All the Smoke, a shop selling cigars, CBD products, Delta-8 THC products, vapes, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, rolling papers, glass pipes, water pipes, other smoking accessories and kratom, is one of the newest businesses in Flossmoor Commons.
(Nick Ulanowski/H-F Chronicle)
“That was the goal – to make it as nice, as urban, as modern and as upscale as we possibly could. We definitely put a lot of time, money and effort into this place. And by God’s will, I hope it succeeds,” co-owner and customer service representative Moe Latif said.
Latif said he opened up All the Smoke at 19854 Kedzie Ave. because Flossmoor “didn’t really have anything like this.”
“It’s a great area. All the people out here are really nice. They’re really genuine,” Latif said of the Flossmoor community.
Latif described All the Smoke as selling “everything tobacco except cigarettes.” The cigars at All the Smoke are stored in a small, humidified, walk-in room.
“It’s got every cigar that you can possibly imagine in there,” Latif said.
Many of the glass products are custom-made, Latif said. They’re in various shapes, including characters from Rick & Morty, Star Wars and other movies, television and video games.
Kratom, an herbal medicine native to Southeast Asia, is sold behind a glass container.
“It’s essentially an alternative for people not wanting to take prescription drugs or over-the-counter medicine,” Latif said.
If a customer was looking for pain relief, Latif said he’d recommend the CBD cream or CBD gummies at All the Smoke before suggesting kratom. He said kratom is often purchased by customers who are trying to quit opiates.
Kratom is federally legal but banned in some states such as Indiana and Wisconsin. It isn’t FDA-approved, and the Mayo Clinic has deemed it “ineffective” in combating opiate addiction, although some users still swear by it. One Kratom user even said, “it saved my life” by reducing the pain of withdrawal symptoms, NBC News reported.
“It won’t get you high or anything like that. It’s a replacement that basically tricks the mind into thinking that they got the source of the medication that they wanted,” Latif said. “It only does positive things for people.”
While the Chronicle talked to Latif, a customer came in who was dissatisfied with the vapes he’d previously been using. Latif asked him questions about what he was looking for and helped him pick out a new vape.
“This is like my bread and butter. I know everything about smoke shops like the back of my hand,” Latif said. “I’ve probably worked at seven or eight different smoke shops before I opened up this one. I’ve got a lot of experience with the product and a lot of experience with customer service,” 23-year-old Latif said, adding that he gives customers his “honest opinion because I hope you come back.”