Newspaper Article
Council to look at ban on 'drug paraphernalia
By John Payne, Editor, Spencer (Iowa) Daily Reporter, 12/14/96, pg. 1:
The Spencer City Council on Monday will consider a proposed ordinance
banning the sale or possession of "drug paraphernalia," a traditionally
loose term that City Attorney Don Hemphill has tried to define as
narrowly as posssible.
Council member Joe Skow requested the ordinance, which Hemphill drafted
after discussions with Skow and Spencer Police Chief Marlin Wimmer.
Currently, there is no state or federal law against selling the items
covered by the new city ordinance, according to Hemphill.  However,
other states and other cities in Iowa have adopted similar ordinances.
If approved, the ordinance would make it illegal to sell, display for
sale or otherwise possess, about two dozen items commonly used in drug
production and consumption.  Included in the list are several items that
currently can be purchased legally in Spencer, such as pipes, bongs and
clips used for smoking marijuana cigarettes.
The ordinance would also ban items designed to store or conceal
controlled substances.
A second reading of the ordinance would be required in order for it to
be added to the city code, according to Hemphill.  If the ordinance is
adopted, any violation would be considered a simple misdemeanor and
could be punishable by a $50-$100 fine and/or 30 days in jail.
Skow said he has spoken with law enforcement officers in Indiana, where
a state law bans the sale, distribution and possession of drug
paraphernalia.  He said enforcement of the law yields illegal contraband
"on a daily basis".
Steve Ross, owner of Rainy Day Music in Spencer, sells some of the items
that would be prohibited under the new ordinance.  He said he doubts
that the ordinance would do much to curb drug use in the area.
If marijuana smokers can no longer buy pipes and bongs legally in
Spencer, they will simply construct them using materials found at any
hardware store, he said.
Ross, who also sells music, incense, and magazines at Rainy Day Music,
keeps all tobacco- and marijuana-related items in a glass display case
away from the record and compact disc section of the store.  He said he
does not sell any of the items in question to persons under the age of
18.
Though a large portion of the store's income comes from the sale of
pipes, bongs and other paraphernalia, he said he probably won't
challenge the new ordinance unless he is offered legal help to do so.
The legal sale of drug parphernalia in Spencer is not new.  Ross has
been in business at Rainy Day Music for 10 years.  However, prohibiting
the sale of such items has not been a high priority for the council in
the past, Hemphill said.
If the first reading of the ordinance is approved on Monday, the council
is likely to adopt the ordinance in the coming months, according to
Hemphill.  If so, the new ordinance would go into effect immediately.
What would that mean for Ross?
"Probably one hell of a fire sale (before the ordinance is adopted)," he
said.  "I'd probably do a year's worth of business in a couple of days."
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note: Councilman Joe Skow is a State Trooper who recently arrested my
wife's boyfriend and a buddy with a large quantity of marijuana in the
back seat of their car.  Their arrest and arraignment in Clay County
(Ia), has not been reported in the media.     -Steve
 * SLMR 2.1a *  Dec 18 Happy Birthday Keith Richards
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