Oct 4, 2013

Finding An Indianapolis Head Shop

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By Paulette Short


If you're a smoker, you may find that it's becoming more and more difficult to buy the paraphernalia you need from regular outlets. So many people frown upon customers buying rolling papers or pipes that you may feel as if you're buying something illegal. In Indiana, the solution is to visit an Indianapolis head shop for all your smoking needs.

A head shop specializes in everything a smoker might need. Here you'll find a wide range of tobacco-related products, from cigarette paper to pipes and even water pipes, as well as machines for rolling your own if you prefer, for instance, flavored tobacco. Often head shops also sell incense, legal drugs and underground publications.

Smoke shops were all the rage in the late 1960s, when the counterculture was blooming. The store that started it all was established in 1966, in the famous hippie mecca of Haight Street in San Francisco. When the hippies became respectable citizens, many stores closed their doors but now they're becoming increasingly popular again, especially in states where medical marijuana is legal.

The early smoke shops often began as shops where you could buy candles and incense. This is why you'll still be able to find more than just smoking paraphernalia at a head shop. You'll be able to go here for interesting clothing and jewelry, novelty items, underground publications, comic books and art too, just like in the Sixties when these shops often gave artists and writers their first break.

Many people think of the stores as 'those hippie shops'. They associate the merchandise with illegal drug use. However, the stores are adamant that their wares are for use with tobacco and other legal substances only and not for use with marijuana unless it's in a state where you can get medical marijuana with a doctor's prescription.

Especially in Indiana you shouldn't make the mistake of thinking the local smoke shop will approve of you using their products for illegal drugs. Marijuana laws in the state are still very strict and penalties for possession are severe. Until the state relaxes its laws in this regard, you're better off using the paraphernalia you buy for legal substances like flavored tobacco.

Smoke shops in Indianapolis are great places to shop for unusual gifts too, even if you're not buying something for a smoker. For instance, it can be a nightmare to find a gift that an artistically-minded teenage relative will like but something like a unique T-shirt or a poster that responds to black light may be just the right choice. If young Jimmy or Jane finds out where you bought their birthday gift, you may even become the 'cool' family member in their eyes.

Indiana has a surprising variety of smoke shops and you'll find many of them right there in Indy. They're located in different areas across town, usually in the sprawling outlying neighborhoods rather than downtown. If you find yourself in the city, the best place to look for an Indianapolis head shop is in Broad Ripple Village, where most of these stores are located. This neighborhood is near Butler University and less than half an hour north of the downtown area. While you're here, you may also want to check out the local bars and restaurants, art galleries and quirky stores that make this ethnically diverse area Indy's answer to famous bohemian neighborhoods like Greenwich Village in New York.




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