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Thread: head shops in NY being shut down

  1. #1
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    Default head shops in NY being shut down

    anyone else hear about this? all the shops in town have 50% of there inventory and i went into pipe dreams the other day and the owner told me that he got a letter from the DEA last week and told them 30 days to shut down and that they were doing a county to county sweep all across new york i was just curious if anyone else besides jefferson county was hit with this?

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    upstate seems fine.....
    2010bc

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    Something sounds really fishy here. Can anyone confirm this? Why would the DEA be closing headshops? is that really within their jurisdiction?

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    the dea can with the interest of local law do this but no one has visited us in ithaca. since we opened in march i have heard many rumors, but no verification. in chemung county(elmira, ny) the local government initiatited operation halt which essentially shut down the head shops(no grinders, no rose in a vile, no glass). very interested if anyone has any specific info....

    martin

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Gadget View Post
    Something sounds really fishy here. Can anyone confirm this? Why would the DEA be closing headshops? is that really within their jurisdiction?
    lol. you serious? come down to pittsburgh and try to find a head shop. we used to have quite a few till what like 2000? i dunno when opd went down but that was when they closed our head shops all down. when they raided the one shop, they actually "confiscated" a great deal of their glass inventory. the store tried to make it for a few years with their non-glass items. business was not good so they tried moving locations. needless to say, about a year ago they had to close down completely. good luck in ny!! p.s. it might not be a state wide thing. there are other counties in pa that have head shops. you can also by crappy glass in the tobacco shops here, and some unmentionable places got the under the counter deal.

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    Yeah I remeber that "operation pipe dreams" or "head hunter" or whatever they called it. Wasn't that the same one that got chong and JBD too? I would have figured it would have been ATF since headshops sell glass under tobacco use only premise, what do I know, not much. Glad i'm not in NY

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    yeah but i believe its the dea that gets to play the" this is not for tobacco, its paraphernalia" word game.

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    Yes it was the DEA that used the blind eye act. A law that was instated during prohibition when alcohol was sold as medical tinctures. Although I've never heard a case going to trial I have seen the card played on local shops in Jax FL. Basically confiscate everything then threaten them with the blind eye act if they take it to court.

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    I'd sent the letter back with a big BITE ME writen acrost the front. with a copy of nys law attached as well as a copy of the fed law.


    IF its a clean pcs in ny and is not sold with the intent of illegal use its perfectly legal in ny and it has been afirmed by the courts time and time again in the state of ny. So inless these shops are actually doing some thing illegal they are all good.

    In ny there are only 2 things that make something illegal paraphernalia.
    #1 is if the seller says its drug paraphernalia. or #2 if its tested positive for illegal resin by a state acredited crime lab.

    Even the govener back when he was just the state attorney. When he was asked why no shop owners where convicted in ny under operation pipe dreams has said that inless the law is ever changed its 100% legal in ny to sell pipes and other tobacco accories in stores and head shops. So I would sum that up as ny not having a problem with clean pipes whats so ever.

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    yea smutty, but what about that carb rule that was talked about a while back? that really sucks about the info in NY, i hope it doesn't end up this bad around NH.... although they shut down good times a few months back
    good luck

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    There is no carb rule in NY. The carb thing is only a guidline in determing factors as to if some thing may or may not be paraphernalia. Even without a carb if something IS used for illegal drugs its still paraphernalia.

    Like a crack stem or tv antena no carb but if its got crack residue in it. Its illegal carb or no carb.

    In ny its all on intent and only if its backed up with PROOF of the intent on the sellers part. There is no guessing or assuming or mind reading allowed in ny courts of law. a cop or winess can sujest all day long that he thinks something can be used for illegal usees but it ain't going to do them a lick of good if they don't have any thing to prove it with.

    Thas why the resin is such a big thin in a ny paraphernalia trial. Because thats PROOF that someone used it for illegal uses and is not subject to infering or guessing it may be used for some thing illegal.

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    Down here in So. FL they've continuously raided the few shops that could actually stay open. They changed the law down here 5 or 6 years ago, made it completely illegal to manufacture glass paraphernalia. But they still bust the shop owners & confiscate anything with a marge or homer simpson or mickey mouse on it. They're claiming the shop owners are trying to lure underage buyers by stocking glass with cartoon faces on them. I'm so F-Ing pissed at this state because you can still go to any Shell gas station and right fucking there on the front counter is a display with pipes in it! Can't tell you how many times I've seen crack pipes in for sale in a gas station here, meanwhile the headshop you can't go inside w/o i.d. gets shut down! This double-standard shit is really starting to piss me off, I know you're talking about NY, but it sounds a lot better than the crap that goes on in FL.

