Pubdate: Thu, 28 Mar 2013
Source: Westword (Denver, CO)
Column: Ask a Stoner
Copyright: 2013 Village Voice Media
Contact: http://www.westword.com/feedback/EmailAnEmployee?department=letters
Website: http://www.westword.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1616
Author: William Breathes

WHY DO BUBBLERS CREATE A STRONGER HIGH THAN PIPES?

Dear Stoner: I went to my friend's house who is growing now and asked 
to see his plants. He said they were "sleeping," and I wasn't allowed 
in the room. Has he just smoked so much that he thinks his plants sleep?

Non Toker

Dear NT: Marijuana relies on the sunlight to tell it when to bloom 
into a flower from a vegetative state. More precisely: Most varieties 
of cannabis crave their time in darkness - and in nature, that's 
usually in the fall as the sun starts dipping down into the southern 
sky. But how long a plant needs to flower depends on where its 
genetics are rooted. Sativas originally bred and grown in the tropics 
near the equator - where the change in daylight is minimal from 
winter to summer - take longer to flower, some as long as sixteen to 
eighteen weeks under artificial lights timed to twelve hours of 
darkness each day. In more northern and southern latitudes, that 
change is drastic. In Colorado, we get just less than nine and a half 
hours of daylight by the time the winter solstice rolls around; 
plants - mostly indicas - have evolved to flower much quicker.

So when your friend tells you his girls are sleeping, let them have 
their beauty rest. You'll appreciate it in a few weeks, when they're 
ready for the Ball (jar).

Dear Stoner: Why does my bubbler get me more stoned than a regular pipe?

Phil D. Bong

Dear PDB: Believe it or not, along with the tars and other chemicals 
the water might be absorbing, it's also removing some of the THC and 
other cannabinoids from your hit. In fact, you're better off smoking 
a sticky, fat joint. A NORML study conducted a dozen or so years ago 
in California showed that bongs actually have higher tar-to-THC 
ratios in their smoke than even a joint does. A joint produced about 
thirteen parts of tar for every one part THC; bongs had about 30 
percent higher tar-to-THC ratios. And while the study was conducted 
using some weak-ass, government-supplied weed with a THC content of 
about 2.3 percent, that doesn't mean it wouldn't apply to today's 
high-powered, 20-plus percent super herb available in medical shops.

The reason you're getting so stoned is because of the chimney's worth 
of smoke you just slammed into your pulmonary vein. Some would say 
that's more efficient, others would say it's just nuts. If you're 
really concerned about the dangers of combustion, the best idea would 
be to join the 21st century, get a vaporizer and forget about burning 
your weed altogether.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom