NORMAN — Owners of the Friendly Market believe the law is on their side for selling glass pipes, but police seem to disagree.
Tuesday, Norman police raided the store at 1100 E Constitution, seizing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise and cash, an owner and an attorney representing the store said. A search affidavit had not yet been filed in the Cleveland County District Court as of Friday afternoon, and a Norman police spokeswoman declined to comment.
General Manager Stephen Holman, who is also a city councilman, was working at the store when the raid occurred.
The Friendly Market sells items such as books, clothing, jewelry, hats and candles. There is an interior room for patrons at least 18 years old where smoking accessories such as glass pipes and smoking accessories are displayed for sale.
In May, staff pulled the glass pipes off the shelves following police raids at two other similar businesses in Norman — McCloud'z Pipes and Fatt Hedz. Both shops shut down as a result.
However, after receiving legal advice from attorney Brecken Wagner, Friendly Market began selling glass pipes again.
"They're not doing anything illegal. These are smoking pipes," Wagner said. "The Friendly Market doesn't sell any type of incense, potpourri or anything like that. Strictly just smoking accessories, glass pipes, things of that nature."
A search warrant provided by the Norman Police Department lists drug paraphernalia as the purpose of the search.
Friendly Market staff is considering restocking the inventory seized by police, confident their merchandise is within the law.
"This really is nothing more than intimidation, harassment, and law enforcement trying to push their will on other people as well as civil forfeiture,” Wagner said.
Wagner successfully represented the owners of the Funky Munky, a novelty store in McAlester, after a 2014 raid by the Drug Enforcement Agency and other agencies. In that case, the agents obtained a search warrant for synthetic marijuana, but none was found, Wagner said.
Law enforcement seized smoking accessories from the store as well as $70,000 from the bank accounts of the owners, Wagner said. No arrests were made but Pittsburg County attempted to permanently seize the cash and merchandise through civil forfeiture, which Wagner fought in court.
In July of this year, the DEA returned all of the merchandise and most of the cash after a settlement agreement was reached, Wagner said.
Resource: http://newsok.com/article/5465011
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