https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsRyzVcDdd8
This is a documentary, written and directed by a glass pipe artist, that explores the topic of glass blown pipes, and the subculture that has formed to embrace it. However, due to it’s connections to marijuana and other drugs, the glass pipes are considered paraphernalia by the government. The artists that have spent years and years honing their craft and improving their skills, seem to think differently. Some of the pipes are simple and in a familiar shape, but there are many artists that enhance the idea of a pipe by creating huge, thousand dollar, working glass sculptures. In 2003, there was an investigation by the DEA called Operation Pipedreams, which lead to the arrest and fining of over 50 artists and glass pipe business owners. Was the operation warranted? Should the artists be punished for the laws that the potential owners may or may not break in the future? What makes these pipes any less artistic than other glass art?
