Legality of Shipping Bongs

TLR

Well-Known Member
So I have a friend who lives in Cali and his local headshop just got an order of a bong I've been dying to buy. The only problem is the guys at the shop said it is illegal to ship anywhere outside of California. Does anyone know if it would be legal for my friend to ship it?

I did some googling and found this:


Federal Law said:
[U.S. Code]
[Title 21, Sec 863]
[Release Date: Aug 6, 2004]
Drug Paraphernalia - Sec. 863
In general
It is unlawful for any person
to sell or offer for sale drug paraphernalia;
to use the mails or any other facility of interstate commerce to transport drug paraphernalia; or
to import or export drug paraphernalia.

Penalties
Anyone convicted of an offense under subsection (a) of this section shall be imprisoned for not more than three years and fined under title 18.

Seizure and Forfeiture
Any drug paraphernalia involved in any violation of subsection (a) of this section shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture upon the conviction of a person for such violation. Any such paraphernalia shall be delivered to the Administrator of General Services, General Services Administration, who may order such paraphernalia destroyed or may authorize its use for law enforcement or educational purposes by Federal, State, or local authorities.

''Drug paraphernalia'' defined
The term ''drug paraphernalia'' means any equipment, product, or material of any kind which is primarily intended or designed for use in manufacturing, compounding, converting, concealing, producing, processing, preparing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance, possession of which is unlawful under this subchapter. It includes items primarily intended or designed for use in ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing marijuana, (FOOTNOTE 1) cocaine, hashish, hashish oil, PCP, or amphetamines into the human body, such as :
metal, wooden, acrylic, glass, stone, plastic, or ceramic pipes with or without screens, permanent screens, hashish heads, or punctured metal bowls;
water pipes
carburetion tubes and devices
smoking and carburetion masks
roach clips: meaning objects used to hold burning material, such as a marihuana cigarette, that has become too small or too short to be held in the hand
miniature spoons with level capacities of one-tenth cubic centimeter or less
chamber pipes
carburetor pipes
electric pipes
air-driven pipes
chillums
bongs
ice pipes or chillers
wired cigarette papers; or
cocaine freebase kits

Matters considered in determination of what constitutes drug paraphernalia
In determining whether an item constitutes drug paraphernalia, in addition to all other logically relevant factors, the following may be considered:
instructions, oral or written, provided with the item concerning its use
descriptive materials accompanying the item which explain or depict its use
national and local advertising concerning its use
the manner in which the item is displayed for sale
whether the owner, or anyone in control of the item, is a legitimate supplier of like or related items to the community, such as a licensed distributor or dealer of tobacco products
direct or circumstantial evidence of the ratio of sales of the item(s) to the total sales of the business enterprise
the existence and scope of legitimate uses of the item in the community; and
expert testimony concerning its use

Exemptions
This section shall not apply to :
any person authorized by local, State, or Federal law to manufacture, possess, or distribute such items; or
any item that, in the normal lawful course of business, is imported, exported, transported, or sold through the mail or by any other means, and traditionally intended for use with tobacco products, including any pipe, paper, or accessory
So according to this, it is perfectly legal to ship a bong/waterpipe as long as it is intended for use of tobacco, so how the hell is it illegal to ship outside of California?

Any legal-beavers here have any knowledge?

Thanks!
 

Nvr2Stond

Well-Known Member
The term ''drug paraphernalia'' means any equipment, product, or material of any kind which is primarily intended or designed for use in manufacturing, compounding, converting, concealing, producing, processing, preparing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance, possession of which is unlawful under this subchapter.


Your buying a tobacco bong...no worries
 

GrowSpecialist

Well-Known Member
I'm not a legal pro... but it seems to me that a head shop clerk would know the shipping laws when it comes to bongs. However, it also seems to me that a bong is not Marijuana paraphernalia until it has been used for the ingestion of Marijuana or there is some other type of evidence that shows it is intended to be used for the ingestion of Marijuana. A bong could be used for smoking tobacco for all they know. Tobacco pipes aren't illegal. Maybe if he includes a small package of tobacco in the box with the bong, it will make it legal. Thats just my 2 cents.
 

thcheaven

Well-Known Member
I've also heard that it's considered paraphanilia if it has 3 holes I.E. carb dunno if this is true, but read a story about indian glass imports having 2 holes and drilling out the bowl hole, glass dust left behind and weakening of the glass....
 

Dirty Harry

Well-Known Member
In my US county, they banned bongs and the such no matter the intended use. :-( So if someone wanted to collect them as blown glass artwork, being in possession is a misdemeanor.
Head shops got shut down or stopped selling those items.
Now having them and getting caught? Slim unless you get searched.

If I remember right, Chong got nailed because he shipped to a state that banned the possession of bongs.
 

TLR

Well-Known Member
In my US county, they banned bongs and the such no matter the intended use. :-( So if someone wanted to collect them as blown glass artwork, being in possession is a misdemeanor.
Head shops got shut down or stopped selling those items.
Now having them and getting caught? Slim unless you get searched.

If I remember right, Chong got nailed because he shipped to a state that banned the possession of bongs.

Yeah, a Fed tricked one of Chong's employees to send to a state that banned possession of bongs, I think it was Pennsylvania.
 
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