Bill takes aim to limit sale of glass pipes
A new law will require retailers to acquire a permit to sell glass and other types of tobacco pipes believed to instead be used for smoking illegal drugs.
While shops believed to exclusively sell drug paraphernalia, such as water pipes, bongs, carburetor and other types of smoking pipes are expected to be put out of business, retailers – such as area gas stations – can continue to sell the pipes with relative ease.
Currently, tobacco permits are not required to sell smoking pipes and there are no requirements relating to the sale of smoking pipes.
Although the new law, Senate Bill 366, won’t stop the sale of pipes, State Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, said the bill is the first step toward meeting that goal.
Rouson, who admits he was once addicted to drugs, has campaigned for years to have the glass and other kinds of pipes removed from stores for years, claiming that retailers are selling them under the false premise that they’re used to only smoke tobacco and not marijuana and other illegal drugs.
“It’s all a charade. Retailers, law enforcement – everybody really knows what’s being smoked out of these pipes,” Rouson said. “The purpose of this bill is to bring awareness to this issue and make it more difficult for retailers to sell them. Here we are telling kids not to do drugs and right after school they can go across the street to a local gas station and see them right there.”
The bill is slated to become law on July 1 and will require retailers to hold a tobacco retail license to sell the pipes – an added $50 cost annually to owners-while the Florida Department of Business Professional Regulation will add $72,650 in revenue due to the new licensing.
Along with the license, stores would have to either have a minimum of 75 percent of gross revenues derived from tobacco product sales or a maximum of 25 percent gross revenue from selling the pipes or other smoking devices.
The department expects the new legislation will put drug paraphernalia shops, or head shops, out of business while others will be required to obtain licenses including:
* Estate auctioneers (high-end estate pipes).
* Antique dealers.
* Pawn shops.
* Flea markets.
* Specialty gift shops, i.e., Brookstone and Things Remembered, etc.
* Large retail stores (if they are not currently selling tobacco products).
Sgt. Donna Black, a spokeswoman for the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, said deputies have had no complaints about the items being sold at the shops. If deputies find teens or adults with them, their concern is whether they contain traces of illegal drugs and can be charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
Brooksville City Police Chief George Turner said the pipes alone haven’t been a problem and wasn’t initially aware that a new law would go into effect.
However, he said years ago officers discovered that some retailers were selling “kits” – essentially lighters, brillo pads and a pipe packaged together – which constituted drug paraphernalia. He said his department took part in a sting to collect such items, but hasn’t done so since.
Alexis Lambert, press secretary for the DBPR, said agents with the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco would be in charge of ensuring stores are licensed.
Rouson said it’s a long way from taking the sale of these pipes off the street. He also knows that the items are available on the Internet and through many retailers statewide.
However, he said it’s a small step in the right direction toward eliminating what he considers the open selling of illegal drug paraphernalia.
“It’s one layer of hypocrisy that we’re peeling away,” Rouson said. “This is the culmination of a 5-6 yearlong battle and hopefully we’ll soon see a day when the sale of these types of drug pipes is banned statewide.”
Reporter Jeff Schmucker can be reached at 352-544-5271 or [email protected].
