Drug paraphernalia



Drug paraphernalia is defined by the American Federal Drug Enforcement Administration as any equipment, product, or material that is modified for making, using, or concealing illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine. Drug paraphernalia generally falls into two categories:


 * User-specific products
 * Dealer-specific products

User-specific products are marketed to drug users to assist them in taking or concealing illegal drugs. These products include certain pipes, smoking masks, bongs, cocaine freebase kits, syringes, marijuana grow kits, roach clips, and items such as hollowed out cosmetic cases or fake pagers used to conceal illegal drugs.

Dealer-specific products are used by drug traffickers for preparing illegal drugs for distribution at the street level. Items such as scales, vials, and baggies fall into this category.

Special status for overdose tobacco equipment
"Drug paraphernalia" does not include any items traditionally used with tobacco, like large-bowl pipes and rolling papers. Critics find it ironic that the most dangerous method of smoking, cigarette papers, is legal while anything overtly safer such as a one-hitter (small serving size, lower burning temperature) or vaporizer (heats only to a subcombustion temperature, eliminates carbon monoxide) can serve as basis for a prosecution, on the pretext that it is intended for use with cannabis rather than tobacco. This has been attributed to the clout of the cigarette companies whose intentionally designed overdose product (700 mg. net weight per cigarette) results in gigantic tax revenue rewards to the government. If presently banned mini-dosage utensils (as low as 25 mg.) became popular among tobacco users there could be a massive drop in industry profits and government tobacco tax collections.

While most of the items listed above have little to no legal use to individuals, drug paraphernalia laws can also apply to many items that have more legitimate uses than for illegal drugs. Small mirrors, lighters, rolled up currency, razor blades, credit cards, and spoons have all been used to prosecute people under paraphernalia laws, whether or not they contain residue of illegal drugs. While United States federal statute defines paraphernalia with the concept of primary use, in practice this can be interpreted to be what the individual was currently primarily using the item for, allowing for common items to be treated as paraphernalia only in cases where more clear evidence allows such determination of primary use.

Sales
With the rise of the drug culture in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, the country began to see the appearance of head shops, which were stores that sold a wide range of drug paraphernalia. While some of the paraphernalia was crude and home-made, much was being commercially manufactured to cater to a fast-growing market. Enterprising individuals even sold items openly in the street, until anti-paraphernalia laws in the 1980s eventually ended such sales. Today, law enforcement faces another challenge. With the advent of the Internet, drug paraphernalia sellers have greatly expanded their sales to a worldwide market. For example, in a recent law enforcement effort, Operation Pipe Dreams, the 18 companies targeted accounted for more than a quarter of a billion dollars in retail drug paraphernalia sales annually. Typically, such businesses operate retail stores as well as websites posing as retailers of legitimate tobacco accessories when in reality the products are not intended for illegal drug use due to the fact that there is an age limit on most drug paraphernalia found in "head shops".

Legal controls
In the United States, under the Federal Drug Paraphernalia Statute, which is part of the Controlled Substances Act, it is illegal to sell, transport through the mail, transport across state lines, import, or export drug paraphernalia as defined. There is no Federal law regarding simple possession of drug paraphernalia, but such possession is usually illegal under State law. The law gives specific guidance on determining what constitutes drug paraphernalia. Many states have also enacted their own laws prohibiting drug paraphernalia. Government crackdowns have resulted in the arrest of sellers of recreational drug paraphernalia, such as actor Tommy Chong, who spent time in prison in 2003 for the sale of glass pipes.

In the United Kingdom the sale of such Drug Parapernalia is not prohibited by law at present. It is common to find at least one head shop in an average sized town selling vaporizers, water-bongs, one-hitters, stash cans, herb-grinders etc. Sale is also not illegal in Canada, where not only are these items available in speciality stores such as head shops, but also at local convenience stores.