HEAD SHOP'S GRAND OPENING POPULAR

THE official grand opening of a head shop near a high school was a
tempest in a weed pot.

"T-shirts and posters are our biggest sellers," said Lara
Edwards-VanMuijen behind the counter of LaMota on Portage Avenue,
kitty-corner from St. James Collegiate. The shop has been open for
two months, selling marijuana pipes and other pot-related paraphernalia.

"Business has been good," said Edwards-VanMuijen. The owner of the
store, Alejandro Chung, was unavailable for comment.

LaMota was packed at 1 p.m. Monday for its official grand opening on
4/20 -- the 20th day of the fourth month and the traditional rallying
day for marijuana proponents.

At La Mota -- Spanish for speck and slang for marijuana -- teens,
twentysomethings and media crammed inside the modest shop for the event.

"It's too small," Edwards-VanMuijen said of the busy store.

Pipes and smoking-related products are prohibited for sale to those
under 18, but anyone is allowed in the shop, she said.

The hot sellers, however, are T-shirts with marijuana slogans like
the classic "A Friend with Weed is a Friend Indeed" and "Fight
Terrorism -- Smoke Homegrown".

The store also sells marijuana-related merchandise like non-stick
baking pans for cannabis-leaf-shaped muffins and the MonopolySesque
"Stoner City" board game.

Two young men who looked just 18 had purchased a water pipe but were
leery about leaving the store with a TV camera outside trained on La
Mota's doorway. Some stigma remains, said one of the men, who didn't
appreciate media attention.

Two women in their 20s named Sandra and Tara agreed. They were bong
shopping at La Mota and didn't want their last names used.

"The niceness of the thing is more important that what you use it
for," said Sandra, admiring a delicate, colourful glass pipe.

From a consumer point of view, they said the store, price-wise, was
competitive with long-established boutiques around town.

They said the location of the shop near a high school and George
Waters Middle School should not pose a problem. There are stores
selling cigarettes, alcohol and porn within blocks of the school,
said Sandra, 23.