Smoking accessory shop In the Joint at 115 S. Main St. was busted Friday night in what appeared to be a large joint law enforcement operation involving local and county units. Boxes of inventory were removed by police and placed in a waiting vehicle. The fate of the owner and/or employees was unknown at press time.
In the Joint describes itself as “a local smoke shop with hookahs, pipes, shisha, and other novelties that you can’t find anywhere else!”
While numerous signs in the store indicated that the products displayed were “for tobacco use only,” Bucks County law enforcement officials have a history of low tolerance for the retailing of what they consider to be “drug paraphernalia”, having taken on the likes of Spencer Gifts, Love Saves the Day, Now and Then, Superkind, Spinsters and others for selling glass pipes that are frequently used for smoking pot. Ordinances strictly define the percentage of a retailer’s inventory that can be smoke-related, and proximity to other objects displaying Rastafarian colors or marijuana leaves can belie a store owner’s claim that the accessories are intended for tobacco.
The apparent confiscation of In the Joint’s inventory came as no surprise to many local observers. Seizure of goods has frequently been used as a tactic in by county law enforcement as a means to halt allegedly illicit sales of a variety of goods, including counterfeit branded goods and other items at Rice’s Market.
PREACH MOOKIE PREACH!
This situation sounds like it’s from the times of antiquity. Hellooooo NEW HOPE… do you realize that it’s not IF… but merely a matter of time before there are businesses giving away free samples of Marijuana in your precious village? What a waste of tax dollars. As you were ‘raiding’ the shop- kids were out getting drunk and getting into cars. So in our country- certain COLORS cannot exist next to an item in a shop? Sounds to me like a gross and largely unchallenged abuse of our basic rights. SO… a few pipes are just fine. But a bunch… nope? Pipes- fine… but near a Janaican flag (PS- RASTAFARIAN ‘COLORS’ are not the product of The Rasta… rather thet are the colors of Jamaica. My gosh. What’s next… are you going to have a public flogging and hanging of the owners too? New Hope is stuck in the era of the Salem Witch Trials. You should try to drown the shop owners in the Delaware to see if they float. That way you’ll know if they are witches. I hear that a mole or a birthmark means you’re evil too- I call for an inspection initiative of each citizen. Then we’ll REALLY prevent the ‘evil’ influences from infiltrating our perfect village.
Maybe they can move to Lambertville and find creative ways to make paraphernalia from antiques. And taunt Bucks County with smoke from the banks of Jersey.