ARACDE, Ga. – Police Chief Dennis Bell of Arcade, Georgia, is asking lawmakers to ban the three-inch glass pipes with a fake rose inside, the Associated Press reports. Bell says the novelty items, sold in many convenience stores, masquerade as crack pipes.
Known as “The Rose,” the pipe has a piece of cork on one end with a flower in the center. Bell said he is hoping the other police chiefs in Jackson County and the local sheriff will join him in seeking legislation to outlaw the pipes, the newswire reports.
Jim Tudor, president of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores, told the newswire that he doesn't see a problem with legislation banning obvious drug paraphernalia within reason. The association hopes retailers will not sell such items.
Possessing one of the pipes is not illegal at this time, unless the pipe has been used for drugs. However, police officers view people with “The Rose” as suspicious.
NACS has received several phone calls from reporters around the country over the past week on the issue. In some cases, reporters say, retailers The roses, also known as “Rose Tubes,” “Lover’s Roses” or “Doghouse Roses,” were first brought to the attention of NACS in 2001, and have occasionally surfaced in news reports since then, including in 2003.
NACS spokesperson Jeff Lenard says that for many instances, the store owner doesn’t know the purpose of these tubes. “They know retail, and they have no clue about the drug culture,” Lenard told NACS Daily. “Many of them are horrified when they learn how these products are used. Given that about 60 percent of convenience stores are true mom-and-pops locations, it’s often difficult to reach out to many of these retailers to share best practices, especially since they may not know we exist to help them.”
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Detroit Police Department have joined forces to combat sales of these items in Southeast Michigan.