Popular Categories


Paraphernalia ordinance up in smoke?




Uvalde Police Department chief Daniel Rodriguez recommended the Uvalde City Council rescind an ordinance created a decade ago to prohibit the sale of smoking paraphernalia.

Rodriguez says police rely upon state statutes rather than restrictions created by the ordinance to enforce the law.

The issue first came under discussion last July when Eric Hill, owner of Smoking Hills Tobacco, was instructed by the police department to stop selling items such as water pipes.

Hill, who has been in business almost five years in Uvalde, complied with the instructions but attended the July 14 council meeting to ask the city to consider altering the ordinance.

Council members took up the topic again at a later meeting, but decided to wait for input from the police chief before acting.

“You were asking for my recommendation on how we should proceed with this ordinance, specifically the Ordinance 8.52 in the city Code of Ordinances, which is restricted smoking materials,” Rodriguez said. “Now this ordinance has been in the books since 2010, and I think it was created because at the time, that’s when we had synthetic marijuana coming up, known as K2, spice, and it has many other names. So that ordinance was

created because we had what you call a head shop downtown. And eventually those items became illegal, and they are illegal to sell, they’re illegal to possess, but we still have this ordi- nance on the books.”

He noted the ordinance also prohibits many other smoking material items which are not deemed ille- gal to sell, such as water pipes, chamber pipes, elec- tric pipes and other items.

“In of itself these items are not illegal to sell. They are illegal to possess if
one, you are under the age of 21, or you have an illegal substance in those items, but they’re not illegal to

sell,” Rodriguez continued. “Anybody can buy them, you can get on Amazon, you can go to San Antonio, you can buy them any- where.”

He expressed concern about the ordinance pro- hibiting electric pipes.

“We have a business downtown, Vapor Way, that’s all they sell. If we keep this ordinance on the books or if we don’t revise this ordinance, that busi- ness could potentially be out of business,” he said.

Rodriguez said UPD officers use state statutes to enforce the law in Uvalde.

“From a law enforcement standpoint, or law enforcement opinion, we have never probably ever

used this ordinance or written a citation under this ordinance because we fall back under the state statutes. Possession of drug paraphernalia or possession of restricted smoking material by a minor, we always fall back on state statutes,” Rodriguez said.

Councilman Rogelio M. Muñoz asked Rodriguez if in the 10-year-period any tickets had been written on the ordinance regulations, and Rodriguez said he was not aware of any.

Council members agreed to look into repealing the ordinance and directed city staff to come back in future with a measure to do so.