Hookah Smokers Rejoice
The discussion between myself and the Residence Director of my Apartment complex in regards to the confiscation of my hookah on the basis that it was drug paraphernalia.
As defined by federal law, drug paraphernalia includes, “any equipment, product or material of any kind which is primarily intended or designed for use in manufacturing, compounding, converting, concealing, producing, processing, preparing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance.”
Common sense would dictate that in order for a device such a hookah to become so called drug paraphernalia it would require primary intention of illicit use. You have no proof and have put forth no case (at least on the community conduct form) that my hookah is primarily intended for such uses and therefore you have stolen my personal property. I understand the role of a Residency Director gives you the power and ability to search and seize items from my residence as outlined in item #13 of the Housing Occupancy Agreement. This power is also ambiguously declared on page 45 of The Handbook for Residential Living 07 in that residence life staff can search and seize items that are, ”suspected violations of state or federal law or university policy.“ As a tobacco pipe, a hookah should be allowed in its use in campus approved smoking areas, and mine has been used as such. In my view, it is no different than cigarettes or other tobacco pipes that are used by many other students on campus.
After meeting with him today we came to agreement that smoking the hookah in on campus approved smoking areas was perfectly fine, his only concern was that the hookah was being smoked inside my apartment.
