NEWS: Bongs set for national ban

[ayjay]

Bongs have been illegal to sell in NSW for over a decade haven't they? But we all know we can go to the tobacconist at **edited - no sources please** and get one when the coast is clear. That bloke was an absolute crack up - he would pretend that he could barely speak english most of the time, but if you went in and asked for a bong, he would wait until no other customers were in the shop, then fling open the special cupboard and say (in perfect strine) "Right - which one do you want?"

I guess if a ban comes in elsewhere we can expect the same kind of action...

...I notice no-one on this thread has name-checked the mighty blue heeler bong from geelong - the one with a handled pot and a vegemite jar inside it as a second chamber - now that's a lovely piece of craftmanship

 

[lil angel15]

Bong ban planned
Karen Collier and AAP
May 16, 2007 05:33pm

THE Federal Government has stepped up a bid to ban bongs for smoking marijuana.

Investigations will be held into banning imports and restricting the sale, display and advertising of products made for cannabis use.

A report will be released late this year.

Some have slammed the study as a smokescreen for a reluctance to force tobacco companies to disclose their ingredients.

Canberra was accused of airing the potential bong ban as a diversion tactic at today's Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy meeting in Adelaide.

The states want the Federal Government to ensure disclosure of ingredients on tobacco products, but received only an assurance of a feasibility study into the idea.

The ban-bongs debate follows Victoria's prohibition on pipes used to smoke the deadly drug ice.

Victorian Mental Health Minister Lisa Neville said a ban on cannabis equipment was complex because unlike ice pipes, some products were also used to smoke legal tobacco.

Ms Neville also said it would be pointless outlawing equipment without stopping imports.

Federal Ageing Minister Christopher Pyne said marijuana dangers could not be under-estimated.

"Increasingly, research has shown that there is a link between cannabis and debilitating mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia.

"Cannabis is a dangerous, harmful drug and changing the public perception that it is a less harmful drug is crucial.

"A comprehensive ban on the sale of cannabis paraphernalia of this type would go along way to achieving that goal."

Bongs can usually be found for sale in tobacco shops and sometimes even service stations.

Ms Neville said the dangers of marijuana, which saw the second biggest number of people seeking rehab treatment after alcohol, were not being ignored.

A major public awareness project outlining the harmful effects of marijuana and methamphetamines will be launched in Victoria in coming months.

It will be aimed at 15 to 24-year-olds.

NSW Health Minister Reba Meagher said the ban-the-bong bid was a diversion.

"It's really designed to disguise the fact they have refused to embrace the call from the states to require tobacco companies to release the list of products that go into making cigarettes, it's designed to takeaway attention from that," Ms Meagher said.

Mr Pyne said disclosing ingredients of cigarette contents presented potential problems.

"The Commonwealth has a preference for the listing of ingredients on tobacco products as long as it is feasible to do so," Mr Pyne said.

"And as long as it doesn't leave open the possibility of legal liability or undermine a very strong message that every cigarette does you damage - we'd hate to have people saying they have had a look at the ingredients and these cigarettes are better for them than other kinds of cigarettes.

"Our preference is to provide consumers with as much information as possible."

Herald Sun

 

[lil angel15]

Victorian Liberals push to ban bongs
Thursday May 24 13:57 AEST

Bongs would be banned under a Victorian Liberal government in an effort to crack down on marijuana use, opposition mental health spokeswoman Mary Wooldridge says.

Ms Wooldridge criticised the state government for not agreeing to a ban, which has been called for by the federal government.

Victoria is resisting the move because bongs are used by some people to legally smoke tobacco, a spokesman for Mental Health Minister Lisa Neville said.

Ms Wooldridge said the government was hypocritical not to ban bongs, given it had banned pipes used for smoking the drug ice.

She said marijuana caused immense harm.

"Cannabis is substantially the most widely used illicit drug in Victoria and the consequences of its use are severe," Ms Wooldridge said.

"It deserves to be treated with the seriousness of other illicit drugs such as ice and cocaine."

Ms Wooldridge said cannabis use was associated with tripling the incidence of psychosis and criticised the government's stance on bongs.

"Labor holds the backward view that cannabis is just a soft drug," she said.

A Liberal government would ban the sale of bongs as a symbolic measure and for public health reasons, she said.

The federal government used the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy meeting in Adelaide earlier this month to push its campaign to ban bongs.

It will investigate banning the sale, importation and advertising of bongs and products made for cannabis use.

The supply of ice pipes was permanently banned in Victoria in January 2004 because they were likely to cause death or serious injury to the body or health of users, either directly or indirectly.

Further comment was being sought from Ms Neville.

NineMSN

 

[lil angel15]

NEWS: The Age - 24/5/07 'New laws ban sale of ice pipes in Qld'

New laws ban sale of ice pipes in Qld
May 24, 2007 - 7:39PM

The Queensland government on Thursday passed legislation banning the sale and supply of ice pipes.

State Parliament passed the Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007 to introduce penalties of up to $10,500 for shops that sell pipes used for smoking the dangerous drug.

"The display and sale of these pipes only feeds a perception that smoking methamphetamines is an acceptable and regular activity," state Health Minister Stephen Robertson said.

"This ban will go a long way in changing this view and diminish the normalisation of ice use in our community."

The new amendments also strengthen the existing ban on bongs by banning the sale or supply of individual bong parts.

The Age

 

[Coolio]

I feel sorry for you poor folks, you live in a country with about as much freedom as the former USSR.

