Columbia passes ban on drug paraphernalia. Here’s how much penalties could be

The possession of drug paraphernalia will now come with hefty penalties in Columbia.

City Council voted Tuesday in favor of a new ordinance making it illegal to possess drug paraphernalia in the city. Violators could be fined up to $500 or imprisoned up to 30 days.

The purpose of the new law is to help the Columbia Police Department respond to people using illegal drugs in public, explained Police Chief Skip Holbrook and Councilman Howard Duvall during a meeting of the city’s public safety committee Tuesday afternoon.

“This is not intended to be an attack on convenience stores or vape shops,” Duvall said.

The new ordinance makes it illegal to possess or distribute any items connected to illegal drug use. That includes bongs, pipes and syringes but also things like scales and containers if they’re used to process or store drugs.

The ordinance targets items intended for the use of controlled substances. Marijuana, cocaine and hashish are specifically mentioned in the draft, but the law also applies to equipment associated with any controlled substance. Most drug paraphernalia is already illegal under state law.

Paraphernalia is defined in the ordinance as “all equipment, products and materials of any kind which are used, intended for use or designed for use” to process or use controlled substances.

Businesses that sell products that can be associated with drugs, like glass pipes or rolling papers, wouldn’t be targeted by the ordinance. Those businesses also would not be responsible for how the products they sell are ultimately used after they are purchased, Holbrook added.

Columbia has seen a “steady increase” in overdose deaths, Holbrook said, and police officers are responding to more public intoxication from drug use. He called the new ordinance another tool for the police department.

The ordinance, which Duvall said is meant to mirror state law, includes a list of factors that would be considered to determine if something counts as drug paraphernalia.

Those factors include how physically close the object is to a controlled substance; any residue of a controlled substance on the object; whether the owner of the object has previously been convicted of breaking a law related to controlled substances; the manner in which an object is displayed for sale; whether the owner is a legitimate supplier of similar, legal objects, such as tobacco products; and whether the object has legitimate, legal use.

Columbia City Council passed the new ordinance on a second and final reading Tuesday. Council approved the ordinance on first reading in July.