Piercing Law Changes In Victoria

We applaud the Victorian Government for recent changes to legislation making certain piercings illegal to under 18s and all piercings illegal to under 16s without parental consent. Off Ya Tree’s PUNKTURED had adopted and adhered to this policy for the last ten years and believes it proper and responsible.

• Our reasons for supporting the Government on this strategy are:
• Young bodies continue to develop late into their teen years and sometimes beyond. Piercings can interfere with certain developmental issues.
• Putting a hole into your body is something that should have some mature thought attached to it. An adult perspective will be helpful.
• Quite often amongst teens, decisions to have a piercing done are based on peer pressure. This should help eliminate these impulsive preasured decisions.
• It the case of extremely young clients, an understanding of the dedicated hygiene practices required to care for an unhealed piercing can only be appreciated by an adult. Risk of infection is always there if advice is not strictly followed.
• It is inappropriate for a piercer (who should always be over 18) to be performing procedures on intimate parts of bodies of persons under 18 years of age.
• Some Body piercers are insufficiently trained and do not have the understanding to make the correct recommendations. It is better that at least some rules are spelt out.

We also believe that further regulation should be introduced to weed out unscrupulous and improperly trained practitioners. Similar Penalties should also apply to the dodgy back yard operators, of which there are plenty.

Furthermore, degrees of training should be defined and accredited by a governmental regulatory body, and certificates of achievement should be displayed in full view for client’s perusal.

Court Appearance, June 2008

On June 24th, 2008 Off Ya Tree and two of its directors faced the Brisbane Magistrates Court on a charge of “Displaying a Bong”. The offence occurred a couple of days after new laws were introduced in Queensland effectively banning what was previously legal to sell.

There were originally several other charges which were dismissed by the court. Once these other matters were cleared up, a plea of Guilty was entered on the single remaining charge.

It was pointed out in court that it took the authorities over 6 months, and in the case of some stock lines as long as 10 months to determine which items are now still legal to display and sell, and which are not. Yet within the 2 – 3 day period, Off Ya Tree was expected to:

• Get hold of the new legislation
• Have it examined by our legal experts
• Make a determination as to what we could and couldn’t sell
• Remove the now illegal items from our shelves

It was also pointed out in court that over 80% of the items first seized were later returned because they didn’t contravene any laws. This is of course why most of the charges were dropped. For example, NONE of the items seized were Ice Pipes, as first reported, which our claim was all along.

The seizure caused much disruption and distress to our business as well as our staff, and this was acknowledged by the court. Furthermore, our name was dragged through the mud and we were accused of many things that are now known and accepted to be untrue. Most of the claims made by Qld Health, Qld Government and the media are now PROVEN to be inaccurate.

In respect of the defence used during the seizure that we were selling pourers, the court did not accept this. Because we pleaded Guilty to displaying bongs, we were not entitled to put up a defence in regard to the pourers, although we do have one. In any event, there is no dispute from us that at least a couple of the items still on display at the time of the raid were in fact in breach of the new laws, and so a plea of Guilty for the Display Charge was fitting.

We feel that the court acted appropriately in its sentencing and think that the fine of $750 imposed on Off Ya Tree and the Good Behaviour Bonds for its two directors was fair. No convictions were recorded, and we also think that this was fair.

Queensland Government Bong Ban

Off Ya Tree has been and continues to endeavour to work with the Government and within the law, however, it is difficult to do so when the Health Department (the relevant department in this case) fails or refuses to give clear guidance.

We feel that the government's ill conceived and uniformed blanket ban approach is short sighted and doomed to fail (it will do nothing but drive the sale of smoking paraphernalia underground) and we find it disappointing that our repeated offers to work with government to regulate the industry and focus on public education (rather than straight-out prohibition) have been ignored.

We again invite government to consult with the industry to work together for the benefit of all Queenslanders… but fear that again it will fall on deaf ears.

Sales of Pourers

It has been suggested by the media and other critics that our range of “Pourite Pourers” are really bongs under a fancy name. We vehemently deny these allegations and challenge anyone to show us how a Pourite Pourer can be used as a bong without modifications requiring tools… but then if you are going to use tools, you can convert just about ANY liquid receptacle including OJ bottles into a bong or pipe, and probably with less effort.

