DRUG PARAPHERNALIA ABATEMENT POLICY

Businesses that sell drug paraphernalia
Businesses that specialize in selling drug paraphernalia became popular in the 1960s when marijuana and other drug use reached epidemic proportions. During that period, a subculture developed around the use of illegal substances, and businesses catering to drug users were commonly known as “head shops,” a reference to the mind-altering substances used by their clientele. Over the years, such businesses have proliferated, expanding in urban and residential neighborhoods alike. Today they are a permanent fixture in many of our communities. Many of them have signage that clearly promotes drug use, making it seem like acceptable behavior.

One of the most popular devices offered for sale is a large water pipe made out of glass or plastic. Known as a “bong,” it is commonly used to smoke marijuana. It has a small bowl appropriate for the drug and a large chamber for cooling the smoke. A variety of other pipes in a broad range of sizes also is available. Fashioned from a variety of materials including brass, wood, or ceramics, each is customized to maximize its personal appeal.

The shelves are also filled with many specialty items: scales for weighing amounts less than an ounce, tiny glass vials and small spoon-like instruments for administering drugs through the nasal passage. Products that can help the drug user evade the law are also in plentiful supply. Among them are items used to conceal a cache of drugs, such as a plastic bottle of soda with a false bottom, lipstick tubes, and marijuana pipes
disguised as highlighters – things a young person could take unobtrusively to school. Rounding out the inventory is a host of items containing pro-drug slogans or images. These include t-shirts, stickers and jewelry, many of them clearly designed to appeal to youth. Pornographic magazines as well as items often found in adult bookstores also are available at many of these businesses.

Problems:
State law prohibits the sale of drug paraphernalia but many businesses get around this law by presenting themselves as legitimate vendors of tobacco products. In addition to so-called “head shops,” some businesses such as liquor stores and discount stores also sell drug paraphernalia. The presence of such businesses in local neighborhoods, often near churches, schools or other locations youth frequent tends to normalize the use of drugs among members of the community, especially youth. It makes it easier for them to make the transition to using hard drugs, because it seems more acceptable.

Solutions:
In California, a state law has been passed making it illegal to sell any devise
known to be used primarily for the consumption of illegal drugs. But vendors of drug paraphernalia have been able to get around this law by calling their businesses “smoke shops,” and claiming to be legitimate sellers of tobacco products. However, there are several ways that local governments can regulate businesses within their jurisdictions.

Conditional Use Permits (CUP). Communities can install permanent controls by passing a CUP, thereby restricting where a business is allowed to locate and the kind of promotional practices it may use. Such laws are frequently applied to businesses that have the potential to impact public health and safety, such as bars and liquor stores. But some cities are now using this method to control smoke shops, restricting where they
locate, limiting advertising and signage, strengthening prohibitions against youth access.

Deemed Approved Ordinance (DAO) is a nuisance abatement tool that has been used successfully to regulate problem alcohol outlets. Although CUPs only apply to new businesses, a DAO can help community members place restrictions on existing businesses that constitute a nuisance or pose a threat to public health and safety. A DAO allows local governments to reclassify “legal nonconforming” businesses as “deemed approved,” requiring them to comply with a higher set of standards. Then, if a given business fails to meet those standards, the city has the power to revoke its operating permit. The process is driven by complaints that are associated with a specific business location. Problems cited may range from minor nuisance-related activities such as excessive trash, graffiti and loitering, to more serious violations of law such as prostitution, drug dealing, and gang-related activity.