On a gray afternoon, seven patrons shuffle into Oz - a local shop that specializes in glass pipes. They know what they want, and one guy asks a man behind the counter about a glass bong he'd heard was retailing for about $30.
The clerk nods and reaches for an ornate blue bong, or "water pipe."
"I told you this place is the best," a girl in the party tells her companions. "I'm in here all the time."
They linger in the shop for 15 minutes, crouching down to examine the hundreds of colorful glass pipes arranged in numerous display cases - frequently expressing their amazement at the craftsmanship of the pieces. A few of them make purchases and the group leaves.
At the same time, similar scenes are taking place all over downtown East Lansing, where within roughly four city blocks, there are four stores peddling glass pipes and bongs, vying for business among a fairly small area. These are: Oz, Silver Streak and Krazy Katz, Blue in the Face (213 E. Grand River Ave.), and In Flight Sports (507 E. Grand River Ave.)
"We do decent business," said Marty MacNeill, a clerk at Oz. "The only thing stifling us would be our location."
Located at 551 E. Grand River, the business does not have a storefront on Grand River Avenue, and so it might be harder to find for would-be patrons.
"All our business is through word of mouth," MacNeill said.
Just down the road, Silver Streak and Krazy Katz, 317 E. Grand River, sports a fluorescent sign touting the largest glass pipe selection in the country. Despite the fairly large amount of similar shops in close proximity, co-owner Galena Katz said the store thrives on pipe sales.
"We don't really see them as competition," said Katz, adding the shop has been open for eight years. "Business has actually gotten better as more shops started carrying glass. It's like having two gas stations right next to each other."
Katz said her store carries a collection of pipes and bongs from more than 200 pipe blowers. They range in price from $10 to more than $1,000 and are the store's primary source of profit.
"People have seen the other places and they say we have the best stuff," she said. "We've been here the longest and students know our reputation."
Not all pipe-selling establishments have thrived from the competition though.
Scott Pridgeon, owner of In Flight Sports, said he recently stopped buying pipes partially as the result of the competitive market. The store is currently selling off its remaining collection.
"So many people sell glass in town, it's ridiculous," he said. "You've got all this money in inventory, and if you are only selling a few pieces a day, it doesn't make sense."
Competition is not the only thing that drove Pridgeon to stop selling pipes. As recently as May, federal initiatives have begun combating the sale of "drug paraphernalia."
In May, the Detroit Free Press reported that a U.S. attorney sent notices to more than 300 businesses in Detroit warning them that they could be prosecuted under federal law for selling the smoking accessories. According to the article, merchandising the items is a felony.
That initiative followed a February 2003 assault by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Web sites that sell such "paraphernalia." The project, called "Operation Pipe Dreams" resulted in indictments of manufacturers and distributors of glass throughout the country - including famed marijuana smoker Tommy Chong - and virtually ended the sale of pipes via the Internet.
Still, there are no state or city laws prohibiting the sale of glass pipes sold specifically for use with tobacco, and federal raids on establishments that sell them are rare.
East Lansing police Capt. Juli Liebler said sales of the smoking accessories are not a concern for the department.
"I'm assuming that they have a legitimate purpose," she said. "They're not illegal and I would assume you can smoke tobacco with them."
Even so, Pridgeon said that recent attention to the sale of accessories led him to change his store's focus.
"Our stance is we never sold to anyone under 18, and if anyone mentioned any illegal activity inside the store, we'd kick them out and wouldn't sell to them," he said. "We're just getting rid of everything and trying to be a more straightforward specialty tobacco shop.
"Because of the legal ramifications and the stigma, we just want to get out of it."
Behind the counter, In Flight clerk Eric Sutton commented on the store's dwindling pipe sales.
"Everyone in here's looking for hookahs and flavored tobaccos," he said. "We hardly sell any glass, and there's alternatives that fit more into the legal framework."
But without a state law explicitly banning the sale of the smoking accessories, other stores in East Lansing say they will remain undeterred from selling pipes and bongs.
"Our goal is to work on the quantity of people coming in here," Katz said. "We try to keep the price down and keep the number of customers high. That's how we've been able to stay successful."
