BOSTON GLOBE [JULY 5]
The police raid on his Green Side Up Gallery was one of three since April in Allston, where police have been cracking down on so-called head shops, stores that sell pipes and rolling papers that can be used to smoke marijuana.

The busts were well planned. Officers took photographs of the shops before making their arrests, and interviewed North End tobacconists to bolster their argument that the Allston shops were selling drug paraphernalia.

“We’re not looking to put anyone out of business [who is] running a legitimate business,’’ said Captain James Hussey, who runs the Brighton district. “These places were set up, it appears, just to sell drug paraphernalia.’’

Lawyers for those arrested say the shops were licensed by the city and state to sell the products, and police had no basis for shutting down the shops. But Hussey said two of the shops — neither of which belonged to Yaffe — did not have proper licenses displayed.
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Talk about liberty infringement! Cops love making assumptions about illegal activity without any regard to…wait for it…illegal activity. How about that? It’s like when an old geezer cop questioned my friend for using a hookah in a park. The officer made three assumptions that were pretty disturbing: (1) that the smoking device was a ‘bong’ (2) that my friend was smoking marijuana and (3) that hookahs or, in the officer’s slang ‘bongs’, are illegal to sell and to possess. As a commenter on the article wrote: “Welcome to the new police state people, they will be coming for you next!”

FREE MATTHEW YAFFE!