Local authorities on Long Island (N.Y.) are searching for a vending operator who’s been putting out pen venders that dispensed what were strongly suspected of being thinly disguised crack pipes. According to officials, Suffolk County police are trying to unravel the mystery of the machines that popped up in the towns of Coram and Medford over the past several weeks. The classic pen venders, which are labeled “sketch pens,” dispensed a glass tube that contained a common ballpoint pen tube and screen for $2.00 in quarters. The machines, which appeared to have been professionally mounted and secured on concrete bases, have been removed by county officials for violating various ordinances. So far, nobody has come forward to claim the units.
