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Cannabis smoking is the practice of using some form of combustion in order to release and vaporize the psychoactive drugs, including the cannabis drug found in the cannabis plant as smoke-like particles. These escape into the air and are picked up by the respiratory system, then absorbed into the bloodstream where the drugs travel to the brain for their neurochemical effects to take place. It is a frequent occurrence in recreational drug use. Slow combustion breaks down certain cellulose products found in the cell walls of the cells of the cannabis plant while allowing access to some of the psychoactive elements inside while attempting to preserve as much of the drug as possible.

There are numerous methods for accomplishing this technique, 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. Because smoking involves actual combustion, some of the drug gets degraded or destroyed, it is to be contrasted with vaporizing cannabis, where it is heated to a temperature slightly below the flash point of the plant parts in order to have the outer parts boil off, releasing the psychoactive drug parts into the air without it risking combustion. The difference in effect varies.

Joint

Template:Mainarticles A cannabis joint is created by rolling cannabis up, either manually or with a rolling machine, into a cigarette, often called a spliff or joint, with thin rolling papers, or into a cigar, often called a blunt, with wrapper either obtained by removing the tobacco from the inside of a standard cigar or purchased as a "blunt wrap". In such preparation, tobacco or other smokable material are sometimes combined or mulled into a single roll. Users may also purchase flavored papers or blunt wraps which both mask the scent of the cannabis and increase the taste of the smoke.

Bong

A bong is a water-pipe by which the cannabis smoke is filtered through water into a chamber. The design originated in Vietnam, bong likely being a corruption of the Thai word "baung", and was brought back to the states by the soldiers of the United States military returning from the Vietnam War. 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. Counterintuitively, using hot water, which are sometimes called lava shots or lava bongs, increases moisture in the smoke, which also can reduce adverse effects. 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 it's unknown whether this has any additional adverse effects. 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, as very little smoke is wasted due to burning while not being inhaled, due to the presence of a chamber and carb, although large-chambered bongs can ignite cannabis at a very fast pace.

Other designs include gravity bongs, a term which covers several variations, including waterfall bongs and bucket bongs. The bucket bong is commonly called a bucky in New Zealand. In Canada it is called a pail, and the method is called pailing, 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. Bongs, and gravity bongs in particular, are notable by some for producing a very intense experience. In a homemade bong known in the United States as a steamroller, a carbonated drinks bottle is often used, although any container, even glass, ceramic, or metal (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.

Pipe

By using a smoking pipe, often called a bowl, usually made of blown glass, wood, or sometimes metal, which would be a nonreactive one such as brass, to avoid inhalation of undesirable metal vapors. When speaking about a specific pipe, the term "bowl" can be used to refer to the indentation where cannabis is placed in order to be smoked. Metal pipes are often assembled with various fittings that screw together, with interchangeable, and frequently decorative, parts. Blown-glass pipes are usually intricately and colorfully designed, with colors becoming more vivid after repeated use. Such pipes usually have a rush, choke, or carb, short for carburetor or shotgun hole which is covered by a finger for suction when beginning smoking, which is released to finish inhalation, thus clearing the pipe of smoke without advancing the burning any further. Tobacco pipes, pipes home-made by the user, and others, are also sometimes used. Some users prefer a vertically held ceramic or glass pipe, known as a chillum, coming from India. Pipes are also frequently improvised, using aluminum foil, small plumbing fittings, soda cans, or crisp fruits or vegetables (such as apples, 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, and because they are easily disposed of, even eaten in an emergency to remove "evidence".

Shotgun

In a 'shottie', also known as a 'brainer' or 'super', one smoker takes a hit of a blunt or joint, and then turns it backwards in their mouth, ember in. A second smoker places his or her mouth in front of the end of the smoking device, and the first smoker exhales through the blunt, blowing both his or her smoke as well as that produced from the blunt itself into the second smoker's mouth. Other types of shotties have developed over the years, including types such as the boat shottie, Lincoln shottie, nose shottie, ghost shottie or whale shottie, which use the hands or the nose to direct the smoke in different ways.

One-hitter

By smoking it with a one-hitter (also referred to as a hitter or bat), a small ceramic or metal device that looks similar to a cigarette. This is usually used in conjunction with a dugout. Marijuana buds are broken up and the stems and seeds are removed, then it is deposited into a compartment in the dugout. The hitter or "bat" is held in another spring loaded compartment. A small amount of marijuana is packed into the hitter and light then inhale. The bat will need to be lit for every individual hit and, if used properly, there is usually little or no burnoff at the one hitter's tip. This is often used by marijuana users who smoke in public because the hitter resembles a cigarette. It is also seen as the most efficient way to smoke cannabis, as there is little-to-no smoke that is not inhaled by the user. Complaints by users can include that there is too small an amount of cannabis consumed with each hit, and that the one-hitter heats up quickly, sometimes becoming too hot to hold or place to their lips. Users unfamiliar with one-hitters sometimes inhale too strongly and suck burning embers into their mouths and throats.