E-hookahs versus the real thing

If you haven't heard of e-hookahs or shisha pens, you're reading the right article.These products, called electronic vaping devices, have become a craze in the US according to US Health Works, and a lot of people in India have already tried it. According to Pranav Gupta and Bhavik Chinai, Co-founders, Vama Vapor , "The awareness of e-hookahs is spreading and we're witnessing wide acceptance among new consumers in India."

The e-hookah follows the same general concept as a traditional hookah but these pen-like vaping devices give you the benefit of smoking vapour instead of smoke.

Whether it's an e-hookah, an e-cigarette, a shisha pen or a hookah pen, all of these products fall under the category of Electronic Vaping Devices. Vaping devices are of two types, rechargeable and disposable. While most rechargeable e-hookahs require charging of battery, cleaning of the device and filling of liquid, the disposable e-hookahs let users vape anytime without any such challenge.

Traditional versus e-hookahs  

While most traditional hookahs require a change of lit coal for optimum flavours, electronic shisha pens give you the same experience as a traditional hookah without emitting the nasty smoke. They are also portable, and because there is no need to light any coal there is no need for cleaning.

If you're looking to buy one, make sure you pick one that does not contain tar, tobacco or nicotine.

The downside

According to Tapas Mudgal, an e-hookah user, "The main con with e-hookahs is that they either run on batteries or are disposable so it's hard to share it with friends because the number of smokes are limited."

Also, many feel it doesn't offer the same experience as smoking a real hookah. Kaustubh De, a traditional hookah lover says, "Obviously, it's not the same. Smoking an e-hookah is nothing like smoking a traditional hookah that you can set up at your place and enjoy a good smoke session with friends."

Moreover, e-hookahs are limited to single flavours whereas a traditional hookah gives people the liberty to choose a flavour of their choice and mix it up with another flavour.  

 Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in

Weed Businesses Can’t Put Their Money In Banks, So They Put It In Bongs

The proud owner, 21-year-old Kenny Kemp, is sole heir to hundreds of millions of dollars and a passionate stoner whose support of the functional glass art industry provides a needed infusion of legally acquired money. On a warm evening in the middle of January, Kemp handed out bottles of water and offered his guests the opportunity of a lifetime: to take hit after hit of hash oil off of one-of-a-kind glass pipes worth tens of thousands of dollars each.

The skyrocketing value of glass pipes isn’t simply a result of smokers and dealers’ red-eyed awe at their growing complexity and beauty. Selling marijuana is easier than it used to be, but it’s still pretty hard. Even if you manage to coax the dankest resin out of your female plants, grease the palms of whoever is controlling your state’s cannabis licenses, and build up a loyal customer base, you can’t legally do much with your rapidly accumulating stacks of cash. Not in Colorado, not in Washington, not anywhere. As long as the federal government considers the drug illegal, most banks don’t want to go anywhere near legal pot profits, because even state and community banks in places where the drug is recreationally or medically legal are licensed and overseen by federal institutions.

More than simply works of art, status-affirming trophies, or ways to get high, custom glass pipes have become ways for marijuana entrepreneurs shut out of legitimate financial institutions to invest their otherwise untouchable cash.

Most transactions involving bongs and rigs, which look like bongs but are used for vaporizing concentrates, happen off the books, among friends, at trade shows, or between connoisseurs who meet online. Then, anyone who paid five figures for a pipe using drug money, including dealers in states where weed is very illegal and businessmen in states with medical or recreational cannabis laws, can resell the same pipe with all of the appropriate receipts, paperwork, and taxes. Presto, change-o: Now the money is clean.

“You can use [glass] to launder money,” said one California businessman who deals in marijuana concentrates, showing BuzzFeed News his collection. “You go to a gallery, see something for thirty thousand bucks, make a deal, and then sell it off and just make a stipulation that whoever pays you pays with a check. I could trade half of these pipes within a day or two, if I wanted to.”

(Due to the quasi-legal nature of their businesses and financial practices, almost all of the marijuana merchants interviewed for this story asked to be anonymous.)

Unlike flashy cars or mansions, pipes are subtle, keeping nosy neighbors unaware of your growing wealth. Plus, the value of glass can fluctuate dramatically, making it easier to conceal what’s really happening. Some pieces worth $2,000 just a few years ago are now worth $10,000.

“A lot of people like to buy up glass companies because it’s really hard for the government to see, to understand it,” said Phil Martin, one of the partners who runs Moxie 710, an L.A.-based seeds and extracts company. “They don’t understand that you can buy glass really cheap and then sell it for a high price — they just don’t understand it — so it’s a lot easier for people to put their money in there, launder it, and get it legally back out of the glass company. And that happens a lot.”

