Jungle Fever: Smoking Paraphernalia & Legal Highs

A hookah pipe is a type of water pipe that is used for legal herbal smoking. It consists of a container that is filled with water, through which the smoking material – a legal herb – is filtered. A tube extends from the top of the container and holds a small bowl with live, hot coal, upon which the herbs are placed. The tube extends down through the water and a mouthpiece attached to a flexible tube is connected to the side of the container. When the smoke is inhaled through the mouthpiece, air pressure pulls the smoke from the burning coals through the water, filtering it from particles. Diagrams and explanations related to the way the hookah works, and how it is constructed, can be found on the Internet.

Hookahs are often called shishas, from the Persia word for glass or bottle. Hookah pipes come in various styles, known as Syrian and Egyptian hookahs, and one can easily find travelling hookahs and custom-designed hookahs. A conventional hookah is made of blown glass and is usually decorated elaborately with bits of enamel or gold paint, porcelain, silver, carved stones, or pieces of leather.

Legal herb smoking, through hookahs, pipes, and bongs, is big business these days. A whole line of accessories exists for the hookah, including metal tongs and special charcoal that can burn for a half hour or more. Legal herbs are smoked most often in social groups. When this is the case, the hookah is not passed around; instead, it is simply set down between uses to allow other smokers to take a turn.

Herbal smoking is growing in popularity and is currently enjoyed by many people around the world. This legal activity requires the smoker to inhale the fumes of various herbs as they are burned. The inhaling is done through pipes and bongs, sometimes called chillums, or through filled and rolled cigarette papers. In addition to pipes and bongs, herbal-high vaporisers are used by people who are sensitive to smoke. Vaporizers are also used for inhalation therapy, when treating respiratory illnesses, such as asthma.

Generally, the herbs consumed in herbal smoking are legal to possess. A herbal high is pleasant, and much less intense and brief than a cannabis-induced high. Herbs that are used for legal smoking are also commonly used in teas and often in cooking. Some of the herbs used in herbal smoking to achieve legal highs are hops, salvia divinorum, chamomile, ginseng, damiana, wild dagga, kava kava, passionflower, and there are more. When herbs are combined, smokers often use a substance called mugwort powder that acts as binding material to hold together the mixture. The herbs are then put into the pipe, bong or chillum, where they are lit and smoked.

Many of these herbs come from Hawaii and Mexico, where they are grown. However, no matter what the country or area of origin is these herbs can be purchased over the Internet. Herbs, bongs, rolling paper, instructions for smoking and all the information you can possibly need for obtaining a legal herbal high can be found online.

A pipe smoker must have accessories to really enjoy this kind of hobby. A humidor or pipe rack is not a necessity, but other accessories are essential.

Some of these are butane lighters or wooden matches, a pipe tool, and pipe cleaners. Butane lighters or matches are needed to light the pipe, a pipe tool includes a tamper and reamer, and the pipe cleaner is very important. Keeping the pipe clean can mean the difference between enjoying a costly bowl of imported tobacco or destroying it in a dirty stem or screen.

To clean the pipe screen, gently remove it with a tweezers, blow on it and inspect. If the screen is still dirty, hold a lighter or match to it while you hold it with the tweezers and burn away any residue. Let it burn for not more than five seconds. After letting it cool, blow off any remaining ashes and inspect it again. If it is free of tears, it may be reinstalled for reuse.

A dirty pipe stem that is clogged with residue will also impede proper burning and waste tobacco. To clean the stem, detach it from the mouthpiece and insert an inexpensive wire-cored fabric-covered pipe cleaner, soaked in a solvent such as alcohol, and work it back and forth until the stem is clean. Clean the mouthpiece the same way.

Smokers need to clean their pipe screens to ensure proper combustion that will not waste expensive tobacco. High quality screens last longer and require less maintenance.