Alpine Smoke & Vape in ‘God’s hands’

The walls of the Alpine Smoke and Vape store are lined with glass bongs waiting to be purchased. Long display cases are stocked with col­orful pipes and smoking paraphernalia. The store is the first of its kind in Alpine.

Standing behind the register store manager Ray Toma says that he’s excited to see the shop open up after a delay due to change in location. They originally planned to occupy space at 2201 Alpine Boulevard.

“We went to the city and got approval for a dif­ferent building but the management company said we’re going to have a problem with a business that is already in there so we got this spot instead. It’s in God’s hands,” Toma said.

Instead, they opened in early November at 2130 Arnold Way and occupies approximately 1600 square feet of retail space. With doors set on either side of the building, the business can be accessed from either Alpine Boulevard or Arnold Way.

According to Toma, this marks the fifth store in the family business of smoke and vape stores. He says the first was in Lakeside 10 years ago, with additional locations later established in La Mesa, National City, Imperial Beach and now, Alpine.

Toma says that they plan to serve a different market than other smoking-related businesses in town, including Alpine Tobacco located three doors down the boulevard. Their goal is to be the go-to retail store for smoking products from va­porizers to glass pipes with a large selection in­tended to appeal to a wide variety of consumers, he said.

“We’ve heard from people who said we should open a smoke store because we’ll be the biggest one… We’re a one stop-shop with everything,” Toma said.

As an example, Toma points past the CBD gum­mies and hemp cotton candy, gestures to the dis­play case lined with vitamin jars of Kratom.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, when kratom is taken in small amounts, users report increased energy, sociability, and alertness instead of sedation. However, kratom can also cause uncomfortable and sometimes dan­gerous side effects.

The Mayo clinic reports on its website that kra­tom is believed to act on opioid receptors and some people who practice Asian traditional medicine consider kratom to be a substitute for opium.

The supplement is not legal for purchase with­in the city limits of San Diego but can be legally purchased in unincorporated parts of the county such as Alpine and neighboring Lakeside.

Toma also said they stock of American Made brand bongs and says that the store hopes to make a name for itself by offering name-brand items and focusing on customer ser­vice.

The owner, who preferred that her name not be published, said they made the decision to add bars to the windows of the old library building as a safety precaution against break-ins due the type of products they offer.

Toma mentions that he’s heard some negative comments from locals about the temporar­ily tacked-up signs hanging on both sides of the building but wants people to know that they are waiting for their permanent sign to arrive for installation.

The owner said that the sign’s designer is working directly with the county for approval but does not know when they will hang up their shingle.

Alpine Smoke & Vape, 2130 Arnold Way, is open daily from 8 a.m to 10 p.m.