Information about Cannabis Smoking

Cannabis smoking is the practice of using some form of combustion in order to release and vaporize the psychoactive chemicals of cannabis as smoke-like particles. The primary constituent of these drugs is THC found in the Cannabis plant. When the user inhales the smoke, it is absorbed by the respiratory system, particularly the lungs, then absorbed through the lungs into the bloodstream where the chemicals travel to the brain for their neurochemical effects to take place. Slow combustion breaks down certain cellulose products found in the cell walls of the cells of the cannabis plant. This allows access to some of the psychoactive elements inside while attempting to preserve as much of the chemical as possible.

There are a large number of methods to smoke cannabis, but there are several which are the most popular. These vary in terms of how the plant parts are set up before combustion, which parts of the plant are combusted, and the treatment of the resulting smoke particles. In general, Cannabis may be screened before use with a 1/16" wire screen strainer to remove seeds and stems and achieve a smooth-burning even particle size, but this is not necessary; Some users prefer smoking the bud with only stems and seeds removed. Because smoking involves actual combustion, some of the Cannabis gets degraded or destroyed, and harmful chemicals are released. Contrasted with vaporizing cannabis, where it is heated to a temperature slightly below the flash point of the plant parts, but above that of the active ingredients, particlarly THC, in order to have the THC resin boil off, releasing the psychoactive chemical parts into the air without the combustion of the plant material, which contain the harmful chemicals released by smoking. The difference in effect varies.

Pipe

Main article: Smoking pipe (non-tobacco)

Smoking pipes, often called bowls or pieces, can be made of blown glass, wood, ceramic, stone, or a nonreactive metal (to avoid inhalation of undesirable metal vapors). When speaking about a specific pipe, the term "bowl" or "crater" often refers to the indentation where cannabis is placed in order to be smoked. This should be as narrow as possible to permit lowest burning temperature (while user sucks as slowly as possible) and avoid wasting any smoke. After inhaling one may breathe numerous times in and out of a one-quart paper or plastic bag, in order to receive more THC into the bloodstream while avoiding extra carbon monoxide.

Blown-glass pipes are usually intricately and colorfully designed, and can contain materials that change color or become more vivid with repeated use. Such pipes usually have a rush, choke, carb (short for carburetor), or shotgun hole which is covered with a finger to draw more air through the combusting cannabis as the user inhales, and then uncovered to clear the pipe of smoke and slow down the combustion as the user finishes.

Metal pipes are often assembled with various fittings that screw together, with interchangeable, and frequently decorative, parts (most parts can be found on things such as plumbing pipes and light fixtures). Those offered for sale have usually had a wide bowl diameter causing the herb to burn too hot.

Tobacco pipes are occasionally used, but due to wide bowl diameter these provide a high burning temperature, loss of herb nutrient, and risk of health damage.

Pipes are frequently improvised using aluminum foil, small plumbing fittings, soda cans, or crisp fruits or vegetables (such as apples, pears, carrots, or potatoes) that have been carved with a "bowl" on one end and a hole bored through the other end, connecting the bowl to a place where the user can inhale the smoke. While foil, fittings, and cans are often used out of desperation (no other utensils are available), some people prefer using crisp edibles, because the moisture content cools and flavors the smoke, gives off no undesirable metal vapors, and because the device is easily disposed of, even eaten in an emergency to remove "evidence".

Plastic bottles can also be used although there is a risk of lighting the plastic and inhaling it, which can be dangerous.

Smoking Cannabis out of a pipe is probably one of the most popular ways to enjoy Cannabis in the world today. Until the past century, most pipes had a narrower crater diameter and a longer stem than modern tobacco pipes.

Other designs

A chillum is a large conjical pipe made of glass, ceramic, or natural materials, held vertically, with the bowl aligned with the mouthpiece, and without a secondary hole. This apparatus is traditionally used in Hindu and Rastafarian ceremonies. If the bowl is too wide the herb will burn hot, causing loss of THC and health risk.

A one-hitter is similar to a chillum, but has a narrow crater diameter permitting low temperature burning. They require a very small amount of well sifted marijuana, thus the name, and are often made out of metal and painted to resemble a filtered cigarette. One-hitters may be accompanied by a dugout so that marijuana is transported and consumed without drawing attention. Attaching a long flexible extension tube permits cooling the hot gases (smoke) before they are inhaled.

