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.

Glass Blower J. Michael Glass Brings Live "Degenerate Art" Demo to LSD Gallery

Family-friendly theme park performer by day, degenerate artist by night: Jason Bourgholtzer leads a double life, but he's not complaining. It's a childhood dream to work for the Big Mouse, but he has to keep his secret identity under wraps. Under the moniker J. Michael Glass, the St. Petersburg artist is one of Florida's longest-running and hardest-working functional glass blowers. He makes cool chandeliers, bracelets, and cartoon characters, but it's the pipes, bubblers, and Wyz Guy owl series that bring home the bacon.

"I've always been drawn to hand-blown glass more than sculptural stuff, the fact that it's functional," Bourgholtzer says. "Growing up as a teenager, I was always making things into pipes, so I thought, 'Hey, why not?'"

With 15 years of experience and a serious passion for the craft, J. Michael Glass has become one of the most recognizable names in the regional scene. Every day, he's thankful for the chance to do what he loves, and you can check it out for yourself when he hits Lake Worth's LSD Gallery (part of Aces High tattoo shop) for a live demonstration on Saturday, January 24.

Bourgholtzer got his start in 1999, when he found himself mesmerized by a glass blower at a local Renaissance fair. Always interested in being a professional artist, he graciously accepted an offer for apprenticeship, learning all he could.

Glass Blower J. Michael Glass Brings Live "Degenerate Art" Demo to LSD Gallery

 Having run a Subway shop for years, he took those business skills and applied them to his new craft, teaching himself to make a list of 13 functional objects and scoring deals with catalog distributors. Soon after, he headed to Georgia and stayed with a friend for three months, learning the ins and outs of making pipes.

"I'm really big into the whole ceremonial aspect of it," he says. "The fact that the glass is actually a cleaner, healthier source, especially when you get into the water pipes and stuff."

Even beyond his personal interests as an entrepreneur in the glass-blowing field, making pipes is just the smarter move.

"Every time I'd make a pipe, I'd get to a point where it had a bottle shape to it, and I thought, 'I could just make a topper and make this a perfume bottle,'" he says, "but I knew if I made 50 of those, I may sell two, but if I made 50 of them that were pipes, I could sell every one of them."

Back in the early 2000s, there was no such thing as YouTube or Instagram. The world of glass blowing was small, tight-knit, and underground. There were only maybe a couple of blowers beside himself in the regional pipe business, and demand was high. Before long, Bourgholtzer had himself a proper studio, employees, a successful website, and a bunch of great distributor deals. Of course, everything changed for the industry when the feds caught on.

"Once I saw [the documentary] Degenerate Art, I was blown away to see all the guys I look up to and were part of the industry in the late '90s and early 2000s, we were all hit by Operation Pipe Dreams," he says. "The guy I was in business with was upstairs getting orders ready... and he comes flying downstairs letting me know the DEA was out in the West Coast shutting down one of the import distributors. We were all freaked out. We were like, 'All right, guys, this is it.'"



They switched up the project and tried making shot glasses, bracelets, and the like, but the market just wasn't there. Bourgholtzer still had distributors demanding his product, so he did what most blowers had to do: took the movement deeper underground and kept it alive.

"We made more money because the demand was still there and we could charge more because it was harder to get," he says. "I've always been somewhat rebellious my whole life. I've always been a kind, giving person, but I've always wanted to be off the grid if I can, so it was right up my alley."

Source  :http://www.browardpalmbeach.com

Christmas Themed Glass Hammer Bubbler, $105

The most wonderful time of the year deserves a little celebrating with a special holiday pipe! This clear glass hammer bubbler hand pipe from American Glass Works is handmade using quality borosilicate glass, with marias in the stem and a built-in downtube for water filtration and smoother cooler smoke!

The carriage is decorated with snowy white frit, a color glass Christmas tree, tiny candy canes and red and white marbles around the bowl. Each pipe is individually handmade by glass artists in an Oregon collective, so the pipe you receive will be one-of-a-kind!

Available from Grass City for $105, and if you order by December 10, enter discount code GCCW14 for an additional 25% discount.

Source:www.thedailychronic.net

Storm in pint glass as bride refuses to pay piper

A furious Mr Lawrie is refusing to hand back the money, insisting he was holding nothing more alcoholic than a black-currant and lemonade.

The 26-year-old from Glasgow went a step further by posting the bitter exchange on social media, together with pictures of his piping trophies.

His post has even been shared by Scots comedian Kevin Bridges, who wrote: “State of this. Piper shows up, does his pipes and gets sent this. Seriously, get a life.”

Mr Lawrie was paid to pipe at the wedding of the couple, known only as Sarah and Marshal, at a hotel in Renfrew on 6 June.

