C a n n a bi s C o n n e c t i o n
Glasstown U.S.A., Grants Pass and Southern Oregon By Keith Mansur Oregon Cannabis Connection
Southern Oregon is known for many things, including great weather, wild rivers, and friendly people. In the Cannabis industry, it’s known to have the best climate in the state for growing the versatile plant. However, a new industry is blossoming over the past few years that’s also a part of the cannabis industry: glass pipes.
Oregon News
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It got started back in 1990 when a glassblower named Bob Snodgrass came to Eugene, Oregon and started blowing hard glass, or borosilicate glass, which is resistant to temperature shock and commonly used in glass cookware, laboratory glass and pyrex®. In addition to heat resistance, borosilicate glass is also very durable, providing a longer life expectancy for pipes than typical glass. Snodgrass developed numerous techniques and tools for blowing this glass, and admits “I am an inventor. I got stuck in glassblowing because there are so many things to invent in it.” He also trained a huge number of blowers that migrated across the country to teach the many techniques, developed their own, while passing on their knowledge the entire time. Snodgrass helped to establish Oregon as a glass blowing Center. Eventually, many glass blowers emerged in the Rogue Valley, between Ashland and Grants Pass. Brent Kenyon, Owner of Operation Pipe Dreams (yes, named after the federal program) in Medford, Oregon, has been involved in the glass industry for many years. He agrees that Snodgrass got the glass market moving. “Snodgrass excited the glass market and made it main stream in Oregon, starting in Eugene, and then Southern Oregon picked up”, he said. He also added, “That’s where I went to get my first torch”. He said that most blowers in Oregon learned right here, mentioning “most people learn from friends or learn to blow in a local shop.” According to Kenyon and others, there are hundreds of blowers in glass shops as well as in garages.
Though the ubiquitous glass pipe has been around for decades, it was not until the early 1990’s that the industry began to evolve into the vast commercial success it has become. Even with the scare from federal raids on pipe makers in 2003, called “Operation Pipe Dreams” (which eventually landed Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong in prison), the Oregon glass industry thrives today. From simple “spoons” (simple spoon shaped pipes) to “bubblers” (small, artistic water pipes made of glass) to large “ice dams” (water pipes that hold ice to cool the smoke), the glass pipe industry has developed new products and numerous business models that work. This allows a higher standard of “art glass” to be developed along with the high volume “production” glass pieces. In fact, glass blowers from this area have won a number of prestigious awards and accolades from the industry leaders, such as High Times, Flow Magazine, and more.
Kenyon, himself, blew glass many years, but now has started a number of different business ventures. He opened a Medical Marijuana clinic, Southern Oregon Alternative Medicine, and a seafood restaurant, The Wharf. For his glass pipe supply, he works closely with D. Lee, a longtime glass blower from Medford Oregon. Lee, and his company D. Lee Glass, have been nationwide wholesalers of glass pipes for years, blowing their glass here in the Rogue Valley, Oregon. He is one of Kenyon’s main suppliers, and provides a large selection of quality Oregon blown glass of all kinds. Dragon’s Lair in Grants Pass, Oregon is another head shop that caters to the burgeoning glass industry in the region, especially the “functional” art pieces they term “heady”. Yusef Guient, the owner, has built a unique studio in the back of his store where glass blowers can demonstrate their techniques and show the public how glass pipes are created.
Customers can get within a few feet of the artists and watch how they manipulate the glass into amazing, functional, pieces of art. Yusef ran into some delays whilebuilding his demonstration room in his store. Since glass blowing requires a large gas torch (much like an enormous Bunsen burner), a red hot kiln to slowly cool the glass down, and serious ventilation, he had expected a few problems. Unfortunately, he said, “The city is so unfamiliar with what is going on that they are kind of creating hoops for me to jump through”. Now that he’s got it up and running, he doesn’t foresee any major setbacks. Hoping to bring more light to the incredible glass that is being made in Grants Pass, Yusef has demonstration glassblowing events called “First Friday” at his store, which will be held, not
surprisingly, on the first Friday of every month. He said, “We’ve been getting tons of support from the local glass blowers, they’ve been stepping up to do the demos, giving me ideas, and purchasing the raw glass from here.” He wants to appropriately brand Grants Pass, “Glasstown USA”. One local glass artist that sometimes participates on “First Friday” is Nate Hussey. Nate is a native of Grants Pass and has been blowing glass since the late 1990’s. He was exposed to glassblowing by Darby Holm, arguably the most recent star in glass blowing from Oregon. Unfortunately Nate didn’t have a real opportunity to start blowing regularly until years later. Cont. Next Page
Recipes on Page 14