A steamroller is effectively a tube, open on both ends, with a bowl sticking out of it. The carb end is the part of the tube closest to the bowl and must be closed off to contain the smoke. Once the tube fills, the user removes the carbing hand and rushes air into the tube thus clearing the smoke. Some find this particular type of pipe very harsh and unpleasant.

Rolled

Historically, this is one of the oldest methods of smoking cannabis, aside from the pipe. Ever since the invention of the cigarette, rolling papers have been used to smoke Cannabis. Rolling is preferred by many users because it is more portable and less conspicuous than smoking out of a pipe or bong. On the subject of disease transmission, it is healthier to smoke your own personal Cannabis cigarette, but this goes against the whole culture of Cannabis smokers who tend to enjoy it socially. Bacteria begins to build on shared pipes and bongs from skin and saliva contact, an interesting fact that most American youth do not realize. In comparison to a properly designed pipe, the herb burns hot, destroying THC, and much smoke is wasted. Health damage caused by smoking this way is frequently blamed on the herb, and negative comparisons are made to the tobacco cigarette which contains cured ("toasted")tobacco.

Marijuana is commonly rolled up in one of two ways:

Joint

Main article: Joint (cannabis)

A joint is created by rolling up cannabis, either manually or with a rolling machine, into a cigarette-like product. Standard sized papers for spliffs are 70mm (standard size), 79mm (1 & 1/4 size) , and 110mm (1 & 1/2 size). The "joint" is smoked down until it begins to burn the user's fingers. Many people turn to a roach clip or pair of tweezers to hold the "roach" so it can be smoked further. This is normally used in America, opposed to smokers around Europe who will make a larger roach (both in length, usually about 1-2cm long and width - any width), enhancing both the ease of rolling and smoking as well as giving the illusion that the joint is a ciggarette. The card inside the papers packet or the packet itself is usually used to roll the roach.

Blunt

Main article: Blunt (cigar)

Blunts are prepared by rolling marijuana inside the leaf of a gutted cigar or specialty blunt wrap. Blunts are larger and thus usually contain more cannabis than spliffs. Flavored papers may be used to enhance the taste of the smoke. Cigar leaf contains nicotine, thus this practice can cause tobacco addiction. This method was popularized dramatically in the early 90's, when hip-hop artists promoted this method in their songs. Normally, low quality Cannabis is found in inner city cultures. Thus a large amount of Cannabis must be smoked to achieve its affect, facilitating the need for the large blunt paper, but the practice is also used today with small and large amounts of high quality Cannabis.

Bong

Main article: Bong

A bong is a water-pipe by which the cannabis smoke is filtered through water into a chamber. It should be noted that smoking from a bong loaded with cold water, ice, or snow will greatly cool the smoke and reduce adverse effects of the heat. Using non-carbonated alcoholic beverages, such as wine or liquor, as a filtering liquid is sometimes preferred by smokers and is said to make the smoke milder, although, as THC is dissolved in alcohol, some of it remains in whichever spirit was used.

Bong use is common and enables smoking techniques that are not possible with a simple smoking pipe. Bongs are one of the most efficient methods of smoking, because while very little smoke is wasted due to burning while not being inhaled, more active ingredients are lost than tars, due to the presence of a chamber and carburetor, although large-chambered bongs can ignite cannabis at a very fast pace. Some might argue that bongs are just as effective if not more than other methods simply because of the sheer amount of smoke one can conceivably inhale after having it cooled in the chamber.

Homemade bong designs commonly use a carbonated drink bottle, although any container, even glass, ceramic, metal, or natural (according to the skill and preference of the user) can be used. A bong pipe (or other improvised bowl) is inserted into a small hole, usually burnt or somehow put near the bottom of the bottle, but leaving enough room to allow for the stem to pass through the user's choice of liquid. A carburetor may or may not be cut, bored or burnt into the bong, according to the user's preference.

