Police say that novelty roses packaged in thin glass tubes and pens with glass bodies are thinly disguised crack pipes sold in convenience stores, and some local lawmakers in Washington are trying to combat the products with legislation, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported March 8.

Experts say it is hard to prosecute a store owner for selling the pens or Wild Rose novelties under state law unless an employee explicitly acknowledges that they can be used to smoke crack or methamphetamine. But Spokane officials are considering a new ordinance that includes language specifically dealing with these products and is based on a Pierce County law that broadens the definition of drug paraphernalia to include items "whether useful for non drug related purposes or not."

In Seattle, police try to educate retailers to discourage sales of items that can be used as crack pipes, as well as running sting operations where officers ask clerks to sell them a crack pipe -- a tactic that results in a sale about 10 percent of the time.

Education also was part of the reason behind the Pierce County statute, passed in 2005. "To some degree, it was designed to get business owners to be good citizens as opposed to resulting in a lot of arrests right away," said Pierce County deputy prosecutor Mark Lindquist.

Ed Troyer, a spokesperson for the county sheriff's department, said the ordinance has helped reduce overt sales of novelty items as crack pipes, but added, "The problem is, you can take an empty pop can and make it a crack pipe. You can take a pen apart and make it a crack pipe. You're not ever going to be able to completely get rid of it."