Ice breakers move in
12Jul07
OWNERS of the Off Ya Tree drug paraphernalia stores face jail if they continue to sell ice pipes and bong parts following raids on their Surfers Paradise and Brisbane shops.
Queensland Health acting senior director of alcohol and tobacco Greg Robbins said his officers had confiscated more than $100,000 worth of drug-related tools from the shops.
Dr Robbins said they had secured 450 ice pipes, 450 bongs and thousands of bong components from the Cavill Avenue store.
"The owners had these items displayed openly in the cabinets. They weren't trying to hide them at all. All of the stores in question had been pre-warned about the crackdown and they received a phone call warning them about the enforcement of the rules," he said.
Their store in Queen Street Mall, Brisbane, had 200 ice pipes, 150 bongs and thousands of bong components seized on Tuesday.
Queensland Health now has dozens of boxes full of drug utensils ranging in price from $20 to more than $200.
The Off Ya Tree owners face fines of up to $10,500 and Dr Robbins said the State Government would consider prosecution through the courts if they continued to break the new laws.
A company search on the Australian Business Research site lists the owner of Off Ya Tree as Koutsoumidis Dimos, 48, of Warrandyte North in Melbourne.
"If they keep doing it they can be prosecuted," said Dr Robbins.
"We're working very closely with police and they have assisted us in both raids."
Despite the crackdown, Off Ya Tree in Surfers Paradise continued to sell pill cutters, pill testers, 'coke kits' and vaporisers yesterday which can be used to smoke ice.
The cutters are used to evenly cut ecstasy pills in half, while the pill testers tell the user what the ecstasy contains.
The coke kits, made up of a small mirror and razor blade, are used to cut cocaine into lines before snorting it, while the Tobacco Vapourush vaporisers can be used for ice and other drugs.
An Off Ya Tree employee, who did not wished to be named, said the crackdown was a 'joke' as they were still legally able to sell the products.
"It's ironic isn't it," he said. "These things are the same as the bongs they use to do something illegal."
Although users can no longer legally buy the paraphernalia needed to take drugs, the Off Ya Tree employees believed it would do little to stop drug use.
"There's heaps of different ways," one said.
"Now everyone is going to use juice bottles and garden hoses -- how dirty is that?
"The bongs are way healthier for people, they have long necks on them to keep people's mouths away from the water.
"They are making it harder for people to smoke safely. We just sell more hygienic stuff for people to use."
Health Minister Stephen Robertson said methamphetamine use had put thousands of Queenslanders at risk and that this was the first step to eradicate all drug utensils.
"This is an epidemic and this is the start of cleaning up the problem. Most of the shops did the right thing. You only have to look inside our emergency rooms on a Saturday night to know what kind of effect this is having with the violence being experienced by our doctors and nurses," said Mr Robertson.
"We won't tolerate anyone thumbing their nose at the law by continuing to supply ice pipes, bongs and bong components."
Since Friday, 80 Queensland Health officials alongside Queensland police officers have conducted 237 inspections and handed out seven fines for minor infringements across the state.
Mr Robertson said the seizures sent a strong message to rebel operators that the legislation would be policed and that they would now become a target.
Under the legislation, implemented through the Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007, health inspectors can issue $300 on-the-spot fines if they find individuals or businesses selling even a single ice pipe or any bong parts.
The new laws were prompted by the State Government Ice-Breaker Strategy and Ice Taskforce set-up last year.
Pharmacies are also involved in the process, restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine medicines, an ingredient in ice and speed, to those who genuinely need them.