Gravity bongs

Another design is a gravity bong, a term which covers several variations, including waterfall bongs, bucket bongs, and torpedoes. The bucket bong is commonly called a bucky in New Zealand. In Canada it is called a bucket or sinker, and the method is called sinkers or taking bucket hits. It usually consists of the user placing the marijuana in a cone made from a standard bowl or socket set (13 mm) atop a plastic bottle with either a few small holes (2 cm diameter) in the bottom of the bottle, or a complete cut along the bottom of the bottle. The bottle is then lowered into a bucket of water so that only the cone is above the water level. From here, the user lights the cone and proceeds to pull the bottle upwards until the bottle is full with smoke from the marijuana. The cone is then removed by unscrewing the bottle cap, and the user then proceeds to place his or her mouth over the bottle, exhaling all air beforehand, then inhaling as they lower the bottle into the water. This method is especially efficient when marijuana supplies are scarce, but also can burn up marijuana at a very fast pace. The Waterfall Bong is usually constructed using a drinks bottle with a large hole bored or burnt into the bottom. The bottle is filled with water with the user covering the hole with his or her hand, the cone is then inserted into the bottles top and the marijuana is lit as the user lets go at the hole at the bottom. The water rushing out of the bottle causes the smoke from the burning marijuana to fill it. When the marijuana is fully burnt the user removes the cone and inhales the smoke through the bottle top, the hole at the bottom of the bottle acting as a carb. This method is effective for inhaling large amounts of smoke in one go. Bongs, and gravity bongs in particular, are notable by some for producing a very intense experience.

A bucket (as mentioned above, so named in Scotland, other variations exist for England, USA etc) uses gravity alone to pull the cannabis into a chamber. A bottle with its bottom removed (glass recommended, plastic in emergencies) is used as the chamber - in the case of glass, a technique of placing stones or heavy crews into the bottle, re-capping it then placing it into a bag before shaking until the bottom falls off is pleasantly effective. Plastic, of course, is not recommended because it melts, which could damage the user's health or simply ruin their device! The body (neck etc removed) of a larger bottle is used for the container. The larger bottle is filled with water, and the chamber bottle is placed into the water. A 'gauze' (sometimes using a socket to fit the hole but usually not a true gauze, more commonly perforated tin-foil shaped to fit, or sometimes the bottle's lid - in good practice, scraping off the coloured paint, removing the inner plastic seal and shaping and perforating) is then securely placed on the bottle before the cannabis (normally raw, but can be supplemented with tobacco) is burnt on. To extract the smoke, the bottle is pulled from the water slowly whilst the cannabis is being burned, with the gravity caused by the enclosed nature of the air trapped by the water sucking the smoke into the vacuum. To smoke the device, the lid is removed and the (raw) smoke is inhaled, sometimes pushing the bottle back into the water, though this causes discomfort with some smokers who prefer to lift the chamber bottle from the container bottle. Due to the quantity and the unfiltered nature of the cannabis the high from this method can be powerful and long-lasting, but not everyone will agree it is worth the health hazard. Mixing hash (resin) and skunk (high potency cannabis) into a single hit of the bong is referred to as nailing a 'Crucifix' in the United Kingdom. This is achieved by crumbling the hash on top of the skunk.

The Waterfall Bong is usually constructed using a drinks bottle with a large hole bored or burnt into the bottom. The bottle is filled with water with the user covering the hole with his or her hand, the cone is then inserted into the bottles top and the marijuana is lit as the user lets go at the hole at the bottom. The water rushing out of the bottle causes the smoke from the burning marijuana to fill it. When the marijuana is fully burnt the user removes the cone and inhales the smoke through the bottle top, the hole at the bottom of the bottle acting as a carb. This method is effective for inhaling large amounts of smoke in one go.

A variation on the 'bucket bong' is the 'lung' in which the same technique is used, but a plastic bag (substituting the container bottle of water) is fitted, air-tight, to the bottom of the container bottle. The user grips the bottom of the bag, or sometimes a string is attached, and the bag is pulled out as the cannabis is burned. When inhaled, the bag shoots back into the bottle due to the force of sucking, resulting in the cannabis smoke being forced into the user's lungs - this leads to an intense high but can also be unpleasant and harmful to health. For this reason, 'the lung' (although more practical than a bucket, a waterfall or a conventional bong) is seldom used amongst seasoned smokers. A commercial version is for sale, notably in the city of Amsterdam.

Shotgun

Main article: Shotgun (cannabis)

A shotgun (also known as a shotty, brainer, charge, super, or blowback) can have many meanings, but most commonly refers to one user taking a "hit" of a blunt or joint, turning it around so the lit end is inside the mouth, and blowing the hit out through the blunt/joint into the mouth of another user, who sucks it in. Also known as "Power-hit" it's a really intimate way for a couple to share a marijuana cigarette, since the lips nearly kiss. A "Stinger" has the same concept except smoke is inhaled through the nasal passage. This particular method also works well on a low supply, because you both get the effects out of only one hit.

