A new bill effective July 1 will make the possession or sale of almost anything that could be considered drug paraphernalia illegal in the state of Kansas.

Known as House Bill 2359, it authorizes the use of special task forces to inspect shops believe to carry these items in order to ensure compliance.

The list of paraphernalia banned by the bill leaves much for smokers to desire. Metal, wooden, stone, acrylic and water pipes, bongs, growing aids, vaporizers, scales and grinders are just a few of the things that will get people in trouble, especially within 1,000 feet of a school district.

However, if a business has a license to sell tobacco, it still will be allowed to sell hand pipes. Shops like Rockstar & Rogers and On the Wildside, both in Aggieville, have tobacco licenses, but expect to lose income after the bill comes into effect.

"Everything we sell is for tobacco use only," said Jaina Lambert, who owns On the Wildside. "But we'll stop selling anything they believe is unlawful."

The store also will be forced to stop selling the magazine "High Times," since it glorifies drug use, according to the bill. Hastings also sells "High Times" but can continue doing so because it doesn't sell any items the magazine features.

The owners of Rockstar & Rogers are more outspoken about their feelings on the bill, but said they will continue to follow every law imposed on their store.

"We're not worried," said Rebecca Christensen, co-owner of Rockstar & Rogers. "We're not doing anything wrong here. We pay thousands of dollars of tax every year. We card our customers and completely comply with state law, yet still they're demonizing us."

Christensen was one of several thousand people to collect signatures in opposition to the bill when it was first introduced last year. It failed on its own, however, and in the process of attaching it to a partial-birth abortion act politicians knew would pass, all of the signatures became void.

"This bill rode the coattails of bigger issues," she said. "If you're old enough to buy tobacco, you should be able to buy devices to smoke it with."

Selling pipes is not bad for society, said Rockstar & Rogers' co-owner Rebecca Craig, who said she wants to know why tax dollars aren't being spent on bigger issues.

"Supply and demand are supposed to regulate trade, not politicians," she said. "We have people from all walks of life buying our products. There is a high demand for them."

Dan Bernath is a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a nationally recognized advocacy group for the legalization of medicinal marijuana and marijuana regulation. He said the bill directly targets products associated with the drug, which MPP supporters feel should be legalized, regulated and taxed like alcohol and cigarettes.

"Marijuana is much less harmful to your health than cigarettes or alcohol," Bernath said. "If they legalized and taxed marijuana like they already do with those substances, the amount of money saved and gained would be tremendous."

According to a report conducted and supported by 500 economists, legalizing marijuana would save $7.7 billion dollars a year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition. If marijuana were taxed, the report estimates a profit close to $6.2 billion annually.

In the meantime, customers at Rockstar & Rogers and On the Wildside have been stocking up on supplies.

"I don't think they should pass any more laws unless a large majority of the population votes to do so," said Matter Retter, a Rockstar & Rogers customer. "The majority rules. These politicians just keep themselves busy making new laws."