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    i have'nt heard of any of this going down. I live in buffalo, we have headshops all over the area and I've never heard of any of them getting hassled. every convient store in the city sells glass roses and steel wool too.
    ~joe

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    Yeah it's even happening in the great white north.
    This is from a newspaper.

    CALGARY -- City council will consider a proposal Monday to investigate a ban on the sale of crack pipes, roach clips, water bongs and other drug paraphernalia.

    Ald. Craig Burrows, who sits on the police commission, will urge his council colleagues to recommend bureaucrats look at ways to prohibit the sale of the materials.

    "We have retailers along Seventh Avenue selling drug paraphernalia, especially crack pipes," he said in an interview Thursday. "These people are [selling] to crack addicts, which is contributing to problems downtown."

    Several stores along the street sell blown-glass pipes, scales, knives or small glass tubes with fake roses, commonly used for smoking crack.

    Burrows said some front-line officers have told him they could use a few more tools to combat crime.

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    Yeah but we all know Alberta barely counts as Canada anyway lol.....

    Where in Northern Ontario are you, LaPlayaGlass? I'm born and bred Sault Ste. Marie, and I'm on my way to moving to the GTA Friday.

  16. #16

    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    I dont know whats going on in all these other towns, but i can give you a story about Potsdam Ny....If you dont know where that is, its way upstate by the canadian border....My name is Jessika, and we (my father and I ) have a store, Happy Daze. We were visited by the DEA, and the St Lawrence County Drug Task Force, a couple years ago. They gave us the warning to STOP selling "drug paraphernalia" (in their words, bongs, pipes, chillums, steam rollers, acrylics, headie pieces, etc, etc, etc....) or else we would face federal charges. ($250,000 fine and/or 3 years in federal prison) We opted for local legal advice in which were told all other shops in NYS would have to have a warning before they closed us down or arrested us. Approx. 6 months later, we were arrested put into hand cuffs and shackles at our individual homes, taken to the business where ALL inventory was taken to Quantico, Va, and then taken by police van to Syracuse Ny, 4 hours away from home to the nearest federal building. I found this site off a whim searching for what the hell was going on 50 miles away from Potsdam in Watertown Ny, and thought id give my information. The stores in Watertown have closed, 3 i believe in total, after DEA officials have sent letters verifying if the shop owners did not get rid of the smoking accessories they would face the same charges. Originally I thought this to be a NYS law as of 1/1/2008 and that was their reasoning but now it seems as though i might be wrong and it may be a county to county sweep. Out of our case we were given a couple of federal felonies, drug testing for years, community service, and a bunch of other bullshit. If anyone has any information on whats going on in their town it'd be great to repost so that the shops that are still in business don't have to go through what we did. It was awful. We were able to change up the inventory and remain open, and we thank god for the many loyal customers we still have!! But really, what does the government think they are going to stop? Glass blowing is on the rise, and will continue to be with or without penalties from them. So what we say up here in the north country is "Put that in your custom made pipe and smoke it, and of course, have a very happy daze!!"


    jessika & lyle
    happy daze
    6 market st.
    potsdam, ny

  17. #17

    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    CHECK THIS SHIT OUT!...JUST SEARCHING THE FORUMS AND I FOUND MYSELF!!


    New York---Three store owners arrested in Potsdam; Happy Daze and Wild Rose affected. The Drug Enforcement Administration, New York State Police and the St. Lawrence County Drug Task Force were all involved.

    news10now.com/content/all...9&SecID=83

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    Here's a link to what happened to a local head shop that I've sold to for the past 6 years. They confiscated all my glass & about $15,000 more of other products.

    It hurt my wallet pretty bad when this happened because they stopped selling glass at there other two stores while the trial is going on.

    Looks like they're winning the case & police officers are resigning due to a lawsuit against the pembroke police dept.

    This may have a bigger impact on the laws of tobacco pipes across the country. I hope they win the case & make some much needed changes to the system.

    Link: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1575842/posts

  19. #19
    nickglassdood Lurker

    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    they'll still by some head pieces eric....... the other stores i think this has already went to court right

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    Default Re: head shops in NY being shut down

    it happened to a store out here too. i went to go sell some pipes one day and all the shops were closed. i heard the next day that one got raided and they confiscated all the glass. i heard it was because they had drug reference stickers on their tubes and stuff like that. so it makes sense to me. they r still open now and selling glass so i guess it wasnt that big of a deal. i really hope everything works out for all u guys/gals.
    random naked girl in bed: " hey glenn i have a question for you, what do you do or a living?" glenn: " well ive got a question for you, what are you still doing here?" giggety giggety

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