Product Code Database
A head shop is a retail outlet specializing in paraphernalia used for consumption of cannabis and tobacco and items related to cannabis culture and related . They emerged from the hippie counterculture in the late 1960s, and at that time, many of them had close ties to the anti-Vietnam War movement as well as groups in the marijuana legalization movement like LeMar, Amorphia, and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.Joshua Clark Davis, From Head Shops to Whole Foods: The Rise and Fall of Activist Entrepreneurs, New York: Columbia University Press, 2017
Products sold may include magazines (e.g., about cannabis culture, cannabis cultivation, tattooing, and music), clothing, and home décor (e.g., posters and wall hangings illustrating drug culture themes such as cannabis, like The Grateful Dead, Phish, psychedelic art, etc.). Some head shops also sell oddities, such as antique and . Since the 1980s, some head shops have sold clothing related to the heavy metal or punk subculture, such as band T-shirts and cloth patches with band logos, studded wristbands, bullet belts, and leather boots. Other items offered typically include hashish pipes, "one hitter" pipes; pipe screens; (also referred to as water pipes); roach clips (used for smoking the end of a marijuana "joint"); vaporizers used for inhaling THC vapor from cannabis; ; ; Weighing scale; small ziplock baggies; cannabis grinders (i.e. ); blacklight-responsive posters and blacklights; incense; Lighter; "stashes", which include a range of standard consumer products such as clocks, books, tins of cleaning powder, and toilet brushes which have hidden compartments for cannabis and non-camouflaged "stash boxes" which are tins or wooden containers for storing marijuana; and legal highs such as whipped-cream chargers (which contain nitrous oxide) and Salvia divinorum (both of which are illegal in some countries and some US states for recreational purposes). Some head shops also sell items used for home cultivation of marijuana plants, such as hydroponic equipment and lights and guidebooks on cultivation. Since the 2000s, some head shops also sell e-cigarettes and the flavoured liquids used with these devices.
From 1968 to c. 1975, head shops served as an important outlet for underground newspapers and the underground comix of Robert Crumb and other counterculture cartoonists, which had little access to the established channels of newsstand distribution.Goodwin, Mike. " Youngsters of All Ages Free to Browse Among Hashish Pipes, Obscene Comic Books". Undercover Reporting, April 9, 1972, pg. SF A1.
The shops' popularity eventually waned with the aging of that era's baby boomer generation, as well as a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Miller v. California, that found that local communities could decide their own First Amendment standards concerning obscenity. In the mid-1970s, the sale of drug paraphernalia was outlawed in many places, and the distribution network for underground comics and newspapers dried up.Estren, Mark James (1993). "Foreword: Onward!". A History of Underground Comics. Ronin Publishing. pp. 7–8; 10. . In addition, the retail mainstream discovered and co-opted aspects of the head shop's market niche, such as acid rock and eco-friendly products.
During early 2010, a number of incidents of firebombing and arson against head shops took place around the country. Sligo head shop & adult store damaged in fire, RTÉ News, 11 March 2010 Some attacks were traced to disgruntled drug dealers. 'Head shops' target of pipe bomb attack Irish Independent 2010-03-11. Garda superintendent slams "reckless" pipe bomb act Westmeath Independent, 2010-03-18. One petrol bomb attack occurred in the home county of the Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, and hours later, plans for legislation for regulation of head shops got underway. Fire breaks out at head shop in Dundalk, Irish Times 16 April 2010
Many head shop products became illegal in Ireland on 23 August 2010 S.I. No. 401/2010 — Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010 (Commencement) Order 2010. Irish Statute Book. 2010-08-17. when the new Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010 became law. Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010 Irish Statute Book. The Act empowered Gardaí (Irish police) to seek court orders to close head shops suspected of selling drug-like products, with the onus on the owners to prove they are not doing so.
Head shops have been targeted by the Drug Enforcement Administration. In 2003, The U.S. Department of Justice indicted fifty-five people on charges of selling drug paraphernalia in Idaho, Texas, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio as part of Operation Headhunter and Operation Pipe Dreams, including comedian Tommy Chong. During the investigation, government officials also targeted customers of the shops, arresting those who were in possession of drugs like cannabis and heroin. Chong was caught by sending shipments through the mail. Today, online head shops have also become prevalent; there are hundreds of head shops willing to sell their products online.
The legality of cannabis varies widely in the United States, but in states where medical cannabis is legal, cannabis dispensaries often double as head shops.
Notably, in the state of Florida, items "designed for use in ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing cannabis, cocaine, hashish, hashish oil, or nitrous oxide into the human body" are illegal. At the same time, "pipes primarily made of briar, meerschaum, clay, or corn cob" are legal. Florida HB 49: Drug Paraphernalia Chapter 2013-111
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