©1997 San Francisco Chronicle

Dope on Pot Book Buyers Sought
DEA subpoenas publisher for list of manual purchasers

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

BERKELEY

The Drug Enforcement Administration has subpoenaed a Berkeley publisher for
the names of all Arizonans who have bought a book about growing marijuana,
an action the company considers unconstitutional.

Ronin Publishing Inc. was subpoenaed by the DEA in July for the names and
addresses of all Arizona residents who bought copies of ``Marijuana
Hydroponics: High Tech Water Culture.''

Ronin has refused to comply, saying the order is too broad and raises
questions about civil liberties, coowner Beverly Potter said yesterday.

``We have concerns about our customers' privacy and First Amendment
rights,'' Potter said. ``They sent this off like a fishing trip it's a
very chilling, frightening thing when the government can cook up their own
subpoenas.''

But Potter said the company may go along if a judge narrows the DEA's
request. The agency issued the July subpoena under its own authority and
did not need a judge's approval.

The DEA won't say why it is requesting the records. ``It's an ongoing
investigation, so I can't comment on the case at all,'' said Larry Hedberg,
spokesman for the agency in Phoenix.

The DEA also subpoenaed Aqua Culture Inc., a Tempe, Ariz., gardening store
for names of those who obtained the book, but the company doesn't carry it,
said owner Russ Antkowiak.

In May, the DEA asked General Hydroponics Inc. of Sebastopol for the
mailing addresses of all Arizona customers since January 1996, said company
president Larry Brooke. It is unknown whether that request is connected to
the Ronin subpoena.

``The DEA is operating like the Gestapo,'' said Brooke, who has been
subpoenaed before and has resisted each time. ``If we the people don't
stand up and stomp on them completely, then we've lost the country.''

Voters in California and Arizona passed medicalmarijuana ballot
initiatives last November, but the book in question was written by Daniel
Storm in 1987, before medical pot became a hotbutton issue. The book
provides technical instruction on the proper care of marijuana plants.

The DEA has issued dozens of subpoenas in past years for customer records
from businesses nationwide selling lighting and hydroponic supplies. Many
companies have balked, saying the non judicial subpoenas are often too vague.

Ronin's subpoena, for example, does not provide a time frame for the
requested information nor a deadline to respond, Potter said.

The marijuanagrowing book has been widely distributed. Locally, for
example, it can be found at Borders Books.

Leigh Hoffman, a supervisor at Borders in Emeryville, said the store
carries several marijuana cultivation books.

``Borders' policy and mission statement is that we completely support the
right to information,'' Hoffman said. ``It's our job to provide information
to people who want it.''

As to the DEA subpoenas, Hoffman said ``That's not right. They have no
right to that information whatsoever.''