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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." Smoking a bong contrasts with smoking a pipe or cigarette in two major ways: bongs cool the smoke before it enters the user’s lungs (making it easier to smoke), and a large amount of smoke is inhaled quickly as opposed to the smaller, more frequent, inhalations of pipe and cigarette smoking.

Etymology

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 Western literature dates to a piece in the January 1971 issue of the Marijuana Review. An even earlier reference, the McFarland Thai-English Dictionary, published in 1944 describes one of the meanings of bong in the Thai language as, "a bamboo waterpipe for smoking kancha, tree, hashish, or the hemp-plant."

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. The user places his/her lips inside the mouthpiece, forming a seal, and inhales. 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 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 which works the same as a carb. These are usually known as "pull-stem" or "slide" bongs, and usually glass bongs that have glass-on-glass connections have this arrangement. A bong is an especially efficient way of smoking marijuana because it can be as wasteful or conservative as the user wants it to be. One of the popular ways of smoking from a bong is to pack "snappers". Very small amounts of marijuana placed in the bowl to be smoked by one person. This person lights the bowl and waits for the marijuana to burn completely from which it falls through the bowl and into the bong water accompanied by a "snap" sound.

Modern bongs also make use of "ash catchers" and "percolators". An ash catcher can be thought of as little more than a tiny bong that sits in place of the bowl. This device usually has a small amount of water in it, and the bongs bowl is placed in the top. This not only does as the name suggests and catches ashes that get sucked through the bowl, but it also provides an added level of filtration by passing the smoke through water before having it enter the bong. Pre-filtering also helps keep the bong much cleaner. An ash catcher can be attached to just about any bong, but they're usually designed for glass pull-stem bongs. A percolator is similar to some types of fermentation locks, and is generally used in bongs specifically designed for this device. A "percolator bong" will normally be separated somewhere in the "shaft", with a small hole allowing a "stem" to pass through. This "stem" will have a "cap" on it that sits in a position where it neither seals with the "stem" itself or the separating portion. By pouring an amount of water into this divided section that rises above the rim of the "cap" but remains below the top of the "stem" you get another level of filtration. This works because as the smoke is sucked through the bowl and the first stage of water in the bong, it is then forced up the percolators "stem" where it is trapped under the "cap" and escapes by forcing itself through the water. You can get percolator bongs that have anywhere from 1 to 5 percolation stages. Many percolator bongs also feature ash catchers, some with multiple stages themselves, mainly to help keep the main chamber of the bong clean.

"Double chambered" or "multi-chambered" bongs are also popular. These types of bongs present the same benefits as "percolator bongs" and bongs equipped with "ash catchers" by providing multiple chambers and levels of filtration. Their major downfall is their size. A "multi-chambered" bong is little more than several bongs connected in series.

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. 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.

Variations

A bong may be constructed from any air- and water-tight vessel by adding a bowl and stem apparatus (a slide); there are reports of such things as videogame controllers or coffee tables being used as bongs.

Two other popular variations are the "gravity bong" and the "waterfall", both of which make use of water to create negative pressure inside a chamber, drawing the smoke out through a bowl. These two types of bongs do not pass the smoke through the water.

A "gravity bong" is an entirely manual type of bong. It involves a somewhat large container that has a bowl fixed to the top and is open at the bottom . To operate, the user removes the bowl and places the bong into a bucket of water, submerging it almost to the top and holds it in place. They will then place the bowl back into its position on top, and hold a flame to the product inside the bowl while slowly pulling the bong out of the water. The suction will draw air through the bowl, subsequently filling the chamber with smoke. The user will not pull the bong all of the way out of the water, as that would allow the smoke to escape. Instead, they will hold the bong with the bottom rim just below the waterline, remove the bowl again, then inhale the smoke through the top. They will usually push the bong back down into the water forcing the smoke into their lungs at a faster rate than they could normally inhale. This is done in an effort to maximize the effects of their product.

A "waterfall" is a variant of the "gravity bong" making use of the same concept of water creating air pressure to fill a chamber with smoke. This is done by using a container similar to that of a "gravity bong" , only instead of having an open bottom the container would have a small hole with some sort of plug or valve. The container would be filled with water, and the bowl would be placed on top, just as it would be with a "gravity bong". To operate the user will hold the bong over a bucket or sink, then they will place a flame to the product in the bowl while removing the plug, or releasing the valve allowing the water to drain out and draw air into the chamber through the bowl, filling it with smoke. When the bong has drained, or the chamber is adequately filled with smoke the user will remove the bowl and inhale the smoke through the top. A "waterfall" does not afford the user the ability to force the smoke into their lungs, however it can be self contained by connected a second chamber of equal size directly to the first chamber. This would require two things; a valve, and a vent line running from the water only chamber, through the smoke chamber, out the top of the bong. This would allow air to escape from the water only chamber as it fills with water.

You can purchase commercially manufactured version of both the "gravity bong" and the "waterfall" under several different names, however their selection is much more limited in comparison to standard bongs.

See also

• Operation Pipe Dreams

References

1. "Office of National Drug Control Policy".
2. "Contraband: The Sale of Regulated Goods on the Internet".
3. "Thai dictionary entry for baawng".
4. 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
5. "Marijuana Consumption: Smoking, Eating, And Drinking Marijuana".
6. "MAPS/CaNORML vaporizer and waterpipe studies".
7. Nicholas V. Cozzi, Ph.D. Effects of water filtration on marijuana smoke: a literature review
8. Nicholas V. Cozzi, Ph.D. Effects of water filtration on marijuana smoke: a literature review
9. Can a human skull be used as a bong?, retrieved 12 May 2008
10. N64 Controller Bong Combines the Two Reasons Your College GPA Sucked, retrieved 13 May 2008

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