Smoking is a habit. For some people, they cannot “live” without smoking, in an extreme way to say. So what can we do, if we are already in the habit of smoking and we cannot or do not want to quit? We could reduce the amount of toxic we inhale.
One of the answer is by using ‘bong’. A glass bong (also water pipe) is a filtration device for smoking, generally used to smoke cannabis, tobacco, or other substances. The construction of the bong is usually made from glass, and a screened bowl and stem apparatus. The advantages of using bong is the usage of water as the filter can reduce the chance of damaging the lungs and the airways. The water can trap some heavier particle and molecules, preventing them to enter the smoker’s lungs. This mechanism is believed that using glass bongs are “healthier” than other smoking method.
The bongs and water pipes are available in the head shops. In Ireland, it’s legal to open a head shop, while in the United States, the head shop is in grey area, because head shop usually sells both legal and illegal products. Tobacco are legal in the U.S., but some illegal paraphernalia is forbidden. Some headshop often ask the buyer to agree to the disclaimer on just using legal products in their bongs and water pipes. In 2000s, with the state laws allowing medical marijuana, online headshop emerged in the internet, selling legal bongs and water pipes.