Author: rml3362@rigel.tamu.edu (Michael Litchfield)
Subject: Marijuana consumption
Last Update: 6 Jun 91 19:30:02 GMT
This paper is an exposition on the consumption of
marijuana for its
psychoactive effects. Covered will be the two primary methods used
in America
today, smoking and eating/drinking, with smoking being the more common
method.
There are a whole lot of lies, half-truths, myths, and supposition
about the
consumption of marijuana this is an attempt to clear things up as much
as
possible.
Smoking
-------
Smoking is the quickest but least efficient method
of ingesting marijuana
and experiencing its effects. Marijuana smoke contains a number of
carcinogens, many of which can be removed if the smoke is filtered
through a
water bong but it will still contains some carcinogens and can be an
irritant.
Studies have shown THC has a bronchiodialator effect, which may be
effective in
purging the particulates from the lungs.
Joints
Joints, marijuana cigarettes, are the perennial favorite
of many people.
They are "shake", marijuana which has had the stems and seeds removed,
which
is inside a fold of rice paper and then rolled into a cylinder. This
is the
singularly most portable method to smoke grass once the joint has been
rolled.
When a joint has been smoked down to the point that it
is difficult to hold
it is called a "roach" and wide variety of paraphernalia exists which
are
designed to hold the roach without burning oneself. Collectively known
as
"roach clips" they include tweezers, alligator clips, forceps, needle
nose
pliers, and ceramic pieces with holes through them. There are a number
of
devices available to facilitate rolling a joint. Absolutely essential
is a
cleaning tray to remove the stems and seeds from the lose marijuana.
There
are a number of papers available with which to roll ones joint, varying
in
color, pattern, size, and presence of gummed edges. There are rolling
"machines" which make the process of rolling a joint much less ticklish,
but
with practice and skill at rolling joints these tend to hinder more
than help.
One of the more intriguing techniques of smoking a joint is taking
what is
known as a powerhit. This is accomplished by having an accomplice surround
the
burning end of the joint with their mouth, taking care not to allow
their skin
to come into contact with the glowing end, and blowing while one takes
a hit
from the other end. This can be somewhat dicey, but is one of the more
intimate
ways of sharing a joint.
Etiquette requires one to pass the joint in a circular
fashion through
those present. No one is required to take a toke if they do not care
to, but
they are expected to pass it on if it comes to them. "Bogartting",
hoarding
the joint when it comes to you, is a SERIOUS breach of protocol. People
too
stoned to smoke the joint let alone pass it are expected to be skipped
over
and a joint can (politely) be removed from someone if they do not seem
to be
sharing the consensus reality.
Bongs
Bongs, or water pipes if you are in a head shop,
pass the smoke through
water to cool and filter it. Grass is put into a bowl on the end of
a tube whose
other end is in a sealed container partially filled with water. The
end of the
bowl's tube is below the level of the water so that as the smoke exits
the
pipe it is bubble through a layer of water. The air pressure in the
chamber is
lowered by breathing through another tube that stays above the water
level in
the chamber. When the air pressure inside the chamber is lowered, air
from
outside the chamber passes through the bowl and its tube and bubbles
through the
water. Bongs are not particularly portable, as they tend to be awkward,
delicate, and heavy. Sizes range from the size of a small pill container
to
eight foot tall escapees from a mad scientist laboratory. Principally
made from
glass, plastic, ceramic, and metal they can be an art form unto themselves.
The
principal benefit of smoking grass through a bong is that the smoke
is cooled
and several carcinogens are removed without removing the active ingredients.
One can put any number of liquids in the chamber to filter the smoke,
and beer
or other forms of alcohol are often used, but this is not recommended.
The
active ingredients in marijuana are fat and alcohol soluble and when
filtered
through such substances the active ingredients go into solution. In
addition
the carcinogens in marijuana smoke are water soluble so that when smoke
passes
through some liquid other than water one loses active ingredients and
gains
carcinogens in the smoke entering your lungs. One method recommended
is to
put ice water in the chamber, the cooled water is not quite as effective
at
removing the carcinogens but the additional cooling is favored among
smokers. Carburetors are small openings in the chamber that are covered
during
the hit and towards the end opened to allow all the smoke to escape
the chamber.
Occasionally one finds a bong designed so that carboration is accomplished
by
lifting the bowl slightly and allowing the air to enter the bowl tube.
Pipes
Pipes are the simplest devices used to smoke marijuana. For the most
part
they are similar to pipes used to smoke tobacco but marijuana pipes
should be
made of heat resistant materials such as stone, ivory, metal, glass,
and
occasionally harder woods. Grass does not tend to stay lit in pipe
so
flame constantly has to be applied to bowl which heats it up more than
pipes
with tobacco in them typically are heated. A common variant of pipe
is the
stash pipe, a pipe where one may store a small amount of grass. Some
stash
pipes are constructed in such a manner that the the smoke passes through
the
stash area so that the grass inside is bathed in the smoke and acquires
a
coating of resin which contains THC thus making it more potent when
it is turn
is smoked. There are glass hash pipes which are used to smoke hashish
and
hashish oil, the materiel is placed in the bowl as with other pipes
but
instead of heat being applied to the top of the substance it is applied
to the
bottom of the pipe.
