Head shop

Posted by R. Berg April 27, 2009 at 17:01In reply to Head shop posted by ESC on April 27, 2009 at 13:27:

I would like to know the origins of the phrase "head shop." Why is the word "head" associated with marijuana, and why is that associated with a shop? Where did this come from?

Head shop - store catering to drug-using hippies - comes from head.
Head - 1. a hippie. 2. a devotee of a particular drug, acid head or pot head. 3. A chronic drug user. Although the word has a strong association with hippies and the 1960s, it was used as early as 1937 to mean a habitual drug user.

"Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang" by Tom Dalzell (Merriam-Webster Inc., Springfield, Md., 1996). Page 143.

This page describes head shops:

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