Though Oregon residents still won’t be able to legally purchase marijuana in the state even with Measure 91 in effect, some local shops have begun to cash in on legalization.

Head shops, which sell glass pipes, bongs and other marijuana paraphernalia, have largely seen an increase in sales as locals and tourists alike are intrigued by the changing regulations.

“With more people freeing up to the idea of legalization, we’ve seen a lot of traffic,” said Dusty Hutchins, manager of the Piece of Mind Bend, a shop on NW Brooks Street.

Hutchins said while his sales always go up during the summer, he has seen a 10 to 15 percent increase so far over previous summers, which he attributed to an increased curiosity about the larger marijuana culture.

“From the very beginning, we wanted to be ambassadors to the culture,” Hutchins said.

Head shops have been a fixture in Oregon and elsewhere since well before Measure 91 passed. Hutchins said the shops were legal to operate even when marijuana was illegal, provided the store specified that the products were intended for tobacco use only.

However, the number of stores selling pipes has exploded in recent years. Carlos Cummings, co-owner of CannAlytical Research, a marijuana research lab, said there are eight dedicated head shops in Bend, plus several other shops around town with a smaller selection of pipes.

Roy Ruiter, who owns and operates Zion’s Den Pipe Shop at 630 SE Ninth St., said a lot of the new customers he has seen this year have been from outside Oregon. He’s seen people relocate permanently to become part of legal growing operations, as well as an influx of visitors who want to be a part of history.

“Pot tourism has been big for us,” Ruiter said.

Even store owners who said they haven’t seen an increase in overall sales mentioned they’ve seen a change in their customer base recently. Christy Nickey, who owns Cosmic Depot on NE Clay Avenue, said the shop has seen an influx of older customers, especially baby boomers looking for another option for pain relief.

“They can look forward to not being dependent on opiate-based painkillers,” Nickey said.

Ruiter added that many of his older customers were former pot smokers who stopped smoking as they got older or had kids, and are now checking back in as the restrictions have slowly been lifted.

“If they are going to dabble, they can do it without worrying about getting arrested in front of their kids,” Ruiter said.

While Ruiter said the standard glass pipes are still the most popular products on the market, other smoking tools have seen a recent jump in popularity. As marijuana concentrates or “oils” get more common, so have the specific pipes used to smoke them. Additionally, small vaporizers have been on the rise as well.

“Traditional pipes are kind of old-school now,” Ruiter said. “They’re fancier than ever, but they all just do pretty much the same thing.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7818, shamway@bendbulletin.com.