Are Bongs Better for Your Lungs? Here’s What Science Says!
Cannabis consumption reaches over 238 million people worldwide, 135 countries, and is rising by the day. Though cannabis is controversial for some, facts are facts. Hundreds of millions of people must have their reasons.
It’s getting harder to argue the benefits of weed. Marijuana madness stems from its ever-evolving methods of ingestion. The more accessible weed becomes, the more creative ways people find to take it.
Weed can be used topically, sublingually, inhaled, or eaten. While having options serves the masses, without facts, they pose uncertainty.
If you’ve wondered if smoking from a bong’s better for your lungs, it’s time for the truth. Read on to see if it’s bye-bye-bong time or if bongs are truly best.
Smoking From a Bong
Usually, history supports lasting patterns. Though marijuana’s boomed in the last decade, it’s been around for centuries.
Bong smoking—also referred to as water pipes or bubblers—dates back 2,400 years. Because of that, it’s easy to call weed good. At the same time, history also backed cigarette smoking.
Here’s the truth.
Are Bongs the Best Way to Smoke?
It’s true that bongs feel better than joints due to their water filtration process. They cool the water before inhalation, making it a softer hit for your lungs. Instead of taking smaller joint hits to titrate the heat’s impact, bongs allow you to take bigger hits with less impact.
While it feels better to use bongs, the question remains, Are bongs better for your lungs? The truth requires an in-depth breakdown of the smoking process.
Smoke Versus Smoke
In general, science won’t back smoking. The body knows smoke regardless of what you’re smoking. Since science says smoking’s bad for the body, the question becomes, Does how you smoke impact the body differently?
Here’s what to consider.
Bong Shape
Bongs are more diverse than joints. Since blunts are packed like cigarettes, they hit the lungs the same—immediately and in the back of the throat.
Bongs have different shapes and sizes to impact the water filtration process. While two blunts work the same, no two bongs do. Choosing from straight-tubed, beaker-shaped, round-based, or multi-chamber bongs helps control your weed intake.
Instead of conforming to a hard-hitting joint, your bong conforms to you—whether you’re a beginner or a master wake-and-baker.
Bong Material
An instrument’s healthy contents don’t matter if the material’s made with chemicals. Being mindful about plastic, bamboo, ceramic, and metal bongs gives insight into what you’re really smoking.
A bong uses water as a buffer to soften smoking’s impact. But if your bong’s made of plastic, the efforts will be wasted—you’ll also have BPA and phthalates to worry about.
Quality weed requires a quality bong. Once you have one, you can nix worrying about inhaling ash and lighter particles like joint-smokers do.
Smoking from a bong means eliminating the most health-concerning factors to ensure a happy high.
The Bong Experience
A healthy high involves many factors—the weed, the ingestion method, and the environment. Finding if bongs are best for you means identifying when, with whom, and where you’re smoking first.
Bong or No Bong
One of the benefits of smoking out of a bong is that they’re good for solo or social scenes. They can be used periodically and don’t have you stopping everything to light up. If you’re at a gathering, you can use it as a party accessory—as part of the party, not the center of it.
Tackling a joint by yourself is a tall order—once it’s lit, it won’t stop for anyone.
Since bongs aren’t as portable as joints, they’re best used inside. Learning about your smoking habits helps know if it’s best for you to smoke a bong.
Bong Maintenance
Keeping the bongwater clear makes sure your lungs feel clear too. No one wants to inhale anything with dirty water.
Some prefer cleaning bongs versus rolling their own flower and paper. Your maintenance preferences can help you choose.
Bong Beauty
Beyond a bong’s construction, they’re artsy, fun, and serve an aesthetic purpose. While it’s easy to deem those things unimportant, the smoking experience starts with the energy behind the ingestion method.
Having a good high involves the intention behind it. Feeling safe and comfortable can be accessed immediately through a friendly and fun bong design.
Making the Best of Bong Life
It’s a big ask for science to back smoking even with weed—and even if history supports it. That said, weighing your pros and cons is the name of the game. At the end of the day, knowing your preferences might mean trying them both—safely.
Ask yourself which feels better.
Mechanics of Joints
- Grind the flower
- Fill the rolling papers
- Roll it well
- Light it
- Be mindful of the lighter particles, tar, and direct heat to the lungs
- Monitor how quickly it burns out
- Take smaller hits more frequently
- Potentially rush your smoking process
Mechanics of Bongs
- Grind the flower
- Fill the bong with water
- Fill the bong bowl with flower
- Take bigger hits less frequently
- Clean the bongwater often
- Have a cooler, softer experience
- Be mindful of the bong materials to know what you’re inhaling
Both methods require maintenance but your choice makes it worth it. Lungs thank bong smokers more, but science won’t thank either. Smoking smart and staying safe creates a positive weed relationship.
Bring on the Bong
Just as varying weed strains are still weed, different methods of smoking are still smoking. Upon knowing science’s stance, it’s up to you to see what your lungs prefer.
As weed spikes in popularity, it’s myriad ingestion methods remain hot topics of conversation. Most would say, yes, smoking from a bong is better than blunts since it feels better. And while some would argue that what feels better is better, science has another opinion.
As is always true, however, only you know what’s best for you. Ask your lungs how they feel.
For more health and wellness conversations, check out our latest blog posts!
