Matt DunningHanover Mariner
HANOVER, Mass. - How-to advice with a hookah burned two Hanover Mall workers caught in an undercover narcotics sting.
Police say a teen working at Spencer’s Gifts sold a cop the water pipe along with instructions on how to best put it to use with pot.
Both the employee and his manager were charged the next day, and 28 hookahs were seized.
Daniel T. Smith, 17, of Halifax and Heather Vernon, 18, of Braintree face a charge of selling a device, according to state law, used to “ingest, inhale or otherwise introduce into the human body a controlled substance.”
Friday’s charges were issued a day after a Hanover narcotics officer conducted an undercover operation at the store. Police say Smith sold the officer a pipe, adding in instructions on how to smoke pot. Police said Vernon was on duty as the assistant manager.
By selling hookahs and other drug-related paraphernalia, including T-shirts and posters with marijuana insignias on them, Hanover Police Chief Paul Hayes said it’s a “kick in the face” to his department.
“With all the work we do trying to educate the community about the dangers of drug abuse, it’s insulting for (Spencer’s) to turn around and sell things like hookahs,” he said.
Representatives from the Hanover Mall and Spencer’s declined to be interviewed, and Spencer’s corporate headquarters did not return calls.
Im not really surprised. That is one store I always avoid as most of the things they sell are pretty distasteful.
ReplyDeleteI remember my mother telling me to avoid this one store in CCM because they had been known to sell pot paraphernalia. (west end gifts I believe). Good for the police for working for our good and the good of our kids in this situation.
Spencer's was funny when I was a teenager, but the joke's kind of lost on me. Fart spray and plastic breasts don't hold the same kind of allure. LOL I only go in there on Halloween these days.
ReplyDeleteThe hookahs just confirm they're not done pushing the envelopebut as long as there are malls and people with no taste, they'll keep pumping out more disgusting crap.