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Fla. lawmakers seek to outlaw "bongs"

Bong Bill
Posted at 11:20 AM, Mar 27, 2013
and last updated 2013-04-01 04:52:14-04

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Call it the "Bong Ban."

A House panel now is scheduled to discuss a proposed law that prohibits the sale of glass and other pipes known to be used for marijuana smoking and best known as "bongs."

The Business and Professional Regulation subcommittee will discuss the bill (HB 49) on Wednesday.

State law now allows only certain retailers to sell the pipes if at least 75 percent of their sales comes from tobacco products or they have no more than 25 percent of "certain drug paraphernalia" sales.

The bill would eliminate that exception and make any sale a first-degree misdemeanor. Second and subsequent violations would jump to a third-degree felony.

The Senate version (SB 1140) exempts wooden pipes. The House bill does not.