On the other hand, our Pourite Pourers work very well. They will pour a measured dose of milk into your coffee or a measured dose of Bourbon into your Cola, or salad dressing onto your salad. This is all we profess that they do and if they don’t manage to perform this task, we will be held accountable.

The fact that Pourite Pourers may look like bongs should be irrelevant. As far as we know, there are no laws prohibiting items that LOOK like bongs. Rightly or wrongly Bongs are illegal, and we have not sold bongs now for some time, so what is the problem?

Banning of Bongs

“Let me not be understood as saying that there are no bad laws, nor that grievances may not arise for the redress of which no legal provisions have been made. I mean to say no such thing. But I do mean to say that although bad laws, if they exist, should be repealed as soon as possible, still, while they continue in force, for the sake of example they should be religiously observed.”

- Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

Where it has become law that we may not sell bongs, we make every effort to religiously comply with these laws. It is our opinion that we have succeeded in doing so. It is only our obligation to follow laws to the letter and not to go beyond that point, nor to draw further conclusions nor to make further concessions for omissions.

Believing that we live in a country where individual opinion and idealism is allowed, we feel it is our right to make our opinions known, and to justify our beliefs to the many people interested. The government have spent too much time and money spreading misleading information to justify a bad decision made over half a century ago. It is time to tell the truth so we can move on and SOLVE the many problems relating to drug use and abuse.

We believe outlawing bongs is a “Bad Law” for reasons we have made apparent throughout our website. It follows then that we would be negligent were we not to try to repeal this bad law. We begin by informing the many people who want to know about the various known facts, giving them access to unbiased research, and then allowing them to make up their own minds as to what is right and what is wrong.

We take this opportunity to also point out that it is one thing to legislate against a substance that is feared to be dangerous, and quite another to legislate against an implement that ‘might’ be used to ingest the substance, and could furthermore be only one of many ways (but indeed the safest) to ingest the said substance. This can be compared to banning “wine glasses” to combat alcoholism.

Governments everywhere admit that banning bongs will have no effect on reduction of drug use. Their aim is to curb the legitimisation of a particular drug. In effect, they are telling us what we can say and what we can not… and this is what we object to the most. That isn’t supposed to happen in Australia. What will be next from the “Thought Police”?

Of course we acknowledge that a bong ban affects us financially also, however why should our business be discriminated against? What we sell has been legal for the 30 years that we have been in business, and certainly before that. We are of the belief that we have provided a service and quality product to the public and the support we have enjoyed supports this claim. Does a government have the right to destroy a business just because some of the MPs want to be seen to be doing the responsible thing… even if it’s not?

OYT Responds to The Bulletin

This Article appeared in The Bulletin 12 Jul 07 - Ice Breakers Move In

The Bulletin
OWNERS of the Off Ya Tree drug paraphernalia stores face jail if they continue to sell ice pipes and bong parts following raids on their Surfers Paradise and Brisbane shops.

OYT Response
Firstly, Off Ya Tree is NOT a drug paraphernalia store. It can be argued that in some of our stores we do sell bongs and pipes; however this is not the defining stock we carry. These items do not even count for 10% of our stocked lines.

Secondly, Off Ya Tree hasn’t sold Ice Pipes in Queensland since November 2006. The items that were seized were NOT (by any stretch of the imagination) Ice Pipes, and makes one wonder how well informed or trained these health officials are.

Thirdly, Off Ya Tree was not selling “bong parts” at the time of the raid.

The Outcome
All charges were dropped against the Brisbane Store. All but a minor charge were dismissed against the Surfers store.

The Bulletin
Queensland Health acting senior director of alcohol and tobacco Greg Robbins said his officers had confiscated more than $100,000 worth of drug-related tools from the shops.

Dr Robbins said they had secured 450 ice pipes, 450 bongs and thousands of bong components from the Cavill Avenue store.

OYT Response
Firstly, they say they confiscated $100,000 worth of goods, which they admit was legal to sell in the previous few days. They didn’t offer to compensate Off Ya Tree for it. What did they expect us to do with it. Put it in the bin? Our stock on offer at the time of the raids was altered to make it comply with the laws.

Second, you can call a cow a chicken, but it doesn’t make it one. By the same token, if they don’t know the difference between an Ice Pipe and a tobacco pipe, what can you do? There are distinct differences. The items confiscated CAN NOT BE USED to smoke Ice.

