets not turn this into a discussion on if weed should be legal or not but how can it be ok to sell sometimes but not other times? Technically how can a piece of glass be illegal to sell?
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They are probably riaded because they are suspected of selling drugs in the back like a bodega. Bongs are legal because only the DRUG is illegal.
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They don’t sell “bongs”…they sell “water pipes”. They don’t sell “bowls”..they sell “pipes”.
It’s the wording. Water pipes and pipes are legal; bongs and bowls are not. Yes, they are the same thing, but words matter.
In New York, a clerk is supposed to refuse the sale of a bong, but can allow the sale of a waterpipe.
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These pipes, bongs, etc. is not supposed to be sold for illegal purposes. However, we all know what they are used for. Usually, in order to sell these types of items, you have to have a certain license. For example, if you are a liquor store, you have to have a liquor license. If you do not, you get fined and if you continue, you get shut down. So, I would assume that these locations that were shut down had ample amount of time to correct the problem, but never did and therefore, was shut down.
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it’s all crap, you can only arrest for a drug pipe, but you can smoke anythign in them if it’s legal. Sometimes, the states or towns get cocky and want to send a message. It really isn’t that legal but if the state turns you in you can sure bet the judge will probably back them up!
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marihuana pariphanalia is like a bong is legal since it could be used for decorative purposes or smoking tobacco, salvia, or some other substance that is legal. its only pariphanalia since its associated with pot
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MJ paraphanalia can also be used to smoke tobacco, which is legal. However, if a store is advertising it as MJ paraphanalia, then depending on what State you are located in they may be committing a criminal offense. Also, there may be other things going on besides selling potential paraphanalia.
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The terms “bong” and “bowl” suggest that the piece would be used for illegal activities. “Water pipe” apparently implies that the piece would be used for smoking tobacco as opposed to marijuana.
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If you’ve ever been in one of those stores, then they have signs everywhere that say “FOR TOBACCO USE ONLY.”
So, legally speaking, all of the stuff they sell is for smoking tobacco out of.
Now, do most of the people who buy them actually smoke tobacco out of them? Of course not. The store owners know that, and the police know that. But we have this whole “innocent until proven guilty” thing going on, and it’s totally legal to sell pipes and such for the use of smoking tobacco out of them, so it’s not clear that the store owners or the customers are doing anything illegal.
It’s illegal to sell things for the purpose of smoking marijuana. So, as a previous answerer said, there are never “bowls” or “bongs” in a head shop–there are instead “pipes” and “water pipes.” If you use the word “bong” then you will usually be asked to leave the store.
The shops can be closed down if they slip up and actually say that anything they sell is for use with anything but tobacco. They can also be closed down if they allow people to smoke anything illegal on the premises.