 

[phase_dancer]

Next thing we'll see will be glass blowing/ styling kits

Contents: 1 x primus touch and an assortment of interesting preformed glass tubes.

As the art is difficult to master, I'm sure there'd be additional glass peices available and I'd bet the touch would find other uses once the blowing had been done

Really, as we've seen before with bongs, restrictions like this do nothing to curb use. Drug users if nothing else are resourceful.


What it does do is take away a potential form of monitoring use. But hey, sweeping the issue under the carpet is the job of any government these days isn't it?

 

[lil angel15]

Bong ban delays defended

Tasmania Police are defending the time they're taking to enforce a ban on drug paraphrenalia.

The state opposition is concerned about a three week moratorium before the ban comes into effect.

The Liberal Party says the moratorium before enforcing the ban on paraphernalia such as bongs and ice-pipes, is giving retailers a chance to have a fire sale.

But the claim is disputed by both the Police Minister, David Llewellyn and the police commissioner Richard McCreadie.

They have told budget destimates hearings today that the moratorium is in place to give retailers adequate time to dispose of any stock.

They told the hearing it is still illegal to sell the paraphernalia.

The ban is due to come into effect in a fortnight.

ABC Online

 

[juice_soldier]

And so begins a new era for the 'spring valley bong'.. in my days of smoking weed, that be my fav type of bong..

 

[Special-T.B.K]

It's an art bro The reason I prefer home made bongs is because give me a Gatorade bottle (number 1 bottle, Mizone second), a piece of hose and lighter and I'll create something that will smoke 10x better then a store bought glass bong in 30 seconds.

Not joking at all, if they weren't better why would I use them. I got 4 store bought bongs, 2 glass and ceramic and a plastic... all high quality.

Though my Gatorade owns them anyday of the week.

600mL Powerade all the way for me, I can make them airtight 99.9% if not 100% of the time these days, early days I'd fuck the odd one up. Every now n then the hole opens up when you insert the downy but very rarely, as long as the plastic is molten enough. They're great bottles, they never collapse no matter what size the cone or stem or Lungs, Gatorades are awesum too, but I feel the powerade is a more practical shape and gives you perfect purchase of your shotty-hole.

Or I like my mates glass bottle bilge (homemade- juice like bottle. We made it with with glass drills). Though myself in my domain- I use a Tobacconists style stem and cone piece. The old garden hose got me sick many moons ago. Although my mates glass bong we use a Hose, cuz grommits are sh!t after a cpl months or a cpl stem removals...

SpecTBK

 

[Splatt]

so the new laws would outlaw cone pieces and stems right?

 

[hyroller]

such an amusing thread... maryjane is the only illicit i won't touch (stoner parent, says it all). but my question is, what would they do with all the damn bongs? every tobacco/alternative joint you walk into has twenty dozen different kinds. some of them are almost works of art.

 

[Immortal Teknique]

Its funny to think that the Government has this idea that banning paraphernalia will do anything to stop people smoking.

Dickheads....

 

[hyroller]

Its funny to think that the Government has this idea that banning paraphernalia will do anything to stop people smoking.

Dickheads....

tell me about it. finding a crackie is like panning for gold in the fucking yarra nowadays. i need a new one and dont fancy the prospect of scouring every dodgy asian tobacconist in melbourne to find one... damn working 6 days a week in the city. doesnt make me any less determined though.

 

[Splatt]

There's the hose.. which I think isn't very good at all.... I swear I got some horrible lung infections from smoking with garden hoses that lasted weeks (although I was an every day smoker, so my immune system wasn't the greatest).. but cone pieces will become a black market product, because if people use the foil or coke can method, people are going to have some serious health issues.

I was talking to a public corner-Tobacconist and all their on show items (bongs, crack pipes, pipes etc.. and all advertised as half price.. I think he was the owner and not impressed when I'm asking if we would do 2 for 1 deals on crack pipes.. I don't even smoke anything using them, just did it because I was wondering how eager they are to get rid of them before the Ban. Saying end of June isn't it? He said "Few more weeks than that should be alright, they'll sell, what more discounts do you want, we're already basically losing money." Lol. Bet we'll see a lot of funky items appear online, and ebay claiming to be something other than a glass device to smoke meth/crack/whatever. Wonder what they will come up with next.

 

[StolenBrew]

what are they going to ban next? rolling papers?

 

[chopped_chimp]

^Only the blue ones.

 

[Splatt]

Appareently tobacconists can still sell cones and stems in Queensland. And a tobacconist in North NSW also sold them. You still see bongs and crackies around... think of all those shops basically dedicated to selling bongs.. they're out of business now. Maybe they will make some D.I.Y bong kit where you have to do modifications and work, not just put it together.

 

[Rated E]

What the hell are we supposed to do about cone pieces?

 

[chopped_chimp]

Just use an apple.

 

[peaked]

So is this in action now? AFAIK all the bong stores in SA are still open. If it really is coming into action here then the best option for a regular smoker like me would be to stock up now on the cones and stems. A brass piece should last forever anyway, but I've got a bad habit of breaking glass pieces. Not being able to replace them will be the worst.

I wonder how tight customs would be on people ordering bongs into the country? I'd imagine some of the ones on the internet could easily be claimed to be glass artwork when they are dismantled, and some even specifically are made to appear like something else, so I imagine customs would have a hell of a time detecting them all.