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Gravity Bong Lung Damage

Druidus

Druidus

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Messages
599
It seems to me that gravity bongs have the potential to cause a great deal of harm to your lungs relative to other methods of administration. Such a concentrated volume of smoke, uncooled, and filled with unfiltered particulate matter... It certainly FEELS like it's worse for my lungs than, say, a bong or pipe.

Any thoughts? Any people here get lung damage themselves from grav. bong use? Or at least attribute it to grav. bong use for good reason, even if there's no proof from a doctor.

It sucks, because I love grav. bongs. I get way higher than a bong, or a pipe. They are inferior methods that I use rarely, and usually at the behest of others. But the accruing damage it must be causing worries me.

*sigh* I suppose I'll have to buy a good vape again.
 
Any method that involves heat and smoke can plausibly cause some level of damage - the question is whether or not that damage is measurable or significant.

I'd venture a guess to say the amount of damage caused by the heat and smoke is pretty negligible for the average person - especially considering most people are not hitting a gravity bong 20 times a day every day. This has to be a YMMV thing - some people it may effect worse then others.

if you're saying your doctor can find no instances or signs of damage, that is likely the case.
 
Nah, not talking about me in particular.

But consider this, Chainer: When I smoke a gravity bong, I am able to take a hit that would be unimaginable to inhale from a pipe or bong. I actually take more than I could inhale through other means because it is compressed and I can force it through pressure to enter my lungs without me inhaling, just opening my lungs. Since I can do this, and since many people smoke grav. bongs like this, are they not causing us more damage than other means that do not so inundate our lungs with more toxins per administered hit than any other methods?

When I was younger I took it to the extreme, often smoking ~0.5 grams in a single hit, which left my lungs and throat hurting quite a bit.
 
Druidus said:
Nah, not talking about me in particular.

But consider this, Chainer: When I smoke a gravity bong, I am able to take a hit that would be unimaginable to inhale from a pipe or bong. I actually take more than I could inhale through other means because it is compressed and I can force it through pressure to enter my lungs without me inhaling, just opening my lungs. Since I can do this, and since many people smoke grav. bongs like this, are they not causing us more damage than other means that do not so inundate our lungs with more toxins per administered hit than any other methods?
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I understand your point but on the inverse:
1) Sure you get more smoke from one hit - but generally that clears your pack in a G bong. A regular bong will pack MORE MATERIAL in MORE HITS, and a solid bong can rip just as hard as a gravity bong.
2) Does amount at once equate to more damage, compared to amount streched over more hits? It would seem to me that more exposure over a longer period of time would be worse for your lungs.

I'd certainly assume smoking a cigg, which has only a simple filter, would do more damage due to smoke and heat then a rip from a gravity bong.
 
All I know is that my gravity bong works better than any other piece I've used...
 
I've gotta disagree with 2, though I see 1. Single heavy exposure to radiation is far worse than smaller amounts over somewhat longer time. Same for exposure to lead, mercury, sunlight, cyanide, etc. Lesser exposure over time is much safer. That's why we don't all die extremely young from vehicular emissions in our cities. The lesser intensity exposure to the smoke is not as dangerous as, for instance, sucking on a tailpipe for a bit to get a greater exposure.

If you force a great deal of smoke into one ballon while allowing another to fill up with less smoke in lower concentrations, and than repeat, for both, to simulate the number of hits you would use for each system, then is it not logical that the 2nd balloon must have less tar accumulated inside? Sure, more individual exposures, yes. But since the concentration is lower, and the particulates per volume are lower, then they will deposit less in the "lung". The first balloon will be exposed less frequently, maybe, but is much more likely to leave behind particulate matter (tar) that would indicate damage. Not to mention that the particles actually do scar your lung tissue, so you'd think that if there are much more particles at once you get a greater degree of scarring? Is it not true that your body can handle some small exposures, while it is overwhelmed by a severe exposure?

A huge amount at once is more damaging, IMO so far. Because it is more intensely concentrated and with more particulate matter per unit of volume, then I can only see it leading to more intense damage on a hit by hit basis.

That said, I do agree with you that you may smoke less with a grav. bong than with a bong. But I'm not sure that's enough to mitigate the damage it causes yet.

I'm sorry, though, I am quite tired. I'm trying to make myself clear, I hope I'm doing it. I'm also just thinking about this theoretically right now, so don't think I'm being offensive.
 
I don't understand where your trying to get at OP, it seems very irrelevant since smoke in general damages the lung. If your really health conscience about your lungs then I suggest you stick to vaporizers and edibles. They get you the highest anyways especially edibles =D
 
bigger hits hurt more and make me cough longer so i would be inclined to think that yes, the bigger hit you take the more potential for damage to be done.

I've seen many different style of gravity bongs and the only style that I could see being more harmful than a bong would be the kind that involve forcing smoke into your lungs, not just inhaling. For example, cutting the bottom off of a 5 gal water jug and putting it into a bucket of water then forcing all that smoke into your lungs by pushing the jug down into the bucket would, in my opinion, have a much higher likely hood of causing lung damage than sucking smoke out of a bong. I think it has less to do with the heat and harmful things inside the smoke and more to do with the added pressure on your lungs. But like others said, smoke from a pipe or bong is still harmful and I don't see the difference as being significant, however the potential for harm is definitely greater when you are forcing smoke into your lungs.
 
Druidus said:
I'm sorry, though, I am quite tired. I'm trying to make myself clear, I hope I'm doing it. I'm also just thinking about this theoretically right now, so don't think I'm being offensive.
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Not at all, just because you do not agree with me does not make you offensive, haha.

