BSO's Drug Paraphernalia Raid at Swap Shop: Tattling Kids Spoil Everything

Have you seen this in your high schooler's room?

​It is a sad day for Fort Lauderdale's stoners.

Responding to "complaints from patrons," Broward Sheriff's Office personnel, working in concert with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, seized 5,691 pieces of drug paraphernalia from kiosks at Fort Lauderdale's Swap-Shop.

Photos courtesy of BSO.

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Signs on the kiosks suggested that the paraphernalia -- which included glass pipes, bongs, and a really ingenious one-hitter disguised as a fully functional highlighter -- was meant for use with tobacco products. Typically, such a disclaimer is sufficient to mollify suspicious law enforcement personnel. Not in this case. Apparently, numerous area parents have complained in recent months about the pipes being sold to their high-school-aged children.

According to BSO, several high-school-aged youth approached the kiosks during the raid, attempting to purchase pipes.

New Times contacted one former Broward headshop proprietor, whose store was remembered fondly by several writers as the location where they, as teenagers, purchased their for-tobacco-use-only drug paraphernalia. Speaking on the condition of strict anonymity, the proprietor said, "Look, teenagers are going to find a way to smoke pot. Right? I mean, you did.

"Mobilizing a federal agency to keep a bunch of kids from getting their hands on a fucking bong. Man, what a waste of taxpayer money. The kids'll just figure out how to make steamrollers out of soda cans. They always do.

"Of course, we never knowingly sold paraphernalia to kids," the former proprietor continued. "It'd be business suicide. Kids can't keep a secret! Look at the Swap Shop."

What a waste.

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