TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The long pipes best known to be used for marijuana smoking may soon take a hit in Florida.
A bill to prohibit the sale of glass and other pipes, commonly called "bongs," sailed through the House Business and Professional Regulation subcommittee on Wednesday.
State law now allows only certain retailers to sell the pipes if at least 75 percent of their sales come from tobacco products or they have no more than 25 percent of "certain drug paraphernalia" sales.
The bill (HB 49) would eliminate that exception and make any sale a first-degree misdemeanor. Second and subsequent violations would jump to a third-degree felony.
Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, says he wants to take away the convenience for drug addicts to go to local stores to buy paraphernalia used to inject illicit drugs.
