PARAPHE-NAIL-YA

[Alfa]

PARAPHE-NAIL-YA


Last Wednesday DEA agents swept through Missoula and four other Montana cities, stopping in one tobacco-accessory-selling store in each town and seizing everything from pipes to T-shirts with pot leaves on them.


Owners of the Vault in Missoula, the Grateful Shed in Bozeman and the Blue Moon in Great Falls all confirmed the DEA's visit, and two other warrants were also served statewide.


Blue Moon owner Sue Kerkes wouldn't comment beyond affirming the DEA's visit, but Vault owner David Sil and Grateful Shed manager Bob Holstine did confirm that agents confiscated thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. They said agents served the businesses with warrants but issued no charges; they simply loaded up the goods and moved on.


Holstine says six plain-clothes agents in unmarked vehicles seized more than $7,000 in wares, including more than 500 pipes. But DEA agents also took his stock of rolling papers, T-shirts with marijuana emblems, a security camera and business records. Sil's attorney, Martin Judnich, says they seized nearly all of the Vault's inventory.


Both Sil's and Holstine's lawyers say they were pursuing answers from the U.S. Attorney's office. Beth Binstock, a spokeswoman in the U.S.


Attorney's office, didn't know anything about the searches and seizures. DEA spokeswoman Karen Flowers says she knows of the ongoing investigation but that all inquiries must be directed to the U.S.


Attorney's office. Both Judnich and Chuck Watson, Grateful Shed's attorney, say their clients are baffled and have long been operating--the Vault for about a decade and the Grateful Shed for more than 15 years--with the understanding that they are legal and aboveboard, and they want to know whether something has suddenly changed. They are uncertain where they stand because other stores selling similar wares were apparently not targeted and no charges have been filed in the stores that were targeted.


The Vault is closed ("There's nothing to sell!" Sil says) and Holstine says he's reordered some stock. "They told me to go ahead and restock my shelves but they might be back," he says. "These guys were more professional thieves than some guy who comes in with a crowbar in the night."

[BigRed]

[QUOTE=Alfa] , "These guys were more professional thieves than some guy who comes in with a crowbar in the night."


aint it so, u know i´ve recently heard a lot about things like this, the DEA coming into shops stealing shit and not compensating for it. thieves. u know it´s bull that they allow it into the country, allow it to be imported, then say "what the hell, u can´t sell this". and those t shirts, isn´t that legal to sell. "well it´s got a mari-ja-wana leaf right there in the middle" excuse the f*ck outta me for using my right to free speach and expression. The DEA is a useless hypocricy that furthers the use of drugs. see- Drug "ENFORCMENT" Agency

[radiometer]

u know it´s bull that they allow it into the country, allow it to be
imported, then say "what the hell, u can´t sell this".

Actually, it is illegal in the US to import drug paraphernalia, or even bring
it across state lines. I'm not sure of the exact law, but this is how Tommy
Chong, etc., were charged after Operation Pipe Dreams.

Ever since then, the shops I've visited in CA, AZ, and TX have carried
pretty much only locally made glassware.Edited by: radiometer

[BigRed]

well how the hell does it get there without the gov. knowing about it?


plus drug paraphernalia is illegel if marketed or used to consume illegal drugs, not tobacco wich it is intended/marketed for. thats why its legal to sell and has been for years but lately the gov. has been pushing the envelope for what ever reason god only knows.