Students looking for tobacco pipes in DeKalb may have to travel elsewhere.

On Tuesday afternoon, DeKalb police entered several area tobacco shops to inform them some of their products were illegal.

Store owners had one week to remove the illegal paraphernalia, DeKalb police Lt. Jim Kayes said.

They came in, pointed out certain items as illegal paraphernalia, gave a copy of a state law and ordered that the items be taken off the shelf, said Joel Harb, owner of The Huka Corner, 811 W. Lincoln Highway.

“I was told to take items off the shelf by tomorrow or the police would arrest me and shut me down,” he said.

If drug paraphernalia items are not removed from the stores, DeKalb police will have to consult the state’s attorney’s office for further action.

Police action was taken after some DeKalb High School students began to talk about the recent influx of available tobacco pipes, word got back to a parent who subsequently called city hall to investigate, said City Attorney Norma Guess.

“Illegal items that are currently being sold in DeKalb tobacco shops include hitters, hitter boxes, crystal pipes and key chain pipes,” she said.

At Smoker’s World, 818 W. Lincoln Highway, the owners have agreed to sell their inventory of glass pipes off in the next week. They have marked down inventory by 50 percent to quickly unload the illegal property. The owners did not want to comment.

Other shops have reacted more aggressively with different approaches. TJ’s Accessories, 1220 W. Lincoln Highway, which opened several weeks ago, sells adult items and tobacco pipes.

“To their credit they came in as a courtesy because they got a complaint,” said Vince Solano, attorney for TJ’s Accessories. “We will try to sit down and talk with them and the state’s attorney.”

Both TJ’s and The Huka Corner believe they are not doing anything illegal.

“There is nothing illegal in here,” Solano said.

“I’ll fight this until the end,” Harb said. “I have two attorneys and we are going to inquire with the state investigator.”

Illinois law provides a loophole which allows consumers to buy glass pipes for tobacco even though the pipes are commonly known to be used to inhale cannabis. The most widely used illegal drug in America is marijuana, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“Historically, places in the past have contested these laws, but I don’t think we have ever arrested anyone for selling pipes,” Kayes said.