More Sensible Anti-Drug Arrests
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 5:48 PM

As Vice Squad has noted before, once you declare a substance to be evil, there are essentially no limits to what steps you should take to suppress the offending material. Arrest folks who happen to possess the substance. Burst into people's homes to search for the substance. Mandate tests to generate evidence that people have used the substance, and arrest people who sell goods that can be used to confound the results of those tests. And today, Last One Speaks brings word of the latest clever law enforcement ploy, this one aimed at goods that are used in combination with an evil substance. Of course, goods whose primary use is to consume an evil substance have long been suppressed, but law enforcement is now expanding the notion of dual-use technology. The target: fake roses in glass pipes and scrubbing pads.

I wonder how the clerks arrested for selling the roses feel about the seeming immunity of Urban Outfitters? Co-blogger Nikkie uncovered their paraphernalia sales back in October, though since then, the complementary product has had its price reduced -- perhaps in response to Nikkie's complaint at the end of the October post?

Labels: arrests, paraphernalia