More Drug War Stupidity in Lexington

No, there's no pot decriminalization or medical marijuana legalization on Kentucky's November ballot. We're still wasting scarce police and court resources confiscating bongs.

Josh Kegley at the Herald:

One month after narcotics officers raided The Botany Bay, a smoke shop on Winchester Road, police have not filed the search warrant that led them to issue criminal charges and seize thousands of dollars worth of items.

The absence of the warrant, which typically become public record when criminal charges are filed, has fueled statements from friends and colleagues of store owner Ginny Saville that the Aug. 20 search and seizure was unjustified.

For those of you in non-tobacco states, a '"smoke shop" is not what you think it is. It's a store that specializes in tobacco products - cigarettes, cigars, snuff, loose tobacco - and paraphernalia like rolling papers and pipes.

That some tobacco paraphernalia has a coincidental dual use for non-tobacco vegetation is a long-standing burr under police saddles and an unconstitutional excuse to bust dirty fucking hippies for being dirty fucking hippies.

Saville's case could be among the first to test the constitutionality of a new state law banning entire classifications of synthetic drugs. Her attorney said the substance being sold at Botany Bay was not specifically listed in the Kentucky Revised Statutes as a "synthetic cannabinoid," an ingredient which mimics the effects of marijuana.

Instead, the store was busted based on a "catch-all phrase" included in the statute, Richardson said. The phrase bans "any other synthetic cannabinoid or piperazine which is not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration" or sold within the guidelines of federal laws.

Richardson said the addition is unconstitutional because retailers can't always know if a substance they're selling qualifies. He said The Botany Bay independently had the substance tested in a laboratory and deemed it legal.

Funny how the multi-billion-dollar drug war is never on the list of stupid, expensive, counter-productive government programs that should be scrapped to reduce the deficit.

Also, notice the political sign in the Botany Bay's front window in this photo.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/09/19/2343172/owners-of-store-raided-in-august.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/09/19/2343172/owners-of-store-raided-in-august.html#storylink=cpy