BOISE, Idaho — Boise Police are cracking down on vape shops across the city, targeting items that could be used for illegal drug use.
This is footage of Boise Police looking inside Honey Pot CBD on the Boise Bench back in March. Owners Jason and Alicia Miller called the department to see what was going on after noticing an uptick in police activity in and around their business.
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"It was literally 11:30 at night, and it dinged me because we have cameras and security, I saw that they were taking pictures of [the] inside of our store," said Miller.
After inquiring with the department, Miller received a response, "Someone did get back to me later that day and said that they were doing an educational. I don't even know what he said, it was weird, but just something to do with the smokeshops," added Miller.
A BPD spokesperson says officers started what they call the "education phase" of two laws, which are intended to stop the sale of items that could be used for consuming drugs, like pipes, rolling papers, bongs, and much more.
"We felt vulnerable, especially where we didn't know that we were breaking the law, so that came as kind of a surprise," said Foresee.
Jeremy Foresee is a partner with Vapor Loft, which operates 8 locations across the valley, and says BPD visited three of his shops in Boise. Footage shows officers inside their Milwaukee location.
After the officer's visit, the shop removed $64,000 worth of items deemed paraphernalia from their Boise shelves.
"The police officers were super nice, they said we're not here to arrest anybody, we're here to educate you, but then proceeded to explain that all of our [items] were being considered paraphernalia," said Foresee.
Idaho Statute Title 37 covers Food, Oil, and Drugs. Article 1 defines drug paraphernalia as any equipment, products, or materials intended for handling, processing, or using a controlled substance. Article 4 states, "It is illegal for anyone to sell, possess with the intent to sell, or manufacture drug paraphernalia if they know or should know it will be used for a controlled substance."
Foresee believes the enforcement approach is misguided. "We're not hurting anybody, we don't sell drugs. What somebody does with it, I think that's who they should be after. As if there's people using illicit drugs in the state of Idaho, maybe go after them while they're using the product wrongly instead of just a clean piece of glass that's sitting on a shelf," said Foresee.
BPD says most businesses have been very understanding and strive for compliance. Vapor Loft partner Jeremy Foresee says they've hired attorneys and are in the process of forming a smoke shop association to make their voices heard among Idaho lawmakers.
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