Bubbler

A bubbler is a cross between a pipe and a bong. Below the bowl of the pipe, a tube extends into a water chamber. Right above the water, there is a slight space leading to the mouth. This creates a portable bong in the form of a pipe. However, it cannot be carried with water inside of it. They come in various sizes, and the hits are often not as harsh as those of a bong.

Bubbler's can be extra pieces to bongs. This type of bubbler allows the user to insert water into it because of its large chamber and its own female stem protruding downward from the bowl. This allows for the chamber on the bowl, outside of the bong, to be filled first--usually with very thick smoke due to the small size--then filtered through the Primary bong's water for a cleaner taste while reducing the burn of the smoke on the throat.

Knife Hits

Cannabis can be pinched between two red-hot knives and then the resulting smoke inhaled. Usually butter knives are heated on a kitchen stove or by holding them in the flame of a blow torch until they turn red hot. The cannabis bud or resin is prepared by forming it into small balls known as "blasts" or "nuggets" or "spots". Blast size ranges from 1/3 gram(meatballs or bombers), to 1/50 gram. Some use glass knives (paddles) to get the same effect but without the harsh metal oxidation. The smoke may be inhaled through a funnel known as a "hooter". Knife Hits are also known as 'spots.'

Burning aids

Tobacco or other herbs

Some users prefer to mix or layer tobacco with their cannabis when rolling joints. Tobacco use is far more common in Europe than in the Americas. Moroccans and other traditionally or historically hashish-using peoples may smoke cannabis in combination with tobacco. The use of tobacco in smoking marijuana is often known as "batching", and the tobacco portion of finely ground or chopped marijuana and tobacco can be referred to simply as "batch", or batch can refer to the whole mixture.

To avoid mixing with addictive tobacco many herbs available at health food stores are worth trying. The one botanically closest related to cannabis is hops (Humulus lupulus). The yellow flowers are very delicate and mild and add no irritation whatever. Other particularly mild herbs include nettle, dandelion, tarragon, camomile flower. Grind through a 1/16th inch screen strainer just as you do your marijuana for low burning temperature. Other valued herbs include basil, marjoram, oregano, sage, savory, thyme, peppermint, spearmint, pennyroyal and any flower petal.

In Australia the preferred term for mixing tobacco with marijuana is called "spinning", the tobacco being referred to as "spinner" or "spin" and the adjective describing the mixture "spun". "Spin" or "Spinning" is also a practice of smoking a Marijuana-Tobacco blend, typically [65%-55% Marijuana][35%-45% Tobacco] which is finely cut and blended in a bowl or shot glass, and usually smoked in one hit in a "[bong]". The sensation can be numbing and accelerating at once. Some say the full peak of the [Marijuana] is achieved instantly with the aid of [Nicotine], and thus the smoker is enraptured in this psycho-active blend. Often the smoker's arms and hands may become numb and the heartbeat irregular. Needless to say this can lead to nicotine addiction. This technique is believed to be of Australian origins, and has spread notably throughout Southern California. Another name for chopped-up cannabis with tobacco is "Roppies". The process of chopping up one's marijuana with tobacco in a shot glass with sharp scissors is called "Ropping". Other terms include "Chop Bongs" or "Snarlers". It is also referred to as a "spliff," or "spliffy."

The smoking of tobacco to either mask the odor or improve the taste of other drugs is much more common in Europe and Australia, but actually originated in China in order to make smoking opium a more pleasurable experience (and to keep opium addiction down, but actually replaced it with nicotine addiction).

If the user wishes to mask the odor of the marijuana, a ratio of 1:3 marijuana to tobacco can mask most of the marijuana odor. Many user prefer clove cigarettes when masking; an equal amount of marijuana and clove often successfully masks the odor of marijuana with the stronger scent of clove.

Khoi

In South-East Asia the Siamese Rough Bush, or Khoi tree is widely used as a cooler. Small shreds of Khoi wood mixed with the cannabis for a use with a bong or a water pipe allows smoother intake and without the sharp irritation of the throat associated with inhaling cannabis smoke with a bong.

External links

• Water Bongs Of Different Kinds - A lot of information on different kinds of water bongs.

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