High incident

A secret grand jury. Police raids. And T-shirt confiscation. Have officials gone too far in the case against five Worcester head-shop owners?

by Kristen Lombardi

"This is a fool's errand in the name of the drug war."

-- attorney Mike Cutler on the decision to prosecute the Worcester tobacco-shop owners under drug-paraphernalia laws.

John Petrie of Ziggy's Tobacco and Novelty sells pipes. Elaborately carved stone pipes from Brazil. Polished mahogany and corncob pipes with deep bowls. Clay models from Mexico and offbeat metal ones comprised of nuts and bolts.

Petrie's Tatnuck store also features colorful T-shirts, incense, candles, books, loose tobacco. He's been in business for nearly four years without incident. But it was his pipes -- many associated with marijuana use -- that landed Petrie in front of a Worcester Superior Court judge on July 3 facing a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to sell. Petrie is one of five local tobacco storeowners facing similar charges after an aggressive sting operation by Worcester Police where three van loads' worth of pipes, bongs, T-shirts, posters, vacation snapshots, and a plastic pot plant were confiscated. Also facing charges are Douglas Rooney and Michael Prefontaine of Pipe Dreams, Thurston Borgman of Peter's Pipes and Papers -- in business for about 20 years -- and Karl Amorelli of the Social Smoker.

Spawned by neighborhood complaints, the criminal indictments of these owners place Worcester County in front in prosecuting tobacco storeowners for violating a vague, rarely enforced 1981 state drug-paraphernalia law that prohibits the sale, or possession with intent to sell, of drug paraphernalia. Due to a history of successful challenges, however, state prosecutors are finding the law hard to prove when items like pipes and rolling papers can be used for legitimate purposes, namely smoking tobacco.

"These prosecutions tend to occur when people decide they don't want these shops in their neighborhoods," says Tracy Maclin, a Boston University law professor. "But it's harder to make claims of guilt stick when talking about tobacco shops."

With criminal trials continuing on July 23 and 29, the owners face penalties of up to two years in jail, $5000 in fines or both. Only now are some -- including a few residents who initially complained to police that they wanted the stores shut down -- realizing how the politics of the drug war may have held these owners hostage.

Part 2

Kristen Lombardi can be reached at klombardi[a]phx.com.