Almost Got A Disorderly Conduct For Hookah

[r1v3th3ad]

So, I'm enjoying a beautiful night with my MZ and Tangiers Schnozzberry, talking with some girls I met that turned out to live in the neighboring borough to mine back home...when the cops pull up, driving on the sidewalk.

Appearantly with the past weekend being move-in weekend, parents called in thinking it was NHT. The cops approached and asked "what do you think you're doing here?" "Just enjoying a session with schnozzberry shisha." "Well, you right here, right now, are actually in disorderly conduct. We have received numurous phone calls from parents thinking you are smoking NHT." I interupt "You can test this all you want," I hand them a jar"I do not use NHT, it has never been in my hookah, and never will be in my hookah." One of the three campus cops interupts "I know you are not smoking NHT, who would be dumb enough to do that in the Oak Grove? The problem is, that it is making a scene, all the complaints puts you in disorderly conduct, you right now trying to contest this, is in fact disorderly conduct." Me, "this makes no sense, its tobacco, hookahs are not illegal, I set up hundreds of times last year with my old hookah...". "Well its an issue now. If you leave now, we will not charge you, but if you EVER bring it back, you will be arrested, your hookah will be confiscated, then it is up to the judge whether you get it back." In fear of being put in cuffs, I complied and did not question anymore. They took down my information and I walked off campus smoking as I go.

So, I need help on this one here...this is complete bullshit. I want to fight it, I need to know where to find the statues towards this...Pa state law that shows that hookah is not illegal, and where I can find it in the student handbook(I forget where, but know its not listed as not allowed). I wanna take this up with the campus branch of the ACLU(American Civil Liberties Union), I thought that would be most appropriate. I also think I should see if the campus paper will take the case.

any advise at all, please send it my way. Also, anything you guys can find for me on this, please lend a fellow hookah fanatic a hand.


Still smoking,
Pat aka r1v3th3ad

[r1v3th3ad]

o ya, IUP student handbook, can't find where it would be...here is the link http://www.chss.iup.edu/economics/Handbook0307.pdf

[TigerLord]

So, I'm enjoying a beautiful night with my MZ and Tangiers Schnozzberry, talking with some girls I met that turned out to live in the neighboring borough to mine back home...when the cops pull up, driving on the sidewalk.

Appearantly with the past weekend being move-in weekend, parents called in thinking it was NHT. The cops approached and asked "what do you think you're doing here?" "Just enjoying a session with schnozzberry shisha." "Well, you right here, right now, are actually in disorderly conduct. We have received numurous phone calls from parents thinking you are smoking NHT." I interupt "You can test this all you want," I hand them a jar"I do not use NHT, it has never been in my hookah, and never will be in my hookah." One of the three campus cops interupts "I know you are not smoking NHT, who would be dumb enough to do that in the Oak Grove? The problem is, that it is making a scene, all the complaints puts you in disorderly conduct, you right now trying to contest this, is in fact disorderly conduct." Me, "this makes no sense, its tobacco, hookahs are not illegal, I set up hundreds of times last year with my old hookah...". "Well its an issue now. If you leave now, we will not charge you, but if you EVER bring it back, you will be arrested, your hookah will be confiscated, then it is up to the judge whether you get it back." In fear of being put in cuffs, I complied and did not question anymore. They took down my information and I walked off campus smoking as I go.

So, I need help on this one here...this is complete bullshit. I want to fight it, I need to know where to find the statues towards this...Pa state law that shows that hookah is not illegal, and where I can find it in the student handbook(I forget where, but know its not listed as not allowed). I wanna take this up with the campus branch of the ACLU(American Civil Liberties Union), I thought that would be most appropriate. I also think I should see if the campus paper will take the case.

any advise at all, please send it my way. Also, anything you guys can find for me on this, please lend a fellow hookah fanatic a hand.


Still smoking,
Pat aka r1v3th3ad

The USA is one of the most constipated, close-minded country I have ever set foot on.

You really want to risk jail, or WORSE, getting your beautiful Hookah confiscated?