Thirdly, the items they are calling bongs and bong components were in fact no longer bongs nor bong components. We are happy to go to a Court of Law to challenge this.

The Outcome
More than 80% of the seized stock was returned to us after Queensland Health and the Police realised that we were correct and that they had no reason to seize MOST of the stuff they did.

There was no big media report though about how the authorities and their Dr Robbins got it wrong.

The Bulletin
"The owners had these items displayed openly in the cabinets. They weren't trying to hide them at all. All of the stores in question had been pre-warned about the crackdown and they received a phone call warning them about the enforcement of the rules," he said.

Their store in Queen Street Mall, Brisbane, had 200 ice pipes, 150 bongs and thousands of bong components seized on Tuesday.

Queensland Health now has dozens of boxes full of drug utensils ranging in price from $20 to more than $200.

OYT Response
Firstly, it is correct that we had these items openly on display. This is because we maintain that the items we were selling were all legal. We were not hiding things under the counter because we don’t break the law and have nothing to hide.

Secondly, same as before, NO ice pipes, NO bongs, NO bong components. It is true however that Queensland Health have our stock and we’d like it back.

The Outcome
So there you have it… we were RIGHT to have most of these items on display. How much would it have cost us to REMOVE these items from sale just because some misinformed bureaucrat told us we should !?!?

Well we’re about to find out, because when they FORCIBLY removed our stock they gave us grounds for a compensation claim.

The Bulletin
The Off Ya Tree owners face fines of up to $10,500 and Dr Robbins said the State Government would consider prosecution through the courts if they continued to break the new laws.

OYT Response
And yet, to this day we have not been fined nor charged with ANYTHING.

The Outcome
Oh they prosecuted all right, but as I have mentioned, most of the charges were dismissed and the company was fined $750 with NO CONVICTION. This was only because we put in a plea of guilty to the only remaining charge of “Displaying Bongs”. In truth, at the time there were probably a few items still on display that could only have been bongs, so I guess we were guilty of that much… so we put in our guilty plea for that.

It also came out in court, that although the authorities pounced on us 2 days after these laws were changed and EXPECTED us to get it right, it took them OVER SIX MONTHS to work out what was legal and what was not.

The Bulletin
A company search on the Australian Business Research site lists the owner of Off Ya Tree as Koutsoumidis Dimos, 48, of Warrandyte North in Melbourne.

"If they keep doing it they can be prosecuted," said Dr Robbins.

OYT Response
What’s the story in Queensland, isn’t a person innocent till proven guilty? Is it a matter of how much damage you can do to a person?

Anyway, even this information is wrong. Dimos Koutsoumidis owns the Trading Name and licenses the use to the current owners.

The Outcome
NO CONVICTION against Dimos. Innocent till proven guilty… but persecuted by the media all the same.

The Bulletin
"We're working very closely with police and they have assisted us in both raids."

Despite the crackdown, Off Ya Tree in Surfers Paradise continued to sell pill cutters, pill testers, 'coke kits' and vaporisers yesterday which can be used to smoke ice.

The cutters are used to evenly cut ecstasy pills in half, while the pill testers tell the user what the ecstasy contains.

The coke kits, made up of a small mirror and razor blade, are used to cut cocaine into lines before snorting it, while the Tobacco Vapourush vaporisers can be used for ice and other drugs.

OYT Response
That’s so much Hogwash that it would take me pages to respond.

The long and the short of it is that these items are legal in Queensland. Any Shaver Shop will sell you a mirror and razor blade and most geriatrics own a pill cutter which they can obtain from any Chemist.

Pill testers should be made available FOR FREE paid by the government. It gives pill takers the chance to test their pill before they swallow it, to ensure it isn’t laced with something that will kill them.

Again, Off Ya Tree HAVE NOT SOLD ice pipes in Queensland since Nov 2006. To say something CAN be used, you would have to include Pepsi Cans & Light Globes.

The Outcome
Isn’t it amazing how wrong Queensland Health AND Queensland Police can be?

But then we have always maintained, THEY ARE NOT experts in this field… just the people who have been given the job of “policing” the law.

…and so we shouldn’t go to them for advice!!!

…and when you think that they are the ones who gave the Government the advice in the first place, what does it say about the law?