I think this kinda sums it up pretty well:

TetraHydroCan said:
I don't understand where your trying to get at OP, it seems very irrelevant since smoke in general damages the lung.
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I don't think we have any evidence to show either way. The best studies I've seen on different methods mostly measured thc and cannabinoid intake measurements. Haven't looked in a good while, though
 
Chainer said:
I don't think we have any evidence to show either way. The best studies I've seen on different methods mostly measured thc and cannabinoid intake measurements. Haven't looked in a good while, though
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I know the carcinogens in cannabis smoke is cancelled out by thc. Which is the reason why cannabis smokers don't get lung cancer, well so far that we know of that is :D The fact is any sort of smoke obstructs our airways causing damage to the lungs
 
Sorry, I should have clarified, I meant studies on " lung damaged caused by cannabis smoke due to heat, by method". I of course know the properties of cannabis smoke, and the fact that all smoke contains cancerous carbons :)
 
I guess I didn't really explain myself well; and I may have been vague (and likely outright mistaken ;) ). What about the pressure used in a grav. bong? As someone in this thread said, you can introduce a force that pushes the smoke into your lungs, in pressurized and concentrated form. Pressure, perhaps, enough to cross the threshold of extra damage (beyond just what you'd get by smoking it without the introduction of pressure).

If I do it right, I smoke less hits with a gravity bong than a normal bong/pipe, yet each hit hurts probably twice-to-thrice as much and I feel discomfort for much longer. I guess I'm just looking for why that is, and I can only assume it's the pressure.

A better metaphor than the one I used (balloons) would be whipped cream dispensers. You're meant to put cream in, and then one 8 gram capsule of nitrous oxide. However, for getting nicely high, you'd need four to six times that amount. So you can put extra capsules into the canister, and over-pressurize it by a great deal. Do it enough times, and the pressure will actually seriously damage the internal workings of the dispenser, and it will no longer function. I know this isn't the best description, but could such over-pressurization of smoke entering our lungs (forcibly pushed into the lungs) cause more/different damage than systems that do not involve such pressure/force to aid you in inhalation.

Probably doesn't matter, but I'm curious. If I let it go that the extra heat and the extra concentration of smoke per hit are not health concerns (don't cause additional damage), then is it possible the pressure does? I just don't see how something can hurt that much more and not be causing extra injury.
 
haha no the pressure from a g bong will not cause damage, unless you've got some weak, crumbly lungs. They expand quite well and rapidly. Think of your example - you can shoot a metric fuckton of nitrious down your throat into your lungs way harder, faster, and with more content using a soda maker.
 
^Definitely

Your lungs have the capacity to expand beyond the confines of your body, so I think the reason it hurts to smoke gravity bongs is because you're not used to filling your lungs up that much with anything. When gravitizing you are shoving mass amounts of smoke into your lungs withing seconds, which is unusual for your body but totally doable. Practicing filling your lungs up as much as you can just with air more often might help your lungs get used to the practice and hurt less. Normal breathing is very shallow.
 
Smoke is smoke its just more concentrated in a gravity bong. I know from experience they hurt like a bitch and hit hard. I think other than the usual damage like tar ur fine. It might lower ur lung capacity if u take big hits from it though.
 
Ehhh I think so yes. This is just from personal experience. I used to use gravity bongs as my main mode of smoking for a couple of years. i'd usually hit that thing about 5 times a day. one day it seems my lungs reached their peak of abuse and just gave out on me. now whenever i smoke out of even a bong i have a hard time breathing for the rest of the day. i can only hit pipes and i can't smoke both weed and cigarettes in the same session or else the cigarettes will have the same effect. i also think its possible that i developed an allergy to weed which would also make sense
 
^ I was going to suggest allergy, not lung damage. If small amounts of smoke are still doing it, it would not be indicative of lung expansion issues.
 
I'd get a good vaporizer if I were you. I've heard of people getting a collapsed lung from smoking herb out of bongs but they smoked daily or smoked A LOT of herb for decades, and in some cases smoked tobacco as well, or were more prone to it since they were thin men.

Also, I have heard that dabbing oils/wax, etc. is really bad for your lungs, and worse than smoking out of a bong or gravity bong.
 
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PriestTheyCalledHim said:
I'd get a good vaporizer if I were you. I've heard of people getting a collapsed lung from smoking herb out of bongs but they smoked daily or smoked A LOT of herb for decades, and in some cases smoked tobacco as well, or were more prone to it since they were thin men.
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I have a buddy who two years ago (He is only 22 now) collapsed a lung while coughing after a large water bong toke. He said he coughed and it felt like something snapped inside his lung but really didnt hurt too bad. He went outside to have a cigarette when he realized he was in shock and the pain started kicking in. There could be many variables in relation to this, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

I don't think I will ever use a gravity bong or 'bucket' as us Canadians call it ever again. I remember I used to have a few people over and I would plug my sink and we would do GB hit's for 15-20 minutes and fill my washroom with smoke. When I think back on it, it makes me want to vomit! Not one of those tokes was enjoyable. They were all painful and often tasted like ass. We always struggled but always did it. It did get us wasted but at what cost?

Another device that should have never made its way past the drawing board is the 'parachute' which is just a 2l bottle with the bottom cut off and a sealed plastic bag taped over the opening. a socket piece with a screen is put in the mouth hole of the bottle and you pull the bag out slowly while applying flame, then you reef the bag inward into the bottle. It is terrible.
 
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