the rix mix

Benevolent New York merchant cited in drug sweep

SHIRLEY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York convenience store owner who made headlines after showing mercy on a would-be robber has been accused of selling drug paraphernalia.

Shirley Express owner Mohammad Sohail's (so-HAYL) store on Long Island was one of seven businesses cited Tuesday. He's accused of violating state business laws.

Prosecutors say undercover officers bought bongs and pipe screens at the store three times in recent weeks.

Sohail said Thursday he did not know the items were not permitted to be sold.

It's not a criminal charge and is punishable by a fine of up to $30,000.

The merchant got attention this week when it was revealed that he gave an intended robber $40 and a loaf of bread if the man agreed never to steal again.

Sheesh. Saw this on TV news tonight. On the security tape, the robber fell to his knees & wept. It was a remarkable encounter, like watching Jesus say, "Go & sin no more," & Mr. Sohail is a special kind of soul. The ornate bongs were in a small glass case with a sign "for tobacco only." You know, that harmless legal drug. Of course, they were used for pot. The 7-11 up the street sells rolling papers, regular & wide. It also sells a variety of cheap, single cigars, including terrible flavored types. When I'm in the 7-11, young folks, male & female, come in to buy a couple of cigars. Many of them are students from the dorms at the nearby college. Everyone knows the cigars are sold for blunts. Slice open the cigar, empty it, fill it with pot, re-roll it, lick it closed, dry it with a few passes of a Bic lighter. Flavored blunts & water bongs are popular where the marijuana tends to be low grade. I don't know about Shirley NY, but around here marijuana smoking is not something law enforcement considers a major problem. Oh, they bust dealers & the occasional small time grower, & put wildly inflated street values on the stuff. Local cops have no choice but to arrest anyone toking outside in a public space, although they're probably more pissed off that the offender is so stupid & putting them through the hassle.

Unavailability is the main reason urban gangs here deal pot along with hard drugs. But it's smelly, takes up storage space, & customers aren't addicts. Decriminalize it (not even legalization), street market expands, people grow their own, price drops, pot smokers - like microbrew beer afficionados - become finicky about quality, & the dried out expensive crap the local Crips sell ain't good enough because your cousin gets better weed from her friend in the burbs. This was the pretty much the situation in many places (not Texas) before Nixon declared War on Marijuana & the subsequent cocaine importation turned formerly livable poor & working class neighborhoods into terror zones, & you couldn't even safely use restrooms in upscale jazz clubs, where coke pimps set up shop. It isn't the pot smokers who become so sick & desperate that they kill convenience store clerks for fifty bucks.

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