One-hits
One-hits, or dugouts as they are sometimes called, are a highly portable
method of smoking grass for someone who does not want to smoke an entire
joint
at one time. A one-hit is a small metal tube that has a small cavity
at one
end and a mouthpiece at the other. One presses the cavity into a small
container of cleaned grass to fill it and then is lit somewhat like
a
cigarette and inhaled steadily until the grass is gone. One only gets
one
inhalation or "hit" per filling thus it is called a one hit. A dugout
is small
wooden container which has a space for the cleaned grass and another
space for
the one-hit itself.
Gas Pipes
Gas Pipes are open ended tubes with a small bowl mounted near one end
perpendicular to the main axis of the tube. The end near the bowl is
covered
with your hand and the smoke is drawn into the tube until the bowl
is burned out
then the hand is removed and all the smoke in the tube rushes into
your lungs.
These are usually made from glass, though occasionally one will find
plastic
pipes.
Gravity Bongs
Gravity bongs are more a style of smoking than a particular
apparatus for the
consumption of marijuana. With a gravity bong one uses water pressure
to
create the vacuum in a chamber rather then one's lungs as with water
pipes and
gas pipes. A gravity bong is made by placing a cylinder that is open
at one and
and closed except for a place for a bowl at the other. The open end
is placed
in a large container of water until the chamber of the cylinder
is filled with
water. The filled bowl is then attached and a flame is applied to the
marijuana in it. The cylinder is lifted slowly up. As the cylinder
is lifted
up the water trapped inside will seek to escape out the open end into
the
container due to the force of gravity. This creates a vacuum at the
top of
the chamber near the bowl, this vacuum sucks the smoke from the burning
marijuana into the chamber replacing the water. A tube may reach from
the
bowl to near the base of the cylinder making it a true bong or the
end may not
actually enter the water so that is is similar to a gas pipe. after
the
material in the bowl has been burned and the smoke has filled the chamber
the
bowl is removed and the cylinder is pushed back down into the container.
As the
water re-enter the chamber it forces the smoke out where and hopefully
into an
expectant individual. This is the most common form of a water bong
but any
number of similar schemes exist which can use the vacuum created by
the
exiting water to draw the smoke, and then use that water again to force
it out
of the chamber.
Tilt Pipes
Tilt pipes are pipes which have a heating element
built into the pipe at
the bowl, the element heats the marijuana to sub-flammable temperature
but
which will activate and release the cannabanoids, or active ingredients,
from
the plant material. Most smoking accessories apply an external flame
to the
marijuana which vaporizes and breaks down many cannabanoids before
they can be
consumed, thus wasting a portion of the active ingredients in the marijuana.
These device tend to be very rare usually only found among connoisseurs.
They
are called tilt pipes because one tilts the pipe to bring the marijuana
into
contact with the heating element.
Eating & Drinking
-----------------
The active ingredients in cannabis are fat and alcohol
soluble so they can
be extracted and added to foodstuff entering the system through the
digestive
tract rather than through the lungs. This type of consumption of marijuana
tend
to be both slower and more efficient than smoking it. Further the noxious
effects of consuming heated smoke are completely eliminated. For these
reasons
this is the favored method of marijuana consumption by many people.
Eating
Marijuana must be heated before being consumed to
activate the cannabanoids
so one cannot simply eat raw grass. The traditional method of eating
it is to
cook it in a brownie, especially when it is in the form of hashish,
though it
can be used in any number of things. The recommended method of eating
marijuana
is to saute it in butter or margarine over medium heat, then to strain
the
remaining solids out and use the butter to cook with. One can use this
marijuana butter to make brownies, cook vegetables, or however else
one might
use butter to cook with, one can even spread it on a slice of bread.
Many
people will mix the the residual solids in with whatever they are cooking
in
hopes of making use of whatever cannabanoids might still be in them,
but if
done properly this in not generally valuable. A typical ratio for making
the
marijuana butter is one stick of butter to one eight of an ounce of
marijuana,
and headed for fifteen to twenty minutes.
Drinking
--------
One may extract the active ingredients from marijuana
using alcohol and
then use this tincture to make a potent drink. The highest proof alcohol
available should be used, preferably 190 proof grain alcohol, since
the water
in the alcohol will dissolve other chemicals in the marijuana that
one
wishes to avoid. Some suggest soaking the grass in warm water for a
period to
remove those chemicals but that presents a whole host of other and
is not
really recommended. One may simply place the marijuana into a bottle
of grain
alcohol and let the canabanoids leach out, but this takes 2-3 weeks
of time. A
faster method is to heat the alcohol to sub-boiling and stir in the
marijuana.
Great deal of care should be taken if this method is chosen as the
alcohol is
highly flammable. The resulting tincture, often called "Green Dragon",
is a
light to emerald green liquid, which can be drunk straight, but this
is not
recommended. Highly lauded is a drink of 3 parts lemon lime soda, 1
part green
dragon and a dollop of honey served over ice.
-Michael
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