The High Road
6166 El Cajon Boulevard,
College Area
619-265-1410
1463 Garnet Avenue, Pacific Beach
858-273-7501

Everybody smokes those Marlboro reds and GPC longs, but you want to stand out from the smoky clouds surrounding the common crowd. How about a filterless ciggie? The High Road Psychedelic Shop has them. Seven bucks will buy a thin glass tube with a wad of tobacco stuffed up against a wire screen (so the burning ball of leaf doesn't get sucked into your lungs). Packs of pre-rolled micro-brand ciggies cost about the same as the namebrands, but specialty smokes like Native Spirit contain (according to the label) only natural-leaf tobacco and no chemicals. The pipe selection ranges from pocket-sized porcelain ($3 to $15) up through bodacious bongs ($10 and up) and, for those who hate to smoke alone, humongous hookahs with multiple hoses so that pulling a puff requires group participation. Do-it-yourself types will find rolling papers in all sizes, including several with a built-in wire that serves as a cigarette holder (a.k.a. roach clip). Some of the heavy metal, double-barrel fuel-injected lighters lined up behind the counter (from $1 to $10) look as if they could double as welding torches.