Head Shops
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To purchase glass pipes, water pipes, hookahs and many other smoking related accessories you will most likely have to frequent head shops, either online or go to a physical store front. A head shop is a retail outlet that sells products related to the use of cannabis and other counterculture products. Below is a sample list of products that are commonly found in head shops, both online and off:
- - New Age herbs
- - Bongs, often called water pipes where bongs are illegal
- - Roach clips
- - Glass pipes
- - Pipe screens
- - Vaporizers
- - Rolling papers
- - Rolling machines
- - Scales
- - Whipped cream chargers which contain nitrous oxide
- - Blacklight responsive posters
- - Incense
- - Cigarette lighters
- - Products which claim to give false negative results on urinalysis tests
Sometimes adult paraphernalia such as dildos, vibrators and other adult products can be found, as well as counterculture art, magazines, music, clothing and home decor.
Head shops started to appear in the 1960s in cities with a large population of college-age youth. In the United States head shops sprang up in New York City's East Village and in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.
Today they are very popular in states where medicinal marijuana and certain drug paraphernalia is legal. In those states where these things are not legal, head shops exist but are normally under the guise of a tobacco shop selling smoking products for tobacco and other legal smoking mixes.
If you look for head shops online you will be bombarded by the number of head shops you can find on the Internet. When shopping online you should be careful to avoid scams, as with any thing you buy off the web.
Don't ever buy an item via bulk email. Your chances of being scammed are probably 90 percent or better. It is easy to be an impostor because many people like to hide their identity on online promotions. Just remember, if it sounds too good to be true, than it probably is.
Be cautious about online free trials, where you must join a site at a cost to you. Some sites may be unscrupulous and charge unauthorized amounts to your credit card. Many of these scams occur on adult websites. Use common sense and avoid giving out your personal information unless you must.
Make sure to review your credit card invoices so you can spot any unauthorized purchases and report them to your credit card issuer. One way some people handle their online purchases it to limit the purchases to a single card with a low limit.
In the United States head shops exist because of a legal grey area because of the products they sell which can be used for both legal and illegal drugs. Head shops often claim that their products are not illegal because they are intended for use with tobacco and other legal smoking mixes.
A lot of head shops will post signs stating that customer reference to the shops products for illegal drug use will result in the suspension all sales and/or removal from the shop. Often you will see signs stating that their products are for tobacco use only or that their products are not for use with illegal substances.
In Europe, prominently in the Netherlands and Ireland, you can find smart shops which sell psychoactive substances in addition to the product commonly found in head shops elsewhere.