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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Guest Opinion: Medford should strive to be more like Bend ... Poison in the well ... Gold Hill rallies to save IOOF Lodge ... Guest Opinion: Medford should strive to be more like Bend ... Poison in the well ... Gold Hill rallies to save IOOF Lodge ... SUTHERLIN Oregon pot supporter makes statement with big rooftop joint Comment By Mark Baker The Register-Guard MailTribune.com By Mark Baker The Register-Guard Posted Jul. 9, 2015 at 3:50 PM By Mark Baker The Register-Guard Posted Jul. 9, 2015 at 3:50 PM » Social News  SUTHERLIN — Harry Pinsent is not blowing smoke when he says he's a big supporter of Oregon's nearly week-old law legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. "I wanted to make a statement, basically," says Pinsent, sitting in his Magic Mushroom/Oregon Gifts shop that sits just on the east side of Interstate 5. "It's been illegal now for (years). It's a plant. It should be legal. So, I did it as a protest." What the 72-year-old Pinsent did during the past six months was build what is perhaps the world's largest doobie (that's a marijuana cigarette, for those still not up on their weed lingo) so he could put it on top of his shop for I-5 travelers to see. No, it's not really filled with pot, just made out of foam, chicken wire and cardboard. But the point of this joint is getting across, even if not everyone in this Douglas County town is exactly buzzing with delight over Pinsent's display. "I do not feel like that is a good representation of Sutherlin as a city or a community," says Tami Trowbridge, president of the Sutherlin Area Chamber of Commerce. "And I'm not so sure I'm pleased that he has such great freeway access." A pot smoker for 50 years, and a grower who has a medical marijuana card (for aches and pains, he says), Pinsent realizes that in a conservative town with patriotic fervor, his 27-foot-long joint might not be a hit with everyone. Especially when it's blowing smoke, funneled through a smoke machine inside the shop, next to a giant U.S. flag on adjacent property dedicated to America's veterans. "Biggest flag on the West Coast, so they say," Pinsent says, standing on his store's roof and looking up at the flag put up by the city years ago, the sound of freeway traffic rushing by in the background. "Right next to the biggest joint on the West Coast, and the biggest mushrooms on the West Coast." The shop Pinsent runs with his wife, Linda Pinsent-Fox, is filled with mushroom-related gift items, including the distinctive mushroom lamps he has sold for years, made of manzanita wood for the bases and coral for the shades, for as much as $700. And there are two giant mushrooms, also made of foam, chicken wire, etc., on top of the store. There's also the Flintstones-like mushroom mobile, made from a 1957 E-Z-Go golf cart, parked out front. Pinsent, born and raised in Southampton, England, got the idea for making his mushroom lamps as a young lad camping with friends in Southern England's New Forest, while all were high on hallucinogenic mushrooms, says Pinsent in his still-distinct English accent. "I woke up in the morning, in my sleeping bag, and right by my head was a cow patty. And right in the middle of the cow patty was a 'magic mushroom.' And I saw a pretty good idea for a lamp. That's how it started." In addition to the mushroom lamps, the shop also sells the usual gift shop trinkets, posters, T-shirts and "Oregon" coffee cups, as well as a few glass bongs and pipes. Pinsent, who moved to the States in 1974, living in Los Angeles until 1994 before moving to Sutherlin, christened his big joint last week with friends who helped build it in his home studio. They also tossed, from the store roof, free joints and baggies filled with now-legal pot to those waiting eagerly in the parking lot below. "Beautiful," Pinsent says of the event. "Lovely. There were lots of people here. Everyone was smiling and cheering, especially when the joints were being tossed off the roof." Evin Nordhagen is not impressed. "I think it's horrible, to tell you the truth," said Nordhagen, who made a delivery to Pinsent's shop on Monday and agreed to be named only if the packagedelivery company he works for was not identified. "Not a big fan of drugs. How we got to this? I don't know."   By Mark Baker The Register-Guard MailTribune.com By Mark Baker The Register-Guard Posted Jul. 9, 2015 at 3:50 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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