Head-shop owner is jailed, and his shop is shuttered
By Meredith Fischer, INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF
A Main Line shop specializing in drug paraphernalia was shut down permanently and the owner sent to prison yesterday, the result of two days of police surveillance last winter. Leslie Mark Joblin of Wynnewood, owner of Critters on Lancaster Avenue in Rosemont, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to six to 12 months in prison and two years probation. He was charged with selling pipes, rolling paper, urine-purifier kits and bongs -- water pipes often used for smoking marijuana -- in violation of the Pennsylvania Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act. The Critters trademark logo now belongs to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office. "We want to make sure no one benefits from this trademark," Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele said. "This individual was very successful in his store, with its location in the area . . . with a number of college students and young people around."
Steele said Joblin also would have to forfeit $200,000 seized from his bank accounts. Joblin was arrested Feb. 26 after two days of surveillance by county detectives who said they had seen at least "100 young people coming out of the store," according to court records. Some were carrying five-foot bongs, Steele said. Before Joblin's arrest, detectives conducted a search of the store that netted 673 pipes, 51,250 pieces of rolling paper and 193 bongs, among other items, according to authorities, Joblin also sold syringes and literature on planting, cultivating, growing, harvesting and manufacturing marijuana, heroin and psychedelic drugs, according to court documents. "A store like this provides the means for young people to get involved in drugs," Steele said. "It has serious ramifications, which is why we are taking such a hard line." Joblin's lawyer, Stephen P. Patrizio, could not be reached for comment.
While shopping in the store, detectives spoke with Joblin and told him they were looking for a present for a friend who "loves to get baked," according to the probable-cause affidavit. "What he did is provide the means for people to use drugs," Steele said. "Closing this store is terrific from a community standpoint."
For more information, write to
speak@hound.com
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999
From:
NewsHound@hound.com
This is Not a Pipe!
Justice Department Goes After "Paraphernalia" Vendors
In the latest expansion on the "War on Drugs," Attorney General John Ashcroft reported today that the Department of Justice has launched two new major anti-drug operations aimed at targeting companies that sell items that drug users might use to ingest their unapproved drugs. At a press conference held earlier today, Ashcroft proudly announced that "Operation Head Hunter" and "Operation Pipe Dreams," have already resulted in the arrest of 55 people.
Read More at:
http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/topnews.html
55 Charged in Drug Paraphernalia Sales
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Please visit http://www.JGEproducts.com and follow the email link to voice your concerns on the government or anything partaining to this "paraphernalia" issue. I want to compile opinions and post messages on my site.
Now, instead of using this picture for advertising, I wave it as a flag of anti-censorship and personal liberty:
If bongs and glass pipes are illegal, then why did no one mention this before. Just because some political authority (i.e. Ashcroft, Bush) made this their personal political agenda do overstep their boundaries as an elected official, now innocent people are suffering, indicted on felony charges, and stripped of their businesses and livelihood. FUCK THAT
GlasssKolector posted February 25, 2003
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