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A bong, also commonly known as a water pipe, is a smoking device, generally used to smoke cannabis, tobacco, or other substances. The construction of a bong and its principle of action is similar to that of the hookah, which is also called "water pipe." A bong may be constructed from any air- and water-tight vessel by adding a bowl and stem apparatus (a slide). The word bong is an adaptation of the Thai word baung (Template:Lang-th /bɔːŋ/), a cylindrical wooden tube, pipe, or container cut from bamboo, and which also refers to the bong used for smoking. Bongs have been in use, primarily by the Hmong, in Laos and Thailand, for centuries. One of the earliest recorded uses of the word in the West is the McFarland Thai-English Dictionary, published in 1944, which describes one of the meanings of bong in the Thai language as, "a bamboo waterpipe for smoking kancha, tree, hashish, or the hemp-plant." A January 1971 issue of the Marijuana Review also used the term.

Operation

To use a bong, the base of the bong pipe is filled with water. The substance to be smoked is packed into the cone piece (also known as the "bowl" or "bowl-piece") and ignited with a lighter or match. The user places his/her lips inside the mouthpiece, forming a seal, and inhales, causing the flame to be drawn toward the substance. An inhalation is known as a "hit", "pull", "rip" or "toke." As the user inhales, the flame is drawn towards the substance, igniting it, and the smoke which is produced travels through a hollow pipe that is attached to the bottom of the bowl. The pipe enters via an airtight stem into a vessel containing water (or whatever other liquid is used). The smoke rises through the water, which cools and filters particulates from the smoke, and then the smoke is trapped in the air chamber above the water.

At the side or back of the bong, above the water level, there is usually a small air hole called a "carburetor", "carb", "choke", "shotgun", "shottie" or "rush hole". The user of the bong covers the carb with a finger until the material in the bowl has burnt away, then uncovers and pulls all the smoke from the bong into their lungs (called "clearing" the bong). Not all bongs use a carb, however. Many higher end models have a removable bowl piece also known as a "slide" which works the same as a carb. These are usually known as "pull-stem" or "slide" bongs. With this type of bong the user hits the bong until the material has burnt away, and then pulls the slide out of the bong while clearing it.

Comparison with other smoking methods

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The rationale behind the use of a bong is the claim that the cooling effect of the water helps to reduce the chance of burning the mouth, airways, and lungs. The water can trap some heavier particles and water-soluble molecules, preventing them from entering the smoker's airways. Thus the mechanics or a bong function similarly to those of a laboratory gas washing bottle. This "filtration" can lead to the belief that bongs are less damaging than other smoking methods.

However, a 2000 NORML-MAPS study found that "water pipes filter out more psychoactive THC than they do other tars, thereby requiring users to smoke more to reach their desired effect". In the study, smoke from cannabis supplied by the NIDA was drawn through a number of smoking devices and analyzed. An inhalation machine, adjusted to mimic the puff length of cannabis smokers, drew smoke through a standard bong, a small portable bong with a folding stem, a bong with a motorized paddle that thoroughly mixes the smoke with the water, and two different types of vaporizers. Comparisons to traditional non-filtered smoking methods were not included in these experiment.

MAPS also reviewed a study that examined the effects and composition of water-filtered and non-filtered cannabis and tobacco smoke. It found that when alveolar macrophages were exposed to unfiltered smoke, their ability to fight bacteria was reduced, unlike exposure to water-filtered smoke. It also found substantial epidemiological evidence of a lower incidence of carcinoma among tobacco smokers who used water-pipes, as opposed to cigarettes, cigars, and regular pipes. "It appears that water filtration can be effective in removing components from cannabis smoke that are known toxicants... The effectiveness of toxicant removal is related to the smoke's water contact area.

Specially designed water pipes, incorporating particulate filters and gas-dispersion frits, would likely be most effective in this regard; the gas-dispersion frit serves to break up the smoke into very fine bubbles, thereby increasing its water-contact area." This study suggests that a bong's smoke is less harmful than unfiltered smoke.

Legality

Bongs are classified as drug paraphernalia by the American Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, because they allege that bongs are designed to use marijuana products. Bongs are often sold in head shops and on Internet, drug paraphernalia stores. In the United States, under the Federal Drug Paraphernalia Statute, which is part of the Controlled Substances Act, it is illegal to sell, transport through the mail, transport across state lines, import, or export drug paraphernalia such as bongs. There is no Federal law regarding simple possession of drug paraphernalia, but such possession is usually illegal under State laws.

In countries where marijuana and hashish is illegal, some retailers specify that bongs are intended for use with tobacco in an attempt to circumvent laws against selling drug paraphernalia. While technically 'bong' does not mean a device used for smoking marijuana, drug-related connotations have been formed with the word itself. Due to these connotations, some head shops will not serve customers who use the word "bong".

See also

• Water pipe percolator
• Operation Pipe Dreams
• Drug paraphernalia

References

1. "Office of National Drug Control Policy".
2. "Contraband: The Sale of Regulated Goods on the Internet".
3. Can a human skull be used as a bong?, retrieved 12 May 2008
4. "Thai dictionary entry for baawng".
5. The text read: Many thanks to Scott Bennett for the beautiful special bong he made for my pipe collection. Text cited in bong, n.3 The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 20 April 2006 http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50024920
6. "Marijuana Consumption: Smoking, Eating, And Drinking Marijuana".
7. "MAPS/CaNORML vaporizer and waterpipe studies".
8. Nicholas V. Cozzi, Ph.D. Effects of water filtration on marijuana smoke: a literature review
9. Nicholas V. Cozzi, Ph.D. Effects of water filtration on marijuana smoke: a literature review
10. "Pheonix New Times: Head Games".

External links

• US Patent number:, Water pipe or bong William V. Erickson et al

• Articles needing cleanup from September 2008
• Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from September 2008
• Misplaced Pages pages needing cleanup from September 2008
• Drug paraphernalia
• Cannabis smoking