the efficacy of water pipes (was Re: Smoking [Was: An interesting

Jeffrey Fabijanic (jeff@primordialsoft.com)
Wed, 16 Jun 1999 14:48:50 -0400

KPJ <kpj@sics.se> wrote:

>I would suggest smokers to use a water pipe as, according to a study, it
>filters away various obnoxious substances from the smoke. (Any THC smokers
>might wish to know that it also dilutes the cannabinol contents in the
>smoke, if present.)

I beg to differ with both of your suppositions.

Nicotine is highly soluable in water, and therefore water pipes are rather useless to the habitual tobacco smoker. In cultures where such pipes are commonly used for tobacco consumption, the liquid is usually wine, or a mixture of wine and a little water.

On the other hand, the cannabinoids (of which cannibinol is but a single example, btw) are not water soluable to any extent, and therefore water pipes can be of great benefit to the smoker of cannabis (aka marijuana), as much of the tar and other undesirable elements will be removed from the smoke during its passage through the pipe, while the vast majority of the psychoactive components will be unimpeded. [Actually, passage through the water can cool them in their vapour phase and some will condence out as oily droplets, either stucjk to the inside surface of the pipe, or suspended in the water - immiscible but nonetheless trapped. This small fraction of oil can be recovered by the clever (or desperate ;P ), but is typically discarded].

For those interested in more studies/articles about this or other psychotropically oriented questions, might I suggest the site for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (http://www.maps.org) and the Vaults of Erowid (http://www.erowid.org).

[For the record, I have never taken more than one or two puffs of tobacco in my life.]

|    Jeffrey Fabijanic, Designer         The Future exists,
|        Primordial Software               first in Imagination,
|   "Software of the First Order"            then in Will,
|    Boston, MA  * (617) 983-1369              and finally in Reality.