Downtown Smoke Shop has opened its doors at 1101 Main Ave., offering a wide variety of smoking paraphernalia despite the unpromising history of similar businesses in Durango.
Owner Mo Assi opened the shop in early December.
In only 400 square feet, the shop offers glass pipes, cigarette cases, lighters, knives, weight scales and tobacco. Assi plans to stock cigars and cigarettes when he receives a license to sell them.
“Nobody can beat my prices," he said.
Many of the items are decidedly irreverent, including a pipe that incorporates a small Denver Broncos helmet and a butane lighter in the shape of a raised middle finger. Assi is particularly proud of a 24-karat gold hookah, a type of water pipe.
The shop also sells salvia divinorum, a legal herb that can be chewed or smoked to produce hallucinogenic effects, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Several state legislatures have proposed laws banning the substance, but it remains legal in most states, including Colorado.
Downtown Smoke Shop is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Assi runs the shop by himself.
“A new business, you have to," he said.
Assi said he may begin hiring employees in a couple of months.
Assi lived in Gallup, N.M., for three years before moving to Durango only a few weeks ago.
“I like the town," he said.
He previously lived in Chicago for 18 years.
Downtown Smoke Shop is part of a family business enterprise with more than a dozen businesses in Chicago, Gallup and Durango, including hotels and restaurants.
Hookahs are the shop's best-seller so far, Assi said. The large pipes feature a bowl for a water reservoir that cools the smoke. Several users can smoke through long hoses at the same time. The devices cost anywhere from $20 to $500, Assi said.
Shops selling smoking paraphernalia have a checkered history in Durango. Several have been short-lived, and some have faced resistance from law enforcement because many of the same devices can be used to weigh or smoke illegal drugs.
In February 2005, the Southwest Drug Task Force raided Still Smokin' at 3101 Main Ave. Owner James A. Bender of Farmington later pleaded guilty to selling drug paraphernalia and was sentenced to 10 days of house arrest.
Still Smokin' was selling items such as screens for pipes that obviously were connected to drug use, said Lt. Pat Downs, commander of the Southwest Drug Task Force.
Downs said the task force had received no complaints regarding Downtown Smoke Shop.
Laws concerning the sale of smoking paraphernalia are “really kind of subjective," Downs said. Shop owners can claim pipes constitute art or are not intended for drug use.
Marijuana recently has emerged from living rooms into the public eye in Colorado because of the fast-growing number of medical marijuana dispensaries. Durango has four licensed dispensaries, all of which have opened this year.
The legal landscape on which the dispensaries operate continues to change. Several cities, including Durango, have passed moratoriums on new dispensaries (Durango's has been lifted), and the state Legislature may consider new legislation to address the shops' proliferation.
Assi did not address questions related to marijuana.
“I don't know what to say," he said.
Durango Police Department spokeswoman Capt. Micki Browning said the department has no issue with the smoke shop.
“We just look at it as any other business," she said.
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Durango Herald
Author: Chuck Slothower
Contact: The Durango Herald
Copyright: The Durango Herald
Website:Durango Herald News, Smoke Shop opens on Main Ave.
Owner Mo Assi opened the shop in early December.
In only 400 square feet, the shop offers glass pipes, cigarette cases, lighters, knives, weight scales and tobacco. Assi plans to stock cigars and cigarettes when he receives a license to sell them.
“Nobody can beat my prices," he said.
Many of the items are decidedly irreverent, including a pipe that incorporates a small Denver Broncos helmet and a butane lighter in the shape of a raised middle finger. Assi is particularly proud of a 24-karat gold hookah, a type of water pipe.
The shop also sells salvia divinorum, a legal herb that can be chewed or smoked to produce hallucinogenic effects, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Several state legislatures have proposed laws banning the substance, but it remains legal in most states, including Colorado.
Downtown Smoke Shop is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Assi runs the shop by himself.
“A new business, you have to," he said.
Assi said he may begin hiring employees in a couple of months.
Assi lived in Gallup, N.M., for three years before moving to Durango only a few weeks ago.
“I like the town," he said.
He previously lived in Chicago for 18 years.
Downtown Smoke Shop is part of a family business enterprise with more than a dozen businesses in Chicago, Gallup and Durango, including hotels and restaurants.
Hookahs are the shop's best-seller so far, Assi said. The large pipes feature a bowl for a water reservoir that cools the smoke. Several users can smoke through long hoses at the same time. The devices cost anywhere from $20 to $500, Assi said.
Shops selling smoking paraphernalia have a checkered history in Durango. Several have been short-lived, and some have faced resistance from law enforcement because many of the same devices can be used to weigh or smoke illegal drugs.
In February 2005, the Southwest Drug Task Force raided Still Smokin' at 3101 Main Ave. Owner James A. Bender of Farmington later pleaded guilty to selling drug paraphernalia and was sentenced to 10 days of house arrest.
Still Smokin' was selling items such as screens for pipes that obviously were connected to drug use, said Lt. Pat Downs, commander of the Southwest Drug Task Force.
Downs said the task force had received no complaints regarding Downtown Smoke Shop.
Laws concerning the sale of smoking paraphernalia are “really kind of subjective," Downs said. Shop owners can claim pipes constitute art or are not intended for drug use.
Marijuana recently has emerged from living rooms into the public eye in Colorado because of the fast-growing number of medical marijuana dispensaries. Durango has four licensed dispensaries, all of which have opened this year.
The legal landscape on which the dispensaries operate continues to change. Several cities, including Durango, have passed moratoriums on new dispensaries (Durango's has been lifted), and the state Legislature may consider new legislation to address the shops' proliferation.
Assi did not address questions related to marijuana.
“I don't know what to say," he said.
Durango Police Department spokeswoman Capt. Micki Browning said the department has no issue with the smoke shop.
“We just look at it as any other business," she said.
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Durango Herald
Author: Chuck Slothower
Contact: The Durango Herald
Copyright: The Durango Herald
Website:Durango Herald News, Smoke Shop opens on Main Ave.
