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NEWS: Bongs set for national ban

Immortal Teknique

Immortal Teknique

Ex-Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 17, 2005
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2,025
Read this in the Herald Sun today. Yet another reason why i think Christopher Pyne is a moron.

Thought some people might be interested....

Bongs set for national ban

THE Howard Government is pushing for a ban on the sale of marijuana bongs throughout Australia.
The Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Christopher Pyne, said the Government believed the legal sale of bongs sent a tacit signal that the Government approved the use of such drugs.

Mr Pyne's call follows a landmark report this week from former Federal Police Commissioner Mick Palmer which found that smoking cannabis, particularly by young people, substantially increases the risk of mental illness and worsens existing mental health conditions.

Bongs can usually be found for sale in tobacconists and sometimes even service stations. They feature a small bowl in which marijuana is placed.

The smoke is then inhaled through cooling water in the base of the pipe to deliver the "hit".

There is no age limit on the sale of such drug paraphernalia,

Mr Pyne's demand for a ban follows a meeting of the National Cannabis Strategy Group six months ago that called for "closer and more appropriate regulation of drug paraphernalia".

He said he was concerned that the display of such equipment in shops reduced public concern about the impact of drugs.

"I'm certainly concerned about the proliferation of apparatus for the use of illicit substances," Mr Pyne said.

The Victorian Government banned cocaine kits earlier this year, but ruled out a blanket ban on bongs. A government spokeswoman said there were too many ethnic groups that used bongs to smoke tobacco and other legal substances.

"We are happy to continue to work with the other states and Federal Government in developing greater consistency on the sale of drug paraphernalia as part of this government's drug enforcement and harm minimisation strategy," the spokeswoman said.

Most shoppers at city store Off Ya Tree, which sells bongs and smoking pipes, opposed a ban on bongs.

"No, I don't like smoking through plastic bottles," one shopper said.

"It's not going to stop anyone from smoking anyway," another said.

"They will find a more unhealthy way to smoke it."

Mr Pyne admitted it could be hard to ban bongs because they could be used for legal purposes such as tobacco smoking.
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Agreed, home made DARE milk bottle style bongs are the bomb. glassies are second.

I know alot of people who would be pretty pissed off if bong sale became illegal, i reckon it'd end in some kind of protest, i meen in every third house in my suburb someone owns a store bought bong, or at least a store bought cone piece.

IMO, it aint going to happen.
 
So you guys prefer the home mades? I hate the plastic bottle with the garden hose and all the other shit. Trying to get it air tight and trying to avoid it collapsing in on itself when your taking a massive rip was very irritating. A really high quality glass or ceramic bong is my number 1 choice.

Somehow i dont think Pyne will get his way with this. I hope not anyway.
 
Mr Pyne admitted it could be hard to ban bongs because they could be used for legal purposes such as tobacco smoking.
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Plus doesn't the Middle Eastern community smoke hookahs??? I thought they needed to be sensitive to others cultures.
 
C_D, i think thats the main reason why Pyne wont get his way.....

The Victorian Government banned cocaine kits earlier this year, but ruled out a blanket ban on bongs. A government spokeswoman said there were too many ethnic groups that used bongs to smoke tobacco and other legal substances.
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I dont even smoke that much but i think we should do something about it if they even get close to banning bongs. besides, there will be an illegal market for them anyway, i meen i know people who illegaly sell tobacco(stupid imo) whats gonna stop people selling bongs, theyre piss easy to make if you have the right tools.
 
^^ but a piece of hose.... aren’t concerned about plastic you are in hailing, don’t get me wrong I grew up on gators but quite awhile ago I realised it’s wasn’t the healthiest to do
 
man if you were really concerned about what you where in hailing you wouldn't be smoking. smoking isn't the healthiest thing to do, at the end of the day your high, as if your thinking about the shit you just pushed through your body.
 
rock said:
man if you were really concerned about what you where in hailing you wouldn't be smoking. smoking isn't the healthiest thing to do, at the end of the day your high, as if your thinking about the shit you just pushed through your body.
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Its all about Harm Reduction dude.
 
Jimity said:
Its all about Harm Reduction dude.
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Absolutely! Clearly the government doesn't give a fuck about harm reduction. I grew up with Dare bottle, garden hose and brass cone piece bongs like most and whilst I realise that smoking isn't the most healthy thing in the world, I still like to reduce the amount of damage that I'm doing to my body.

Have there been any studies performed about the effects of smoking through plastic bongs and garden hoses? If not, maybe there should be and then maybe that information should be presented to the government.

I mean, clean syringes and injecting equipment are cheaply and readily available in this country. How are pot smokers any different to injectors? They both have the right to consume their drugs with the least harm to their bodies. Taking away anybody's right to protect their health is just plain disgusting.
 