Kemp has an extensive, legally paid for collection of pipes, pendants, marbles, and tubes featuring psychedelic swirls, fantastical creatures, skulls, and nostalgic references to Nintendo characters. When you’re hanging out in his mother’s basement, you can smoke out of a black Glock, a bear shaped like a honey container, or a monkey in a suit smoking a cigarette and holding a banana like a gun.
But Kemp acknowledges that he’s not the typical customer when it comes to five-figure pipes, in that he doesn’t work in the weed industry.

“The demographic that does buy [glass] usually has money that’s not the cleanest,” he said. “How are you not gonna spend a lot of money on [glass], when you have so much [cash]? Like how are you going to wash it out?”

Just as in cannabis itself, the market for pipes has changed considerably in the past few years alone. Back in 2011, a top glassblower named Scott Deppe told the makers of the pipe-art documentary Degenerate Art that the most expensive piece he’d ever sold had been $18,000. A few months ago, Deppe posted on his Instagram feed a green skull pipe covered in gold-encrusted pot leaves priced at $100,000.

Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com

Tutorial in marijuana consumption, terminology and lingo

Disclaimer: Under Colorado law, the use of marijuana is restricted to those aged 21 and older or those with a valid medical marijuana license. Colorado State University does not allow the possession or consumption of marijuana, recreational or medical, anywhere on campus. The Collegian does not condone underage consumption of marijuana.

When talking about marijuana consumption, the terminology can become a little hazy. Here are a few cannabis terms and some of the marijuana-paraphernalia lingo within the culture.

Piece: This can mean a pipe, chillum, bubbler, bong, vape, etc. Basically, the paraphernalia used to inhale marijuana smoke.

– I. Pipe: A pipe is just the regular bowl with a carburetor, or “carb,” (little hole on the side) and a stem to a mouth piece. The marijuana is placed in the bowl and the smoker places a finger over the carb, lights the marijuana and inhales through the mouth piece. They then take their finger off the carb and forcefully inhale in order to clear the excess smoke from inside the pipe. Depending on how big the hit is, using a pipe can make for harsher hits and leads to violent coughing episodes.

– II. Chillum: Chillums are just small, slender pipes with smaller bowls for less weed, and they generally don’t have carbs. They’re most often used for quick smoke sessions and easy clean-up. They’re relatively inexpensive, intuitive to use and take about 2 minutes to smoke a bowl and get a solid buzz going.

– III. Bubbler: A bubbler is similar to a pipe (depending on which kind of bubbler), but it has water that goes inside it for better filtration and smoother hits when smoking. Some have carbs used with a finger (like the regular pipe) and some have carbs used with the bowl itself.

– IV. Bong: The famous bong — whether it’s glass blown from Fort Collins’ Kind Creations or homemade out of a plastic bottle and tinfoil, is often considered the most popular method for smoking. A bong is basically a long tube with a bowl at the bottom and a mouth piece at the top (there are endless shapes and sizes). The bowl is filled with marijuana, lit while the user inhales and the smoke travels through the down stem into the main chamber and up towards the mouth piece. Some bongs include percolators for added filtration and ice catches for a cooler toke.


– V. Vaporizer or “Vape”: Using a vaporizer is one of the more futuristic ways to smoke weed. Weed is loaded into a tray or compartment within the vaporizing unit and is heated to a specific temperature. The marijuana isn’t necessarily burned, but the THC molecules on and in the marijuana are heated and turn into a vapor that the user inhales. The marijuana smell is basically non-existent and there is virtually no smoke.

Grinder: It’s marketed as a “spice grinder,” but we all know what that means. The name explains it all, but this little gadget allows smokers to grind up weed for better consumption. Smokers can use their fingers to break buds up, but the grinder is meant to do the job better, and it will produce finer, more broken apart marijuana to smoke.

Fire: There is nothing worse than getting ready to smoke and then realizing there’s no lighter to smoke with. Smokers make sure a lighter or at least some matches are within the vicinity.

Concentrates: Given advancements in technology, savvy stoners have created THC extraction methods — using either butane, CO2, water and ice or alcohol as a solvent — to gather large quantities of THC. These concentrates, also known as dab, come in two types: wax or shatter. They hold a THC percentage that is four to five times more potent than the traditional flower, sometimes reaching up to 80-90 percent THC.


-III. Dabber: During this waiting period of 10 seconds, the user utilizes the dabber to scoop some wax or shatter on the end. A dome is then placed on top of the nail and the dabber, with the wax on the end, is set onto the nail. The user then slowly inhales the vapor produced. After the dab leaves the dabber and hits the nail, the user removes the dabber and caps the dome with their thumb or palm to create a vacuum. The user then pulls hard on the piece, and, once the smoke clears the chamber, the user releases their thumb and finishes the hit.