The day itself passed off without a hitch but the trouble started when the bride saw some of her guests’ photographs, one of which showed Mr Lawrie holding a pint glass. Sarah, in a text since posted online by Mr Lawrie, wrote: “Firstly thank you for piping at our wedding. Everyone loved it and it definitely made our day special.

“I have one issue, however. In one of our guest photos you’re seen drinking a pint and I’m not happy at this.”

She added: “I hired you thinking you were professional and don’t want to look through photos on Facebook to see my piper drinking, as I think this would affect your performance to pipe me and Marshal into dinner.

“I want my money back because I’m not happy about the photos being ruined. Please respond.”

Mr Lawrie then replied: “I’m absolutely shocked you started by saying how great I was then slate me for drinking a pint of blackcurrant and lemonade purchased by your best man.

“If you’re saying it would cause harm to my performance, you’re wrong. This is my job and I take it very seriously. Getting your money back is absolutely out of the question.”

Mr Lawrie has not disclosed how much he charged for the performance but pipers can charge in the region of £200 to perform at a wedding.

The angry bride hit back: “Youre taking the p. You were not professional. Doesn’t matter what you were drinking – it doesn’t look good in photos.

“I would never hire you again. You’re a terrible piper.”

His posts have been flooded with comments from amused and angry piping fans.

Sylvia Ronald said: “Absolutely ridiculous – it’s customary to buy the piper a drink. She should be ashamed of herself. Tell her to sod off.”

Jen Gibson added: “Are they having a laugh? Show me a piper who hasn’t had a drink at a gig or event and I’ll show you a liar.”

Mr Lawrie made a joke of the situation by uploading an old picture of himself sitting on a beach holding a bottle of Drambuie, with the caption: “Lucky the bride didn’t see this!”

He said: “It’s the best complaint I’ve ever had. It makes me glad I’m single. I’m scared I could end up with someone like her.”

Source: http://www.scotsman.com

Icepipe Importer Slugged With Big Fine

A Brisbane man has been fined $17,500 for importing more than 20,000 pipes used for smoking the drug ice.
It follows a bust at the Brisbane air cargo terminal last November when Customs officers found 20,800 pipes in 104 packages.

Australian Border Force Queensland regional commander Rachel Houghton said this type of glass pipe was a prohibited import, and this prosecution and the hefty fine were a warning to those involved in the illicit and damaging ice trade.


Source: https://au.news.yahoo.com

Getting Ripped with the Rooster

AS GREAT as vaporizers are (see "The Great Vape-Off," pg. 4), sometimes you don't feel like being healthy. Sometimes you want to smoke like an OG stoner, and OG stoners don't use vaporizers. They use bongs.

You remember bongs, right? "Water pipes," if you are making a purchase at a head shop. Pipes that use water to filter and clean the smoke inhaled through them, which can range from a simple old school model retailing for under $30 to multi percolator showerhead units that filter the water in more ways than you can count, which can easily top $400. If that's too spendy, you can build your own, with or without the assistance of self-evidently titled books like Build This Bong.

With a bong, because you can inhale a greater concentrated amount of smoke that has been cooled and hydrated, you get a bigger hit and ostensibly more THC. Those benefits are offset by the very common experience of knocking a bong over and drenching your favorite belongings in dirty bong water. Bong hits can also make you cough so hard it feels like one of your lungs is being expelled through your nose.

Having heard there was an extra smooth-hitting line of water pipes that I had yet to try, I sought out Dave Goldstein, the man behind the Rooster Apparatus. I met with him in February, the day after he had received a US patent on the technology employed in his line of glass water pipes for flower and concentrates. Goldstein obtained his patent in part by demonstrating through scientific studies using tobacco that his "fritted glass" diffusers reduced carcinogens and particulate matter by 10 percent. The apparatus also uses a second disc to pre-filter the smoke through an ash catcher before it enters into the bowl with the water. It's a genius design, and smoke passing through the diffusing discs is cooled and cleaned rapidly and thoroughly.

He loaned me a Rooster Apparatus bong intended for flower, and I've used it with a variety of patients and friends, but the majority of his models are for oils and concentrates. The first thing you notice is the coughing—there isn't any. The magic fritters do their job extremely well, and outperformed a three-level percolator bong I own.

At a friend's housewarming last month, I brought it along. A fellow guest eagerly asked if it was a "Rooster Bong," which I confirmed. He lamented that he had been on the hunt for one for months, but that they were notoriously difficult to find. I packed up bowls of a few strains so he and his friends could try it out. After his first exhale, he solemnly said, "I'm getting one of these."

For $325 you can get the model I used through the outlets listed on roosterapparatus.com, as Dave doesn't sell them directly to the public. You'll make new friends at parties with your smooth-ass bong hits. But you're still fucked if that thing tips over.

Source: http://www.portlandmercury.com