Now that cannabis has gone mainstream, we can actually take joy in shopping around and purchasing some cool smoking implements on the market. For some of us who have “grown up” and can consider our bongs investments, nothing beats a high-quality glass bong -- or a collection of them. For most of us, we can appreciate the advantages of a good bong. It will Produce a cooler, cleaner smoke You get a more intense experience It is convenient and reusable But, as we know, not all bongs are good bongs. If you’ve spent any time online looking at the options for glass bongs these days, you’ve noticed that there are literally hundreds of branded and unbranded models on the market. Many are good, most are marginal, at best. So, what is the mark of a good quality bong? Not All Glass is Alike Especially with a lot of knock-offs and pieces coming out of China, it’s more important than ever to be able to distinguish a good water pipe from a cheaply made one. The highest quality bongs on the market are made of glass. But not all glass is created equal either. Heat Resistance Just like anything else we buy today, there can be a huge difference in quality depending on the raw materials that are used. Today’s high-quality bongs use what’s called scientific or borosilicate glass. This glass is made with the addition of boron trioxide which gives it a resistance to high and fluctuating temperatures. This is the same type of glass that’s used in chemical labs around the world. Durability Durability is something you will get with glass thickness. The thickness of the glass will affect how much it can withstand as well as the weight of the bong itself. Thickness is measured in millimeters and can range from 2mm to 9mm with the heavier pieces being much more durable. The industry standard is somewhere between 3mm and 5mm but truly durable pieces are thicker and have a much better feeling of quality about them. Functionality One of the most important reasons to buy a quality glass bong is the ability to get a cleaner and cooler smoke. The better quality the bong, the better quality your experience. Craftsmanship Seriously, if we’re going to be into quality pieces, it stands to reason that we’re looking at an investment. The best quality bongs are created by skilled glassworking artisans and glassblowers who take a lot of pride in their work and their creations. But your bong doesn’t have to break the bank. You can get quality and functionality at a fairly reasonable price but, conversely, a quality bong will not be a cheap one. The Serious Smoker If you are a serious smoker, you probably know all this already. You may even have a collection of well-made quality bongs. If you do, you probably have one of our Tanks in your arsenal. If not, you’ll want to check us out.

This may be elementary for some but for those who still haven’t made their way to a smoother -- maybe even healthier -- smoking experience, looking at the benefits of a bong just may help convince you. The water pipe has been around for thousands of years in various forms. It contains 5 basic parts: The base is the bottom and comes in a variety of shapes that create a water chamber The bowl is where your dried product is packed and combusted. The carb is a hole where smoke can be cleared from the chamber by the user. The downstem is the tube where smoke travels from the bowl before it filters through the water The tube is where the smoke collects after filtering through the water What separates it from other smoking methods is the water filtration that filters out contaminants and allows for a smoother smoke. Bong Science 101 When the product is lit in the bowl, it combusts and changes into a gas that takes the form of smoke. When this smoke passes through the water chamber, ash and tar are filtered out. The smoke is also cooled before it reaches your mouth and lungs. When you light the dry herb, the heat from the combustion process breaks down the chemical bonds of the herb and changes the particles into a gas which takes the form of smoke. Burning your product produces both good things and bad things. Getting the Good Stuff, Leaving the Bad Stuff The smoke stream contains all the things you want from your product but it also produces ash and tar, not to mention hot smoke. Tar is simply a catch-all term for the many compounds that combustion produces.The purpose of the bong is to filter out the undesirable particles that are carried in this smoke, so you’re just breathing in the good stuff. This is where the water comes in. The Benefits of Filtration The bong provides a filtration process that cools the smoke as it passes through the water. When the smoke passes through the water, much of the ash and tar are filtered out as it binds to the water molecules. This filtration also gets rid of the stuff that would otherwise end up in your mouth and your lungs. Water acts like a net that catches the contaminants yet isn’t fine enough to catch the compounds that you are wanting to smoke. All you have to do is watch the water inside your bong turn brown to understand the benefits of that filtration. Are You Losing the Good Stuff in the Filtration? But are you losing the good stuff you want in that filtration process? Research says yes but a very negligible amount. Because cannabinoids and terpenes are not water soluble, what you lose is infinitesimal. What you gain is a vastly superior experience. Keep it Clean A quality bong offers a cooler and smoother experience, hands down. But you’ll want to keep the bong and the water clean to make sure that you are ensuring the quality of your experience. Any chemicals can be potentially harmful if inhaled and contaminants in the water will definitely affect the taste of your hit.

