Bong and water pipe ban headed to governor
by Kimberly Miller | April 28th, 2010A unanimous House vote this morning to ban the sale of smoking pipes except at stores that mostly sell tobacco products sends the legislation to Gov. Charlie Crist’s desk.
While the sale of drug paraphernalia is already a crime, the bill, which passed in the Senate last week, would also prohibit devices that can be used for tobacco as well as illegal substances.
The legislation exempts businesses that get at least 75 percent of gross sales from tobacco products and no more than 25 percent from banned items.
Those items include bongs, water pipes, electric pipes, chillums, and ice pipes or chillers.
“Everyone except the retailers know that these pipes are a charade,” said Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg. “This bill continues to peel away layer by layer this charade.”
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April 28th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
This state is going backwards and turning into a Mississippi/Alabama redneck Bible Belt asylum. Within the next few years more than half the states in this country will be legalizing marijuana, and Flori-DUH is wasting it’s time on this stupid petty stuff.
April 28th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Hey Mack G, get used to it. With the current dems in power, they will ban anything they think is bad for you. Imagine that, another person telling YOU what is bad for YOU. For anyone thinking the government is doing what’s right for you…smoke another one…just not from a pipe, because that’s bad for you.
April 29th, 2010 at 10:23 am
To reply to post #2, the dems aren’t banning things. It is the conservative people in congress. Dems or progressives, want marijuana. Notice how California has medical marijuana and it is completely run by democrats.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Hey post #2, you’re an idiot! Post 3 just served you your lunch of humiliation, you bible thumping redneck!
May 2nd, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Actually, it’s both lame parties here in FL. Neither party - the big gov’t Dems or the supposed small gov’t Republicans protect individual rights in the least here in FL.
This bill was brought to the FL Congress, by a Democrat, Darryl Rouson. It was passed unanimously in both houses of the FL Congress by both parties.
This bill is the most riduculous, backwards thing ever - it actually promotes the most deadly, addictive substance in FL - tobacco, and prohibits glass, wood, stone, and acrylic items - if sold by Headshops that do not sell enough tobacco.
It’s really nothing more than a morality ploy, as the law itself is fine with these items being sold, just not if they’re sold by Headshops.
Most other sellers of pipes will be protected by this law - like the convenience store (pipes account for less than 25% of their revenues) selling glass stems to crack addicts will be protected. The pipe seller at a tobacco store(tobacco accounts for more than 75% of their sales) will be protected. Also, those stores could sell waterpipes as well.
Aside from the the loss of state income tax revenue, the loss of employment, the loss of rented out space, there could be other uninteded consequences.
What if a traditional pipe seller at a tobacco store sells more pipes than tobacco in a certain year? Will that store owner also end up in jail? How much tax dollars will go into the enforcement of this law? Will there be a new FL governmental agency to audit the books of all of these businesses?
Mr Crist, please veto this law. Just like the teacher’s bill, this is just a bad law. Even if you agree that waterpipes should be banned, it is still a bad law. You could simply state, “I vetoed it because I cannot in good conscience support a bill that further promotes and even encourages the sale of tobacco”.
SPL