My father, Lee Harris, who has died aged 87, ran what is believed to have been London’s first “headshop”, selling cannabis-related accoutrements. He established the business in the early 1970s in London, and called it Alchemy. Attracting customers from all over the world, it was a popular institution for more than four decades, until he closed it down on his retirement in 2016 at the age of 80.
Lee set up Alchemy after becoming a hippy in the mid to late 60s. Apart from selling goods relating to, or inspired by, the use of cannabis – including smoking gear, incense, posters, books and T-shirts – Alchemy provided the base for a number of his other projects, such as the publication of his Brainstorm Comix series through Alchemy Press, which showcased the early work of the graphic artist Bryan Talbot, and from 1977 until 1982 the counterculture and cannabis-focused magazine HomeGrown, which he edited and published.
