Resident seeks Shell station boycott

Maricopa resident Russell Dickinson has helped feed the homeless in Maricopa and almost lost his life volunteering in New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Now, just two short months before he leaves for Galveston, Texas, to help those affected by a hurricane that struck there, Dickinson has one thing he wants to do. He wants to rid the Maricopa Shell station of what he calls “an unethical habit,” the selling of drug paraphernalia.

“I have gone in there (the Shell station) and asked the owner to stop selling this stuff, but he just laughed at me,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson has been going business to business for the past three weeks, gathering signatures of local business owners who are in support of his proposition. “Some of the people tell me they don’t have time for me, but the majority are in support of the cause,” Dickinson said.

According to Dickinson, the Shell station is the only place in town people can buy drug paraphernalia, and, if it were eliminated, it would deter people from using. “If you have to drive 30 miles to town to buy paraphernalia, maybe you don’t use,” he said.

Although the owner of the store has told him he only sells the merchandise to people older than 18, Dickinson believes this age restriction is not enough.

“Kids can find people to go in there and buy this stuff for them; we need to make it so kids can’t buy this stuff in town,” he said.

To help promote his cause, Dickinson is calling on the residents of Maricopa. He wants everyone to boycott the gas station until the owner agrees to stop selling the drug paraphernalia. He wants residents to go into the store and let the management know their feelings.

“If we can get enough people pestering them to stop selling this stuff, then maybe they will,” Dickinson said.

Photo by Michael K. Rich