Parents that called are the same parents that run corrupt MPAA, RIAA and other *AA associations. They have no understanding of the World except their own little circle of beliefs.

Move on.

[vin13]

Fuck the police, man. Good luck to you, it sounds like you're well within your right to chief. Edited August 27, 2008 by vin13

[Doubon]

Whats their policy on smoking in general? If they allow ciggarette smoking I think you have a chance.
Then again there will always be a stigma attached to hookahs.

[r1v3th3ad]

So, I'm enjoying a beautiful night with my MZ and Tangiers Schnozzberry, talking with some girls I met that turned out to live in the neighboring borough to mine back home...when the cops pull up, driving on the sidewalk.

Appearantly with the past weekend being move-in weekend, parents called in thinking it was NHT. The cops approached and asked "what do you think you're doing here?" "Just enjoying a session with schnozzberry shisha." "Well, you right here, right now, are actually in disorderly conduct. We have received numurous phone calls from parents thinking you are smoking NHT." I interupt "You can test this all you want," I hand them a jar"I do not use NHT, it has never been in my hookah, and never will be in my hookah." One of the three campus cops interupts "I know you are not smoking NHT, who would be dumb enough to do that in the Oak Grove? The problem is, that it is making a scene, all the complaints puts you in disorderly conduct, you right now trying to contest this, is in fact disorderly conduct." Me, "this makes no sense, its tobacco, hookahs are not illegal, I set up hundreds of times last year with my old hookah...". "Well its an issue now. If you leave now, we will not charge you, but if you EVER bring it back, you will be arrested, your hookah will be confiscated, then it is up to the judge whether you get it back." In fear of being put in cuffs, I complied and did not question anymore. They took down my information and I walked off campus smoking as I go.

So, I need help on this one here...this is complete bullshit. I want to fight it, I need to know where to find the statues towards this...Pa state law that shows that hookah is not illegal, and where I can find it in the student handbook(I forget where, but know its not listed as not allowed). I wanna take this up with the campus branch of the ACLU(American Civil Liberties Union), I thought that would be most appropriate. I also think I should see if the campus paper will take the case.

any advise at all, please send it my way. Also, anything you guys can find for me on this, please lend a fellow hookah fanatic a hand.


Still smoking,
Pat aka r1v3th3ad

The USA is one of the most constipated, close-minded country I have ever set foot on.

You really want to risk jail, or WORSE, getting your beautiful Hookah confiscated?

Parents that called are the same parents that run corrupt MPAA, RIAA and other *AA associations. They have no understanding of the World except their own little circle of beliefs.

Move on.

I am not gonna risk getting it confiscated, I wish to do it the proper way, through the legal system

[r1v3th3ad]

Whats their policy on smoking in general? If they allow ciggarette smoking I think you have a chance.
Then again there will always be a stigma attached to hookahs.

smoking is allowed anywhere on campus, just not in buildings

[Doubon]

Try speaking to someone at the student conduct office. See what is ok and what isn't.
Also, wait until the uptight parents leave. Don't risk your hookah.

[Bulldog_916]

I would take a hookah out there that you dont care about, some 50g shisha that you dont care about, and puff away. If they take it, pounce. Take it up in court. They can test that hookah too. You show them your evidence, which is far greater than anything they have. Win the game, get your old hookah back, go back out, then smoke it up.

[r1v3th3ad]

o I was wrong on the handbook, that was a specific departments.... http://old.www.iup.edu/studentconduct/source/

[r1v3th3ad]

I further found http://old.www.iup.edu/studentaffairs/policies/stbehav.shtm
nothing in there mentions hookahs...in the section that it would be....

[shisha fan]

wait, i don`t get it. you can get arrested because other people think you are breaking the law, while you`re actually not doing that? strange.

i`ve only had positive reactions. almost everyone seems to like the smell, even those that don`t like cigarette/cigar smoke.

anyway, i feel bad for you. just keep doing what you`re doing, there`s nothing wrong or illegal about it.

