Head shop

This article is about the retail outlet. For information about the psychedelic rock band, see The Head Shop.

A head shop in Florence

A head shop is a retail outlet which specialises in drug paraphernalia related to consumption of cannabis, other recreational drugs, and New Age herbs, as well as counterculture art, magazines, music, clothing and home decor.

Products purchaseable in these outlets typically includes bongs (called water pipes in countries with drug paraphernalia laws), roach clips, glass pipes, pipe screens, vaporizers, rolling papers, rolling machines, scales or balances, blacklight-responsive posters, incense, cigarette lighters, and products claimed to give false negative results for drugs on urinalysis tests, as well as items rumoured to enhance sexual intercourse, such as whipped-cream chargers (which contain nitrous oxide), dildos and vibrators.

History

American head shops originated in the 1960s in cities with a high concentration of college-age youth, often growing out of independently owned poster or candle stores. Sources cite the Psychedelic Shop on Haight Street in San Francisco, California, operated by United States Army veteran Ron Thelin and his younger brother Jay, as the first in the United States--it opened on January 3, 1966. Head shops served as an important outlet for the underground comics of Robert Crumb and other counterculture cartoonists. The shop's popularity eventually waned with the aging of that era's baby boomer generation, and with the retail mainstream discovering and co-opting aspects of that market niche, such as alternative music and eco-friendly products. Historically, head shops proliferated on St. Mark's Place in New York City's East Village and in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.

Legality

Ireland

In Ireland the shops do exist, are legal and were reported by authorities to be opening at a rate of one per week in January 2010. The legality of the shops was discussed in Seanad Éireann that month, with an all-party motion being passed requesting the Government to introduce legislation to regulate their sale of products. One head shop on Castle Street in Roscommon received objections from residents two weeks after opening for business that same month.

There was controversy and irony when a judge renowned for his strict anti-drug sentencing discovered that a premises he had rented to a business in Naas contained a head shop and ordered the head shop operator to get out.

A Dublin head shop exploded and caught fire early morning on 12 February 2010, engulfing a neighbouring building in fire and the surrounding streets and quays in smoke and causing the whole of Capel Street to be shut down for the day. The blaze brought to ground two other businesses with the head shop, including a sex shop, as one of Dublin's busiest streets was evacuated.

United States

In the United States, head shops exist in a legal grey area because of the nature of the materials they sell, which can be used for both legal and illegal drugs. The sale of certain drug paraphernalia is considered illegal in some states. Head shops often argue that their products are not illegal drug paraphernalia because they are intended for use with herbal highs, tobacco, and other legal substances.

By the early 2000s, with the passage of state laws allowing for medicinal marijuana, head shops have reemerged regionally and on the Internet to service that health market.

In many head shops, a sign will be posted (and often reiterated verbally) stating that customer references regarding the use of the shop's products for illegal drug use will result in suspension of all sales for that time period, and/or removal of the customer from the shop. Head shops often place signs stating that the products sold are "for tobacco use only" or "not for use with illegal substances".

Online headshops often make their users comply to strict disclaimers before they are allowed to shop with them. Users must agree to such disclaimers before they can even view any products.

Smart shops

Smart shops are shops, prominently found in the Netherlands and Ireland, which sell psychoactive substances in addition to the drug paraphernalia found in head shops.

See also

• Alternative culture
• Underground music
• Underground comix
• Underground press
• Underground film

External links

• The Tillsonburg News, August 3, 2005: "Potent herb not regulated in Canada"
• The Daily Transcript, July 19, 2004: "Head shop regulation is good for business"
• CNN transcript, June 24, 2003: "New Recreational Drug Poses Questions For DEA"
• The Christian Science Monitor, December 17, 1980: "Nationwide Drive Against 'Head Shops' Runs Into a Federal Court Snag"
• Anchorage Press, Sept. 8-14, 2005: "Why We All Can't Just Get a Bong"