A little over a year ago, I wrote an article about selling herbal smoking products over the Internet. The article entitled "Selling Legal Highs" extolled the virtues of selling alternative commodities on adult sites. I reviewed some of the substitutes for tobacco and marijuana one could purchase legally over the web and how such merchandise would fit well on porn websites. I came at the article from the angle that legal highs like Salvia Divinorum and Wacky Weed were similar in appeal to herbal Viagra and natural penis enlargement products.

I’d like to state that at this writing, those goods and their ingredients are still legal to buy in the US. Some of the paraphernalia used to consume alternative tobaccos are however, not.

"Like it or not, if you sell meerschaum pipes, you are subject to legal scrutiny. If you sell them along with black lights, tie-dyed shirts and bongs, you could be busted."

On Monday February 24, Federal officials announced they shut down websites, raided brick-and-mortar shops and arrested 55 individuals for selling illegal drug paraphernalia. It’s against federal law in the US to sell glass pipes, water pipes, dugouts and vaporizers because their primary intention is for use with illicit substances.

I keep forgetting that.

I hate to admit it but I got caught up in the frenzy of e-commerce. I kind of forgot about that nasty old paraphernalia law. It’s been around a long time. Head shops have danced around it for years. Here in West Texas rolling papers appear and disappear from the shelves of stores in increments of five or so years. I can remember about ten years ago, a local chain of convenience stores went as far as to remove all the free papers from their units of loose tobacco.

The oldest head shop in town has always displayed their scales, screens and hookahs as "novelty items". Back in the early seventies we used to have one place that advertised kites. Lots and lots of kites. I imagine they actually sold a few kites but they probably made most of their money because they carried "novelty items".

The drug paraphernalia law is one of those selective laws that gets enforced at the whim of the DEA. It’s a silly statute much like the sodomy law but it’s still on the books and totally enforceable.

The legislation stood against a 1994 challenge in the Supreme Court. Although pipes and bongs can be used to smoke legal substances such as tobacco or salvia, if prosecutors believe such things are drug paraphernalia, that’s okay with the court. Like it or not, if you sell meerschaum pipes, you are subject to legal scrutiny. If you sell them along with black lights, tie-dyed shirts and bongs, you could be busted.

I recommended herbal alternatives as a moneymaking sponsor for adult webmasters. I pointed to sponsor sites that carried such products. I never took into account that a year later some of those sponsors would have their sites shut down by the DEA. I neglected to think about the repercussions those businesses would suffer by offering illegal paraphernalia over the Internet. I was an idiot. I was a fool. I apologize.

I can’t recommend anyone align themselves with companies that sell "drug paraphernalia" no matter how ridiculous I think the law forbidding it is. I can’t tell webmasters to float head shop banners because I fear they could get in trouble by doing so. The law that covers the sales of roach clips and pipes that look like lipstick is section 863 of Title 21 United States Code (USC) Controlled Substances Act.

The text of the code states:

"Section 863. Drug Paraphernalia

(a) In general

It is unlawful for any person --

(1) to sell or offer for sale drug paraphernalia;

(2) to use the mails or any other facility of interstate commerce to transport drug paraphernalia; or

(3) to import or export drug paraphernalia."

In my opinion a government that refuses to distinguish between rolling papers used for tobacco and rolling papers used for joints won't have much sympathy for lowly sponsor affiliates. I like head shops. I think marijuana should be legal and the folks who fight for decriminalization fight the good fight.

I think it's deplorable that some very good people are being crucified to the gods of moral politics. The Internet has given these entrepreneurs an opportunity to improve their lives and by default the lives of the communities they live in. There are some fine artists out there producing beautiful pieces that just happen to be shaped like pipes. Title 21 section 863 is a law none the less.