Abbey Street uniform shop - drug using equipment?

[emamum]

i dont think i would be going in if i'd started the thread

[steeljack]

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

. I then pointed to the grinders which have been stated are for grinding up cannabis and he said he cannot control what people grind up in them but they are actually tobacco grinders and some of his customers use them to grind herbs which again is not illegal or drugs. I've got a similar shaped wooden grinder which is actually for chopping/grinding herbs. .

the place sounds like a small scale Head shop , nothing more nothing less
Head shop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia usually they cater to college age kids , but it seems this guy if he is also selling school uniforms he is pushing the envelope .
Guess its all down to community standards ........do local parents want/care about, their kids being exposed to stuff like this .

[pipinfort]

Originally Posted by emamum23

i dont think i would be going in if i'd started the thread

I know what you mean.....cannabis is`nt the only thing he`ll be grinding.......

[emamum]

seems like a strange thing to sell in a clothes shop.

[pipinfort]

Its great willow went in and confronted him but he is either very nieve or just stupid, of course he knows what they are for and just because you can get them in pound shops.does that make it ok then.you can buy anything in pound shops so will he start selling tea and sugar as well.......? If i wanted to grind my home grown herbs abby St shopping centre is the last place i would look to buy a grinder.....I`ll stick with my Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker thanx.....or does he sell them as well.....?

[WillowTheWhisp]

Originally Posted by pipinfort

So in other words he`s not bothered........? but well done for confronting him...........

Well actually he did seem very bothered. He wanted to be able to speak to the person who had raised the issue so that he could understand their concerns and their objections. I really had to struggle to find something to object to myself. He asked me what I thought he should do and he considered if he should ask the council if he was doing anything wrong. He does have customers who buy those things from him so if he stopped selling them he would lose those customers but I got the impression he would be willing to do that if there was anything unethical or illegal there. Shops where kids buy sweets also sell tobacco and tobacco related items. He doesn't even sell tobacco. He was very concerned that anyone should think he was selling anything illegal.

On a different tack I pointed to the keychain 'laser beams' and said if I personally was going to object to anything I would object to those because they are dangerous. He said they are not actually lasers, just torches with a narrow beam of light, not the lasers which people were using and shining at aircraft etc. I queried whether children could still damage each others eyes by shining them at each other and he said he didn't think so but asked if I would like him to stop selling them. If they aren't dangerous then I don't see any reason for him to stop selling them.

He did actually say that if people will approach him direct and tell him that there are things they want him to stop selling, and why, then he will take those concerns seriously but so far no-one has ever told him that they object to anything in the shop and this is the first he has heard that anyone had any complaint, second hand, through me, from an anonymous person on a website he has never seen. It seems perfectly reasonable that he would like to hear from people themselves if they have any complaints. He won't eat you.

So if any of you want to complain in person, in the shop, he would welcome the opportunity to address your concerns. He didn't even know about them until yesterday. That doesn't mean he doesn't care.

I still can't see anything in that shop any worse than things in other shops. I don't see any of it and think "drugs" - I may think "smokers" and I don't smoke and have always discouraged my children from smoking but I can't object to the shop round the corner from me having cigarettes on display can I because they are perfectly legal?

Anyway, I really would be interested to know how this works out and if anyone does take it any further.

[pipinfort]

These things are`nt illegal to sell but to sell them alongside school uniforms for primary school kids is just morally wrong, i remember i had to get all my school uniforms from a shop near the market in Blackburn( can`t remember the name or if its still there) it sold the school uniforms along with gentlemans suits and NOT alongside cannabis smoking items ! If you have kids of this impressionable age you cannot fail to see how wrong it is....if you smoke cannabis you may not see it as a problem...if you smoke regular cig`s you may not see a problem...if you are very nieve you may not see a problem...... but as a responsible adult with 2 small children I see a BIG problem especially in the world we live in today. Its just morally wrong.......I`d certainly like the original thread starter to get involve in this debate as i don`t even shop there!!!!

[WillowTheWhisp]

So if there are people on here who have actually seen these things in the shop and feel strongly that they should not be there will you please go and speak to the man himself and tell him so.

It may be naive of me not to see cigarette papers, tobacco grinders, lighters and ashtrays as a problem but my kids have always gone into shops which sell kids comics, crisps sweets alongside smoking equipment and they have never been tempted to want to smoke. I'm just failing to see why this particular shop selling school uniforms, which will be bought by the parents not the children themselves, and is not likely to be visited on a weekly or daily basis by children, is somehow worse than those.

Please voice your concerns to the shop owner and give him chance to do something. If enough people can show him they are genuinely offended then perhaps he will ralise it is a problem and take you more seriously than simply hearing it via me.

[emamum]

I am in 2 minds about this...

If the shop sold tobacco it would make more sense, I dont see why a clothes shop sells them, it seems a bit random. lighters, ashtrays arent anything to get stressed about, if it was pipes and bongs (which i assumed it was from the first post) then thats a lot different.

[cashman]

as this thread is now in its 3rd day, it seems a little strange to me,that whoever asked the question when starting it,has not commented further? now call me a cynical owd get, but....................

[WillowTheWhisp]

No pipes, no bongs.

It's mainly a clothes shop but they have one or two small novelty items at the counter too. That's where these bits and bobs are.

[pipinfort]

At the end of the day its all about morales, If a survey was done at the school gates asking the question....Should drug smoking equipment be sold along side school uniforms.? what do you think the majority answer would be......?

[pipinfort]

Originally Posted by derekgas

It is a question of morals and good taste isnt it, the owners of this shop obviously dont have much of either! I wouldnt expect to find this sort of stuff for sale in a shop that dedicates much of its space to school uniforms, and wont be buying from there!

In a nutshell Derekgas.........

[WillowTheWhisp]

That's a leading question pipinfort. You use the word 'drug' which gives the impression as emamum said of pipes and bongs. If you reword the question to state what actually is there it might be better.

If you feel so strongly about it why not get a petition up and get signatures and then present it to the shop owner? But if you put the words "Drug smoking equipment" he will just respond that he isn't selling drug smoking equipment and nothing else will happen. When I mentioned drugs to him he said he was against drugs and would not promote the use of drugs. To him these items have nothing to do with drugs, just legal tobacco smoking. If you want the ashtrays and lighters and cigarette papers removed then just go down and ask him to do so and tell him you object to them being sold there. He is perfectly approachable. It was the dark haired guy without glasses that I spoke to.

It's no use just keep talking about it on here. I went down to the shop. He would welcome anyone else doing the same and expressing their concerns to him and yet everyone else seems reluctant to do so.

[pipinfort]

Ok then let me rephrase that then.......Smoking equipment...although i did not start the thread and its tiltle is Drug using equipment.......!