High incident

Part 4

Kristen Lombardi

All wars take their hostages

In his three years as captain of Worcester's vice squad, Benway says, police have never gone after so-called head shops to combat drugs. Instead, police have focused efforts where one may suspect -- the city's streets.

Still, with regard to recent enforcement, Benway doesn't recognize much of a diversion from the police's larger efforts to get drugs off the streets.

"There is no such thing as a Mister Big in Worcester. No one person is in charge of drugs," he says. "So we target everyone, from low levels to middle levels."

What seems most important now is the fact that police haven't heard so much as a whisper of dissatisfaction from neighbors since they raided these shops -- even though three of the indicted shop owners are still in business. The owner of the Social Smoker on Greenwood Avenue closed his establishment a day after news of the raids got around.

"We haven't received one complaint," says Benway. A sign that his officers resolved a perceived problem. When asked if the owners deserve the punishment they face, Benway softens his pride over an investigation seemingly well done. "It isn't for me to decide who should or shouldn't go to jail. I'm not out to get anyone. Police enforce the laws, and I'm just doing my job," he says.

Crediting herself with calling attention to these shops, District Four City Councilor Janice Nadeau views the presence of head shops as a "real public-safety issue." After all, says Nadeau, children passed by several of the shops on their way to school. One store was located across from a community center frequented by parents, children, and teenagers.

"People in neighborhoods see a link between the shops and illegal drug use," says Nadeau. None of the shops sit in her district, but Nadeau assumes that her opposition to needle exchange, an issue debated last year on the council, prompted residents to solicit her help. "By selling that equipment, these people are certainly helping the illicit drug industry."

Residents who voiced concern do see a connection between drug use and a perceived head shop -- at least, in theory. Jane Petrella of the Quinsigamond Village Crime Watch says neighbors in her area didn't even want the risk of increased drug activity, and having a pipe shop in the area was seen as such a threat.

Now that owners face jail time, however, many residents concede perhaps the crusade has gone a little too far. Petrella says that most neighbors never intended to inflict ill will upon the owners. And one vocal resident in Quinsigamond, Pat O'Connell, says she'll be content if the nearby shop remains closed. As for jail time, she responds, "Gee. I haven't really given it much thought."

Friends of owners are hoping for a "reasonable" jury -- one that takes into account the lack of evidence connecting actual drug sales to the establishments. (A fact Benway also verifies.) One friend of two owners, willing to speak on condition of anonymity, says regardless of America's innocent-until-proven-guilty belief, "neighbors are already beginning to disassociate" from owners' families.

For a proprietor like Petrie, who took a risk starting his business by borrowing $20,000 on credit cards, the raids have not only affected his social life but have also squelched his dream of owning a novelty shop. Petrie says he moved to the Tatnuck area as a way to advance plans of opening up such a shop.

"I was tired of limiting myself to selling what I could," says Petrie. "I started selling costumes and novelty items. I never intended to sell pipes forever."

Maybe so. But in eyes of anti-drug activists, pipes are just as important as the illicit substances people use them for. Indeed, says Auto Moulton of Concerned Citizens for Drug Prevention, "Head shops are not as important as the acceleration of drug use in this country, but every bit counts." No matter how little these shops really are.

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