We’ve not only gone mainstream, but we’re zipping right into the future. Cannabis innovation has taken a while to catch up since decades of prohibition put it on hold for a good long while but we are quickly making up for lost time. A Variety of Consumables Creams? Edibles? What happened to the stuff we hid in a baggy in some obscure corner of our closet? Cannabis consumer products are flooding the market. Your favorite product can now be consumed in a variety of forms. The Farmer Goes Tech There is no need for cannabis growers in some states to covertly hide their crops hoping they won’t be caught. Cultivation has moved front and center as the race is on to make the best use of strains, space and growing processes. We have already reached the stage where cannabis strains can be tailored and tweaked to individual needs. Cannabis cultivators are now able to develop particular strains with the emphasis on CBD as well as CBN and CBC. The industry is now looking at new growing techniques like vertical growing, LED lighting, higher yield with less water by breaking down water molecules and sequencing DNA in order to create distinct flavors and attributes. Extraction New manufacturing techniques have developed ways to get nearly all the cannabinoids and terpenes from a plant. These concentrates yield a considerable amount of THC or CBD compared to smoking. Cleaner Products Now that cannabis is regulated on a state by state basis, there is an emphasis on clean products making their way to market instead of the old days of contaminants, pesticides and heavy metals on your black market weed. Applications and Home Delivery Imagine ordering your cannabis product with the same ease as ordering a pizza for delivery. In many states, that is already a reality. Cannabis apps not only allow you to find your closest dispensary but many will deliver it right to your door. Marketing and Analytics Despite still being federally illegal, cannabis has become a huge industry. There are companies that devote themselves specifically to marketing of cannabis products. The Cannabis Marketing Association has chapters throughout the United States. As for sales, there are now programs that are able to manage the extremely rigid regulatory processes. There is also software available that can manage inventory and even keep data based on customer preferences and spending habits. Payment Processing Because of the federally illegal nature of cannabis, most banks in the United States are not willing to work with the cannabis industry. Fortunately, there are companies that are providing secure and automated financial transactions for those customers and businesses. Some firms are making the entire flow electronic for marijuana products including tax payments. The Cannabis Industry Into the Future The cannabis industry today is already a multi-billion dollar industry and is poised for exponential growth into the future. Those individuals and companies who continue to invent and innovate stand to benefit enormously from this trend.

The journey of cannabis in our country has been a bumpy one. Although weed had been used as medicine for thousands of years and back as far as 1619, Virginia required colonists to grow hemp, marijuana has been vilified over the decades with 29 states banning it by 1933 after the “success” of alcohol prohibition. Official Prohibition On August 2, 1937, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Marihuana Tax Act that firmly put prohibition into place. With one swift move of the pen, it set off decades of prohibition built on fear and disinformation. The war on weed waged on amidst smear campaigns, politicization and categorization as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. Decriminalization and medical marijuana conversations began to take off in the 1970s with the Shafer Commission issuing a report for the removal of marijuana from Schedule 1 status. President Nixon decided to ignore those findings. Medical Marijuana Ushers in Recreational Use Since the eventual legalization of medical marijuana in 1996 in California, great strides have been made and, currently, 11 states have legalized the adult use of recreational cannabis with many more considering it. 6 additional states may soon consider it: New Jersey New Mexico New York Vermont (it is legal to grow and possess recreational marijuana now but it is still illegal to buy or sell it) Arizona Florida So for the states that currently have legal legislation on the books, has it been a success or a dismal failure? What the States Say According to a recent survey published by You.gov, the majority of people in these states have agreed that cannabis legalization has been a success. They surveyed more than 32,000 Americans in current legal states to ask if their current recreational legislation has been a success or failure in that state. Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize recreational use in 2012. 71 percent of the respondents in Colorado called their legislation a success to 17 percent saying that it was a failure. In Washington, 65 percent of survey participants said that they considered recreational legalization a success in comparison to 18 percent considering it a failure. Other states reported a similar attitude: Oregon: 69 percent success, 20 percent failure Massachusetts: 67 percent success, 15 percent failure Nevada: 64 percent success, 17 percent failure California: 59 percent success, 20 percent failure Illinois: 59 percent success, 17 percent failure Michigan: 56 percent success, 20 percent failure Maine: 47 percent success, 20 percent failure Alaska and Vermont did not report a sizable enough sampling response. Interestingly, the success rate seems to be predicated on both the passage of time since legislation was passed and also the availability of retail options. Colorado, Washington and Oregon, as some of the earliest adopters of recreational legislation, have been able to fine-tune their retail availability, whereas Maine is still waiting for its first recreational stores to open because of an indefinite hold due to Covid-19. California has seen a great inconsistency in availability where many mostly rural areas have banned retail establishments altogether. Legalization Benefits For those states that have legalized recreational use of marijuana, some of the incredible benefits have been tax revenue, income and job creation. As more states move to decriminalize marijuana and the economic benefits become clearer, at some point we may see nationwide legalization. But, as it stands, there is still ample push-back standing in its way.