[bayne]

It doesn't matter.
Is making loud noises illegal? No, but you can be fined and arrested for disturbance of the peace. There are oddities that slip through the legal system and laws that allow officers to do silly things to you. If an officer tells you to leave, its best to just go along with what they say, and comply each time they ask.
However, I would not hesitate going back and smoking again, but if they come by, just leave when they ask.

[r1v3th3ad]

They did say if I set up again that I will be arrested. So I don't want to play with fire...I just got my record expunged in march and am planning on keeping a clean slate until I am 65...

I found the head of public safety's email...he is incharge of campus police...any ideas what to send him in my email?...I was planning on questioning on this act and then at the end threatening legal action if they continue to hold to this without justification

[hookah hippie]

thats a bunch of bull I would have told them to piss off (using different words of course) you aren't breaking the law just because some one doesn't like something doesn't make it illegal

[bayne]

They did say if I set up again that I will be arrested. So I don't want to play with fire...I just got my record expunged in march and am planning on keeping a clean slate until I am 65...

I found the head of public safety's email...he is incharge of campus police...any ideas what to send him in my email?...I was planning on questioning on this act and then at the end threatening legal action if they continue to hold to this without justification

I understand that they said that, but I would simply bug around with it again, and relocate a small distance away, and if you see them coming, wave, and move away. Eventually they will probably become really annoyed and will either see less of them, or you could call the Dept and see if you could work something out.

[Toxik916]

http://www.criminal-law-lawyer-source.com/...ly-conduct.html

The link pretty much states what disorderly conduct is and it appears that the police were just doing their jobs. I dont agree with it personally and it is bullshit but technically you were disturbing the peace of some asshole who should mind their own buisness. It looks like you can call the police on anyone for doing something that you dont agree with.

[r1v3th3ad]

that is a bs ruling...I read it and am gonna print as soon as I get my printer functional again...

but also with that...that means that once the parents(complainers) vacate the region, I should be able to again because there would be no complaints...

...whats bs even more is that they gave a permit to allow a preacher to go about his thing in that area, they get dozens of complaints a day about him(its a state school), but he isnt getting the same treatment...I guess its time to write my email to the head of safety

[shisha fan]

i`ve got a brilliant idea!

start the church of hookah, you`ll get tax exempt status and maybe you can even get a little funding from the local government under the "cultural activities" flag. be sure to mention how it`s an important cultural and religious activity for you to smoke hookah. thats their soft-spot because they`ll go out of their way to come across as politically correct and not be accused of racism/discrimination based on those grounds.

[Toxik916]

i`ve got a brilliant idea!

start the the church of hookah, you`ll get tax exemption and maybe you can even get a little funding from the local government under the "cultural activities" flag. be sure to mention how it`s an important cultural and religious activity for you to smoke hookah. thats their soft-spot because they`ll go out of their way to come across as politically correct and not be acused of racism/discrimination based on those grounds.

that might actually be a damn good idea it would really help out people who like to smoke in public

[r1v3th3ad]

lolol

but really, here is my drug word edited version of what I am sending to the head of campus police/public safety...I will be sending it off in at roughly 11pm, it is 1036 now, so you have 15 mins, it is open to any recommendations and rewordings

I am contacting you regarding an issue that had occurred tonight, 8/26/08 in the Oak Grove. Campus police, as I was informed, had received a report that someone was smoking a hookah in the Oak Grove and that the people who had filed were concerned that this was NHT. I was smoking my hookah in the Oak Grove as I very often do, and I see many others do as well. I do not use drugs, drugs are never used in my pipe, yet I was told to never bring it back. I checked the student handbook to find nothing outlawing hookah.
http://old.www.iup.edu/studentaffairs/policies/stbehav.shtm

Hookahs are not illegal, they are more and more accepted today. There is a hookah lounge on Philadelphia St. and three off the top of my head in the Pittsburgh region.
Your officers informed right off the bat that I was in fact, just by having my hookah there, in disorderly conduct. They waved filing charges on me as long as I left the premises and never return with it. This makes no sense. I do not break any state, federal, or school laws. I offered for the officers to test the tobacco and pipe and only received the answer that they knew what it was and "who in their right mind would smoke NHT out of a device like that in public."
So, they knew 100% that there is nothing wrong with what I was doing and still threatened to arrest me and confiscate my pipe.

