'Crack Pipe' Vending Machines Popping Up On Long Island

Long Island authorities are trying to locate whoever installed three "Sketch Pens" dispensers in Brookhaven, New York. The machines weren't selling pens but were instead selling what local officials said are crack pipes. 

For eight quarters, the machine would supply a small glass pipe, a filter, an ink tube, and a pen tip. The pieces can all be assembled to create a working pen, but officials said nobody was buying the pens to write with them. 

“It’s a crack pipe,” Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine explained at a press conference. “It’s a ceramic, glass pipe disguised as a pen… There’s a filter in there that you use to smoke crack.”

Residents reported that three machines had been cemented around the town in areas known for illegal drug use. Authorities removed the machines, but not after a group of neighbors took a sledgehammer to one of them. 

Suffolk County Police are trying to track down those responsible for installing the machines, but if they are caught it is unclear what charges they may face.

“To sell a pipe is not illegal, but this is considered drug paraphernalia,” town councilman Michael Loguercio told WABC-TV. “And it also is being dispensed from a machine that was installed illegally per town code.”