The once irrevocable position of the bong within the stoner community has taken some bumps in recent years, with the rise of dabbing, vaping, and a plethora of legalized weed across a growing number of states (11 plus Washington D.C.) has led to dispensaries selling cheap, equipment-free, pre-rolls that are considerably frugal at times; for example, I just got back from a dispensary in Oregon where 2, 1-gram .pre-rolls cost $5, the bud was good, not great, I digress. Once at the cornerstone of weed tech, the bong has seen its days as the zenith of smoking apparatus go by the wayside, surpassed by newer more potent forms of smoking that combine their potent delivery systems with high tech wizardry. Despite this bongs remain beloved by many, even in the ever weed/weed apparel market.
Despite the growing proliferation of ways to smoke, consume, and for lack of a better word “use” cannabis, the bong remains along with the joint, the most often inextricably linked consumption method of marijuana. From music and movies to books and magazines, the bong has received an almost cult-like status as a symbol of a sub-culture of a bygone era that is personified by the likes of Cheech and Chong, and other similar stoner archetypes, who are frequently seen, mention, or discuss marijuana and their ever-important bongs.
Trying to navigate the almost Un-ending line of marijuana-related products available today can leave one feeling overwhelmed, and ill-informed the same way that I assume grandparents feel around their grandchildren and the contemporary technology of the time ……products than likely doing their best to try and grasp the overall spread of new wave methods and forms of including: seemingly every flavor and type edible, tincture’s, moon rocks, joints and blunts coated in kief, and of course the hype-driven thirst for any CBD related products. It seems to this writer that due to all the newfound hype surrounding these new devices and products, the bong has become old faithful, a reliable piece of equipment that provides a steady and well-tested experience, enjoyed by several generations of users. This may be a bit of a reach but I’m going with it, one could make the comparison between bongs and the traditional book; both are devices used by owners to provide a means of consumption albeit consumption of two very different products. As time has gone on competition has ravaged the traditional book, from television and radio to more closely related products including e-books, digital subscriptions, and a variety of others, yet the book retains a hollowed space within the halls of mankind’s most important mediums for displaying information. The bong or water pipe has similarly been used by mankind to distill and extract information for nearly all of antiquity. Like a good book, a good bong is there to comfort, teach, and inspire… plus have you tried decorating a vape pen? Or passed around a tincture droplet? It’s just not the same, as it can be with so many other seemingly meaningless, replaceable items, it is not the item itself that it is important but rather the memories associated with said item. Bongs, like them or not have earned a place in our cultural milieu.
