The Straight Toke - THE Marijuana Blog

hey, i was wondering, what is the best way to smoke out of a pipe?

I bought i pipe (like with a screen) not too long ago (because i was
sick of rolling joints) and i noticed that i dint know what was
better, either putting a flame on your "product" every single time or
trying to get it to glow and thus allowing you to only inhale with out
adding additional heat... Thanks for your time

ohhh and while im emailing you, i was wondering, is smoking weed from
a light bulb bad for you (like is there any chemicals in the light
bulb that could be harmful) and same for tin foil...

Ideally when smoking from a pipe, one should try to use only as much flame as is necessary to cause the marijuana to ignite. Once your weed is lit, it should stay burning/smoldering on its own. Of course if it's damp, this may not happen -- which is why it's important to dry and store your weed correctly. If you've got dry buds, they should stay lit on their own; a well-packed bowl shouldn't require more than one lighting. Excessive use of flame will 1) cause your marijuana to burn hotter, thus destroying more THC and 2) cause an increase in the number of harmful combustion byproducts that you inhale. In addition, the hotter smoke will increase the chances of heat-induced damage to your respiratory system.

As for smoking out a lightbulb... well.. it's certainly not a very safe way to smoke your cannabis. The inside of a lightbulb may be coated with a variety of rather unfriendly chemicals -- and the last thing you want to do is heat these chemicals and breathe in their vapors. Pipes really aren't that expensive. It may seem like a clever way to make a piece and save a couple bucks, but ask yourself: is saving that extra $10 or $15 really worth risking a serious impairment of your health?

With just a couple minutes of browsing, I was able to find several pipes below £15 on everyonedoesit.com (not affiliated, not endorsed, and not linked due to our non-commercial policy.) For Americans, that translates to about $30. That price will get you a nice spoon pipe -- certainly a classier way to smoke your marijuana than a lightbulb -- and probably a healthier one too. Head down to your local headshop, pick up their cheapest piece, and you'll avoid the risks of contaminated glass from a lightbulb.

Your Brother in Peace,
Julius

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 7:01 pm and is filed under Health/Medicine, Q/A. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.