Empathetic LI Store Owner Busted For Selling Bongs

The Long Island convenience store owner who took pity on a bat-wielding robber and gave him $40 and a loaf of bread is facing trouble with the law—for selling drug paraphernalia. Mohammed Sohail, as well as other business owners, "face civil penalties for allegedly selling illegal pipes, bongs and hookahs," according to Newsday. Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko and Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota claim that "Undercover investigators bought items from Sohail, and the other store owners, after making clear that they would use them for drug use." Legislator Kate Browning said that while Sohail's generosity to the would-be robber was nice, "But I know who he is, I know what he was doing. No sympathy for him." And Sohail simply told Newsday, "I threw everything in the garbage. I don't want it anymore." Photo of Spota holding a bong from 1010WINS

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By Jen Chung in News on June 4, 2009 3:52 PM

Comments [rss]

monsterzro

oh come on, it was for jellybeans!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm43WBwg82c

Felix Hoenikker

echo echo

Felix Hoenikker

Someone clever photoshop a huge cawk into that picture.

Felix Hoenikker

Someone clever photoshop a huge cawk into that picture.

Think2wice

HA!

Father O'Malley of County Cork helps starving families struck down by the potato blight, but he likes a wee tipple and saucy wench on his downtime.

Qraymond

I feel like this story somehow relates to the LI police chiefs who are paid $300K/yr. I guess they have nothing better to do...

moonshine99

Go figure, the cops still suck and the politicians are doing nothing useful.

bennyinsf

I don't usually comment on Gothamist, but this one is just too much to resist. Anyway, I do enjoy visiting NY (lived there many years ago) and may end up having to move back to NYC for work someday, but I have to admit (or brag), I really enjoy the fact that I can walk just a few blocks in my neighborhood in SF and choose from a huge selection of bongs and hookahs from many smoke shops located in my neighborhood and throughout the city. The war on drugs is a waste, the criminalization of pot is even more wasteful, and NY's ban on selling bongs (whether the buyer admits to purchasing it for consuming pot or not) is just stupid. If I do have to move to NYC, I'll remember to purchase a large collection of pipes and bongs in SF beforehand. Peace to all of you.

JenChungsBaby

Don't bother, there are plenty of places to buy bongs in the city.

theboneranger

Look at the guy holding up the bong in the picture. Just look at his giant, bloated, alcoholic-red head. Now imagine the upside-down frown on his face if that bong was a bottle o jack daniels.

"I know who he is, I know what he was doing. No sympathy for him."

chuzzlewit

heh

jibbly

The whole drug paraphernalia thing always confused me. You can sell bongs and pipes, but only if your customers promise they won't smoke weed out of them? WTF?

Steven

The war on drugs is like the war on piracy on the internet.

whitecastlerock

Pay your fucking taxes

Sommelier

"If a man wants to grow a weed in his backyard and smoke it in his living room, I don't see how that it's any of the government's damn business."

- Senator Barry Goldwater, a true Conservative

babyhitler

why do they make bongs so fucking ugly? If someone were to make an elegant classy vaporizer I might just start toking up.

hotstepper

oh and...

http://www.thevolcanovaporizer.com/index.php

hotstepper

dude, they look a whole lot cooler after a hit or three, bro.

Polite New Yorker

It's times like these that make me hopeful that the general public will become fed up and disgusted with our government's persecution of citizens and merchants in the "war on drugs." It's an immoral war if there ever was one that has led to violation of our privacy and freedom.

melanarchy

Of all the stupid laws and wastes of time. "You can sell this as long as you don't 'know' people are using it for drugs." So we waste time with undercover operations that only serve to trap people who make national news for being nice guys. Glad to see my tax dollars being used to protect me from these dangerous bongs.