A head shop in Florence, Italy. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany

A head shop is a retail outlet specializing in paraphernalia related to consumption of cannabis, other recreational drugs, and New Age herbs, as well as counterculture art, magazines, music, clothing, and home decor. Drug paraphernalia is defined by the American Federal Drug Enforcement Administration as any equipment product or material that is modified for making using or concealing Cannabis, also known as marijuana or marihuana, or ganja (from Hindi / Sanskrit: गांजा gānjā hemp) is a New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature Counterculture (also " counter-culture " is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a Cultural group, or Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. Clothing (also called clothes, accoutrements, accouterments, or habiliments) protects the Human body from extreme Weather Interior decoration or decor is the Art of decorating a room so that it is attractive easy to use and functions well with the existing Architecture Products typically include bongs (called water pipes in countries with drug paraphernalia laws), roach clips, glass pipes, pipe screens, rolling papers, rolling machines, scales or balances, whipped-cream chargers (which contain nitrous oxide), dildos, vibrators, other items meant to enhance sexual intercourse, blacklight-responsive posters, incense, cigarette lighters, and products claimed to give false negative results for drugs on urinalysis tests. See also Bong (disambiguation A bong, also commonly known as a water pipe, is a smoking device generally used to smoke cannabis, Tobacco A roach clip is a Clip, or other form of holder which is employed to hold onto the stub of a Cigarette, usually a joint, that in this context MidwakhJPG|thumb|A screened single-toke utensil such as the Midwakh (shown here or Kiseru, permits 25-mg Rolling papers are small sheets rolls or leaves of Paper which are sold for rolling one's own Cigarettes A rolling machine is a machine that is designed to roll either Tobacco or cannabis into individual Cigarettes or joints. A weighing scale (usually just "scale" in common usage except in Australian English where "scales" is more common is a Measuring instrument for A whipped cream charger (or whippit) is a steel cylinder or cartridge filled with Nitrous oxide (N2O that is used as a whipping agent in a Whipped Nitrous oxide, commonly known as " laughing gas," is a Chemical compound with the Chemical formula N 2 O. A dildo is a Sex toy, often explicitly Phallic in appearance intended for bodily penetration during self-administered Masturbation Sexual intercourse, in its biological sense is the act in which the male reproductive organ (in humans and other higher animals enters the female reproductive tract A Black light or UV Light is a lamp emitting Electromagnetic radiation that is almost exclusively in the soft near ultraviolet range and emits A poster is any piece of printed Paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface Incense is composed of Aromatic biotic materials It releases fragrant Smoke when burned A lighter is a portable device used to create a Flame. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with lighter fluid (usually Naphtha or liquid Butane A urinalysis (or "UA" is an array of tests performed on Urine and one of the most common methods of Medical Diagnosis.

History

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 U.S. Army veteran Ron Thelin and his younger brother Jay, as the first in the United States ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}--it opened on January 3, 1966. Haight Street, in San Francisco, is perhaps best known as the principal street in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury, aka the Upper Haight district The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. Head shops served as an important outlet for the underground comics of Robert Crumb and other counterculture cartoonists. Underground comics (or comix) are Small press or self-published Comic books that began to appear in the US in the late 1960s Robert Dennis Crumb (born August 30, 1943) often credited simply as R A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing Cartoons Traditionally much of this work was and still is humorous and is intended primarily for entertainment purposes 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. Baby boomer is a term used to describe a person who was born during the Post-World War II baby boom between 1946 and 1964 Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of Environmental friendly, eco-friendly, and nature friendly are synonyms used to refer to Goods and services considered to inflict minimal harm The oldest head shop in the United Kingdom is Head In The Clouds, opened in Pottergate, Norwich, by Martin Wyatt in April 1971, and still going strong today. Another very important UK head shop of the earliest years was North London's DARK THEY WERE AND GOLDEN-EYED, named for the famous Ray Bradbury science fiction short story. Ray Douglas Bradbury (born August 22 1920 is an American mainstream, Fantasy, horror, Science fiction and mystery The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such It was instrumental in introducing England's aspiring cartoonists to the burgeoning "underground comix" style of San Francisco and Berkeley. Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in Northern California, in the United States. It no longer exists.

Legality

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 United States of America —commonly referred to as the The sale of illegal drug paraphernalia is considered illegal in some states. Head shops often don't consider their products to be illegal drug paraphernalia because they are intended for use with herbal highs, tobacco, and other legal substances. Tobacco is an Agricultural product recognized as an addictive drug processed from the fresh Leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. Tobacco is an Agricultural product recognized as an addictive drug processed from the fresh Leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana.

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. Medical cannabis refers to the use of the Cannabis plant as a physician-recommended Herbal therapy as well as synthetic THC and Cannabinoids The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks

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 either 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, that sell psychoactive substances in addition to the drug paraphernalia found in head shops. A smart shop (or smartshop) is a retail establishment that specializes in the sales of psychoactive substances usually including Psychedelics as well as related literature The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a Chemical substance that acts primarily upon the Central nervous system where it alters Brain Drug paraphernalia is defined by the American Federal Drug Enforcement Administration as any equipment product or material that is modified for making using or concealing

References

• 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"

External links

See also

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