"He said he was concerned that the display of such equipment in shops reduced public concern about the impact of drugs"

He was totally thinking about your health when he came up with this policy. This is better then pushing drugs in general underground, making them just plain a risk to your health to get. Lets be honest nobody gives a dam if you smoke and they can’t see it, it’s when you put it in their face they have a problem. Its kind of like public sex, in the fact that it offends people not that it’s ever going to hurts them. But this policy will never pass the tobacco companies would never let that happen. As for reducing the harm to your body I’d still go with the home made bong. They are fun to make and one day maybe very soon you will wish you had those skills :p
 
Bongs on and off hit list
PHILIPPA DUNCAN
December 19, 2006 12:00am

0,,5337587,00.jpg

GOING WELL: Stuart Palmer of Puff 'N' Stuff at Sorell yesterday with some of the smoking apparatus he sells in his shop to a wide variety of people, from young to old.

A FEDERAL proposal to ban the sale of bongs, cocaine kits and other drug paraphernalia by tobacconists has gained a mixed response in Tasmania.

Lloyd Arnold Tobacco Station and Hairdresser manager Sharon Maass backed it and said the Cat and Fiddle business did not stock bongs.

"We are a family orientated business and we don't sell them," she said.

"It's not the way we want to make money."

But at Sorell, Puff 'N' Stuff owner Stuart Palmer said he sold a couple of bongs a week, and pipes, to offer his customers freedom of choice.

"I would not support the ban," he said.

Mr Palmer said a wide variety of people bought bongs, including "young long-haired dope-smoking people and odd sorts of grey-haired gentlemen and ladies".

But he said he would not sell kits for using cocaine.

Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drugs Council Tasmania executive officer David Clemments said a ban would send a message to the community.

But he warned that it would not have a significant impact on drug use.

He said policymakers and frontline workers needed to concentrates on the use of home-made apparatus and providing enough rehabilitation services.

Police Minister David Llewellyn would not comment on the proposed ban that has the backing of Federal Parliamentary Heath Secretary Christopher Pyne.

Mr Pyne last week also proposed to a national forum on methamphetamines, commonly known as ice, a ban on ice pipes.

"I think if we ban ice pipes we need to go further to ban similar products used to ingest illegal drugs," he said.

But he admitted it could be hard to ban bongs because they could be used for legal purposes such as tobacco smoking, though this was rare.

State Opposition police spokesman Rene Hidding said Tasmania was one of the few states and territories not to ban the sale of ice pipes.

He said banning the sale of the pipes would need the co-operation of states but Tasmania "could not even agree they should be illegal".

"The Police Minister, David Llewellyn, needs to give one good reason why ice pipes should be legally available in Tasmania," Mr Hidding said.

Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT have no ban on the sale of ice pipes.
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The Mercury
 
I wonder if bongs do get banned in oz, if it turns out like what nz does, sell them in parts - so that you have to put them together yourself when you get home? you can buy crack pipes that are in little glass parts as a kitset..

melburn_madnesss said:
^^ but a piece of hose.... aren’t concerned about plastic you are in hailing
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You put one of those metal bolts on the end of the hose, or that little bowl part you can get from a head shop.

edit: also just to add, plastic bongs are fine!! heh, Ive had my 'aquapipe' for 10 or more years now, its quite discreet, I can just leave it anywhere and most people dont know what it is. Also is alot easier to clean, just by rinsing it in methylated spirits or isopropyl for a couple seconds. I got mine when I was in sydney, just add water and...



direct image
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7917/theaquapipetp3.jpg
 
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edit: also just to add, plastic bongs are fine!!
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It depends upon the bong design, and more importantly, the type of plastic used. In terms of additional health risks, IMO plastic drink bottles i.e. polyethylene terephthalate, and garden hose bong stems are completely unsuitable for this purpose.

As for studies into the compounds produced by these types of bongs; there has been no research done afaik. Just how one would go about getting this type of work underway is another thing altogether. The catch-22 is that while such research may indeed demonstrate that additional health concerns do exist for the "Classic Aussie Bong", such studies are unlikely to be funded unless it's first recognised/ accepted that significant problems already exist.

Just how it would be demonstrated that it's plastic and not the tobacco/cannabis pyrolysis products that are the problem - without doing the research.....

I could put a proposal together as I've already considered in reasonable detail how I'd approach this task in a university setting. Anybody willing to fund such a project?
 
What about HDPE bottles?

Oh and person: They already sells bongs like that in queensland. you have to buy all the parts seperate. But pipes seem to still be sold, including glass pipes.
 
Plastic bongs are so rank, after a big sesh when the bong starts warming up and the water is tepid I wouldn't be suprised if you were inhaling small quantities of polyethylene. Its all about the double chamber or the classic hand grip classy bong... not to mention my personal fave, a 80cm tall clear hard plastic bong we call pinky ;)
 
I refuse to use plastic bongs nowadays....so yeah, i'd be rather pissed if this proposal was passed. At the end of the day, it's not going to stop people smoking marijuana so is basically just a dud policy.
 
a nice handheld plastic tube with a BIG bonza stem and cone is all i need..lol
 
Bongs stop a large percent of two main cancer-causing chemicals which I can't find via searching at this time, but they are in cigarettes as well. They're mostly for cooling down smoke though, but it seems to filter a lot of garbage out, but far from all. Just put a piece of toilet paper of the mouth piece of a bong, then have a bong.. then check out the tissue....
 
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