Head Shop

A head shop is a retail outlet specializing in drug paraphernalia used for consumption of cannabis, other recreational drugs, legal highs, legal party powders and New Age herbs, as well as counterculture art, magazines, music, clothing, jewelry and home decor; some head shops also sell oddities, such as antique walking sticks.

Products purchasable in these outlets typically include One hitter pipes; pipe screens; bongs (often called water pipes in countries with drug paraphernalia laws); roach clips; vaporizers; rolling papers; rolling machines; scales or balances; blacklight-responsive posters; incense; cigarette lighters; legal drugs such as whipped-cream chargers (which contain nitrous oxide) and Salvia divinorum (illegal in some countries and US states); and products such as the ["Whizzinator" claiming to give false negative results for drug (urinalysis) tests; as well as items to enhance sex, such as dildos and vibrators.

United States
In the United States, head shops exist in a legal gray area because of the nature of the materials they sell, which can be used for both legal and illegal substances. 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 often agree to such disclaimers before they can even view any products.