 A Calgary
store is stirring the pot. (Global TV - Monday, August 22, 2005)
The store is called "bongs and such" and sells exactly that - anything and
everything to do with smoking marijuana.
The store's latest advertising campaign is extremely bold - and as nancy hixt
reports - it's drawing some harsh criticism.
You couldn't miss the ad if you were flipping through the Calgary Sun.
It's colorful and fills a full page. Right in the middle, a cheery looking mascot
doing what else but smoking pot.
It offers some good deals, and wishes you "happy smoking."
But Staff Sgt. Kevan Stuart wasn't happy when he read it.
"I saw it this morning when I came into work. My reaction is I'm a little
disappointed in it. We are working hard to educate the public about the evils
of drugs and how organized crime is involved in drug," said Sgt. Kevan Stuart
from the Calgary Police Service. The head of the Calgary police drug unit says
this ad shows smoking weed is ok and that's the last message police want the
public to pick up on.
"What we see is addiction, we see organized crime we see violence, we see
health issues with people who smoke marijuana and subsequently some of them
move on to use other drugs which are devastating as well. So that's what we
see when we see an ad like this."
Bill Hillis doesn't mind "stirring the pot" a little bit. In fact, controversy
is what this store owner was after when he placed the ad.
"It's not cheap to run a full page ad so but we knew it'd stir up a lot of
controversy and we'd get a lot of feedback from it," said Bill Hillis, Owner
of Bongs & Such.
The store sells all sorts of paraphernalia that many people would find questionable
but does the store admits it's condoning pot smoking ... you bet.
"We do. It's a smoking accessory so its something people choose to do, they
choose to come to my store or they choose not to. I'm not forcing people to
come here , I'm not forcing people to accept everything we do."
But is there a link between promoting stuff like this-and illegal activity
like this.
Police have busted nearly a hundred grow ops so far this year and are on target
for another record year of cracking down on organized crime.
Officers say ads like this just pushes them to work harder to win the battle
against drugs.
"Bongs and Such" says it does a good business in Calgary. The ad was to promote
it's new location recently opened in southwest Calgary.
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