Desirable? No Legal? Yes





The controversy over the new tobacco, cigar and hookah shop in Agoura Hills came to a head last week when a group of residents went before the City Council and charged the store owner with being a corrupting influence in the neighborhood and trying to tempt children into using drugs.

The shop lies several blocks from Lindero Canyon Middle School and the parents told the council that if the business is allowed to continue, their children are going to be exposed to, and possibly want to purchase, some of the paraphernalia being sold.

The purported “head” shop—it sells bongs and small pipes in addition to tobacco products—is a scourge on the city, the parents said. But what these same mothers and fathers failed to acknowledge is that a prominent liquor store exists at the same intersection and that a nearby 7-Eleven sells cigarette (marijuana) papers just like the smoke shop does. Although two wrongs don’t make a right, we never saw protests against the others stores like the one being waged against the new smoke shop.

The products sold in these stores—which are at the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Lake Lindero Drive—are all legal and all approved by the city.

It’s unfair for a small segment of the population to attack a rightful business owner for selling products that are legal. If we’re to sit in judgment, then we should outlaw cigarette and alcohol sales everywhere in the city because of the dangers posed to young people.

That being said, the parents’ anger against the new shop is somewhat justified. We believe Agoura Hills officials were duped into thinking the that the store offered tobacco sales only, not bongs and pipes. But while officials have a responsibility to make sure all new businesses conform to the city’s zoning laws and general plan, they are not obligated to serve as the town’s morality police, or be surrogate parents.

It is up to the store owners to make sure tobacco and alcohol products aren’t sold to minors, and it is up to the parents to make sure their children understand the dangers of these products in the first place.

In the final analysis, parenting begins at home, not at city hall.


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