Art ablaze: Once criminalized for their craft, marijuana pipemakers are now celebrated

Chris Vela dances with fire as he twirls molten glass over a glowing flame. He likens the mesmerizing effects to a campfire – a hypnotic incandescence.

As a contemporary marijuana glass artist, Vela makes translucent electric green bubblers and glistening salmon pink Sherlock pipes. He has hollow-sculpted a real-life horned lizard skull – a blazing orange piece ultimately affixed to a bong of the same color.