The Bulletin
An Off Ya Tree employee, who did not wished to be named, said the crackdown was a 'joke' as they were still legally able to sell the products.

"It's ironic isn't it," he said. "These things are the same as the bongs they use to do something illegal."

Although users can no longer legally buy the paraphernalia needed to take drugs, the Off Ya Tree employees believed it would do little to stop drug use.

"There's heaps of different ways," one said.

"Now everyone is going to use juice bottles and garden hoses -- how dirty is that?

"The bongs are way healthier for people, they have long necks on them to keep people's mouths away from the water.

"They are making it harder for people to smoke safely. We just sell more hygienic stuff for people to use."

OYT Response
I don’t know which of our staff they tricked into responding but what he/she said is true. The Bigger problem is that most people don’t really understand the issues.

Taking away bongs is like taking away a wine glass from an alcoholic. It will have NO EFFECT on whether or not the alcoholic drinks the wine, because there are so many ways of doing so.

The problem with banning bongs however, is that it is an irresponsible move because it has been PROVEN that if you are going to smoke (tobacco or anything else) the SAFEST way to do so is with a bong.

Most people who use bongs don’t do so because they are safer, they use them because they are more economical. This means that people will continue to use bongs as a means of smoking. The only difference is that they will now make bongs themselves and I’m sure the police can testify as to the STUPID things people use as bongs.

The Outcome
The Government has even itself now conceded that these new laws will make little or no difference to drug use, but they say it is the message we are sending that they want to change.

I always thought in a free country like Australia, we were allowed to think and say what we liked… apparently not so.

The Bulletin
Health Minister Stephen Robertson said methamphetamine use had put thousands of Queenslanders at risk and that this was the first step to eradicate all drug utensils.

"This is an epidemic and this is the start of cleaning up the problem. Most of the shops did the right thing. You only have to look inside our emergency rooms on a Saturday night to know what kind of effect this is having with the violence being experienced by our doctors and nurses," said Mr Robertson.

"We won't tolerate anyone thumbing their nose at the law by continuing to supply ice pipes, bongs and bong components."

OYT Response
We agree that “Ice” is a VERY BAD DRUG and we have ALWAYS advised people against using it. We in fact have an article about “Ice” on our website warning people of the dangers.

I can’t believe however that Mr Robertson can class “Ice Pipes” and “Bongs” in the same category. It is like classing Alcohol and Caffeine the same. I wonder if he realises that “off the cuff” remarks like that are what reduce his credibility amongst those who matter the most.

Simply lying to people to scare them into submission doesn’t work any more. There is too much information easily obtainable that will set the story straight. One of our problems in society today is that the young access this information, and will no longer “just be told” what to do by the misinformed older generation.

The Outcome
We told you so… we were NOT selling ice pipes.

We had tried to communicate with the Health Minister Mr Robertson on several occasions and even tried to set up meetings with him to discuss the various issues. It seems though, that we don’t have enough credibility for him to consider talking to us. He “makes no apologies” for being tough on drugs, and it seems he makes no apologies for getting it all wrong too.

The Bulletin
Since Friday, 80 Queensland Health officials alongside Queensland police officers have conducted 237 inspections and handed out seven fines for minor infringements across the state.

Mr Robertson said the seizures sent a strong message to rebel operators that the legislation would be policed and that they would now become a target.

Under the legislation, implemented through the Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007, health inspectors can issue $300 on-the-spot fines if they find individuals or businesses selling even a single ice pipe or any bong parts.

The new laws were prompted by the State Government Ice-Breaker Strategy and Ice Taskforce set-up last year.

Pharmacies are also involved in the process, restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine medicines, an ingredient in ice and speed, to those who genuinely need them.

OYT Response
Whilst we have to date, and will continue to abide by laws put down by the government, we feel that the government has made a HUGE mistake in its approach in this matter. We offered to share some of our points of view with them but they refused to even acknowledge that we were entitled to an opinion.

What they have succeeded in doing is:

• Reducing their credibility even more among those who matter the most.
• Driving the paraphernalia into the Black Market (of which we intend to have no part)
• Making it LESS safe for people to smoke.
• Not understand the real issues once again.
• Persecute innocent people.

The Outcome
Another absolute waste of public money. Why not add to the BILLIONS of dollars wasted in this cause.