I do understand this injustice and intolerance and seek answers, I wish to continue on with my everyday life, that includes my hookah, without disturbance.

I will be consulting the ACLU and The Penn very soon and am seeking answers first.

Sincerely,
Patrick Conley

[Kathrynx]

Parents will take out their anger on any random college kid they can get a hold of just because they can't catch their on kid doing it. I bet those kids of those parents go to the hookah bar...

I just wanted to also input that when Canon and I would smoke at Denny's that it was ok until a sunday night when the church crowd was there...because then all of a sudden the smoke "smelled a little funny" and they all ate their meals, complained to the manager, and walked out without paying or tipping. The manager knew that we came often to smoke and drink hot tea, so he just moved us where we couldn't be seen, and all of a sudden the "funny smell" went away! Edited August 27, 2008 by Kathrynx

[r1v3th3ad]

Parents will take out their anger on any random college kid they can get a hold of just because they can't catch their on kid doing it. I bet those kids of those parents go to the hookah bar...

I just wanted to also input that when Canon and I would smoke at Denny's that it was ok until a sunday night when the church crowd was there...because then all of a sudden the smoke "smelled a little funny" and they all ate their meals, complained to the manager, and walked out without paying or tipping. The manager knew that we came often to smoke and drink hot tea, so he just moved us where we couldn't be seen, and all of a sudden the "funny smell" went away!

maybe thats why I never had trouble before...no parents..........o ya, your sig says fiance instead of wife


still looking to see if my email seems alright...lil buzzed from the booze right now, drinking calms my nerves so I do not become irrational

o ya, am I seeing this right...hilary is baracks running mate?

[srawas89]

Hey man I have a lot of respect for what you are doing. I have kind of had this problem at my College as the Hookah was banned since it was considered Drug paraphinalia however that ruling was reversed thanks to a friend of mine who sent an email to the vice pres. or something. Anyway I think how you are approaching this appalling issue is the correct way and try and talk to the cop who was said that he knew that you were not smoking NHT and see if you should just simply wait until the parents are pretty much gone that way you do not have to deal with it. If you become decent friends with that cop which sounds like he is ok with what you are doing you will have a much easier time dealing with them when some idiot decides to call shit in on you thinking you are smoking NHT (It is obvious anyway cuz of the smell you really cant hide it when you are smoking NHT ). Good luck to your efforts and remember when you contact the University remind them that this is a completely legal cultural practice and that prohibiting it could be grounds for discrimination (Just mention the cultural aspect but not the discrimination aspect they will assume the possibility of discrimination)

[r1v3th3ad]

Hey man I have a lot of respect for what you are doing. I have kind of had this problem at my College as the Hookah was banned since it was considered Drug paraphinalia however that ruling was reversed thanks to a friend of mine who sent an email to the vice pres. or something. Anyway I think how you are approaching this appalling issue is the correct way and try and talk to the cop who was said that he knew that you were not smoking NHT and see if you should just simply wait until the parents are pretty much gone that way you do not have to deal with it. If you become decent friends with that cop which sounds like he is ok with what you are doing you will have a much easier time dealing with them when some idiot decides to call shit in on you thinking you are smoking NHT (It is obvious anyway cuz of the smell you really cant hide it when you are smoking NHT ). Good luck to your efforts and remember when you contact the University remind them that this is a completely legal cultural practice and that prohibiting it could be grounds for discrimination (Just mention the cultural aspect but not the discrimination aspect they will assume the possibility of discrimination)

thanks man, I am hoping that this will set a future precident for my university as well as others. Ignorance should not = illegal...


I have edited just now the last part of my email...just sounded better to me, anyone think that it sounds fine as is with this addition?


"I will be consulting the ACLU and The Penn very soon and am seeking answers before it is necessary to take this road to protect my freedoms."


edit: I do fear the discrimination clause just because I am a white American and it may weaken my case to the legal system because my racial backgrounds do not include this beautiful practice. I more so am aiming to call them out on intolerance where it is not called for.