Drug paraphernalia

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"Drug paraphernalia" is a term to denote any equipment, product or accessory that is intended or modified for making, using or concealing drugs, typically for recreational purposes. Drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine are related to a wide range of paraphernalia.

Contents

Product types

Paraphernalia generally fall into two categories: user-specific products and dealer-specific products.

User-specific

User-specific products include glass hashish pipes, crack cocaine pipes, smoking masks, hashish bongs, cocaine freebase kits, syringes, and roach clips for holding the end of a marijuana joint. Some stores sell items for growing hydroponic marijuana, such as guidebooks, fertilizer, and fluorescent grow-lights. The term "paraphernalia" also refers to items such as hollowed-out cosmetic cases or fake pagers when used to conceal illegal drugs, or products purported to cleanse an individual's system of drug residues to increase the chance of passing a urine analysis drug test.

Improvised

Aluminum foil
Chasing the dragon, aka foily Chasing.jpg
Chasing the dragon, aka foily

"Chasing the dragon" (CTD) (traditional Chinese :追龍; simplified Chinese :追龙; pinyin :zhuī lóng; Jyutping :zeoi1 lung4), or "foily" in Australian English, [1] refers to inhaling the vapor of a powdered psychoactive drug off a heated sheet of aluminium foil. The moving vapor is chased after with a tube (often rolled foil) through which the user inhales. [2] The "chasing" occurs as the user gingerly keeps the liquid moving in order to keep it from overheating and burning up too quickly, on a heat conducting material such as aluminium foil.

Gravity bong
Diagram of bucket bong in operation Bucket bong diagram.jpg
Diagram of bucket bong in operation

A gravity bong, also known as a GB, bucket bong, grav, geeb, gibby, yoin, or ghetto bong, is a method of consuming smokable substances such as cannabis. The term describes both a bucket bong and a waterfall bong, since both use air pressure and water to draw smoke. A lung uses similar equipment but instead of water draws the smoke by removing a compacted plastic bag or similar from the chamber.

The bucket bong is made out of two containers, with the larger, open top container filled with water. The smaller has an attached bowl and open bottom, and the smaller is placed into the larger. Once the bowl is lit, the operator must move the small container up, causing a pressure difference. Smoke slowly fills the small jar until the user removes the bowl and inhales the contents. A waterfall bong is made up of only one container. The container must have a bowl and a small hole near the base so the water can drain easily. As the water flows out of the container, air is forced through the bowl and causes the substance to burn and accumulate smoke in the bong.

Toilet paper

This method is used among many pharmaceuticals that are commonly crushed for recreational use. The toilet paper method must use single ply toilet paper or one must separate the layers of double ply. Tissues are also a common go to for this method of drug ingestion. Another common paper used is rolling paper for smoking herbal substances or tobacco. Rice or starch papers known as oblaat in Japan is a method that is becoming more popular. Opioids, amphetamines, benzodiazepines and other narcotics are commonly parachuted. This method's purpose is recreational because the drugs become absorbed all at once when the paper unravels in one's stomach.

Professional

Bong
Bongs are an example of user-specific paraphernalia, in this case for the use of cannabis. Bong.jpg
Bongs are an example of user-specific paraphernalia, in this case for the use of cannabis.

A bong (also known as a water pipe) is a filtration device generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco, or other herbal substances. [3] In the bong shown in the photo, the smoke flows from the lower port on the left to the upper port on the right.

In construction and function, a bong is similar to a hookah, except smaller and especially more portable. A bong may be constructed from any air- and water-tight vessel by adding a bowl and stem apparatus (or slide) [4] which guides air downward to below water level whence it bubbles upward ("bubbler") during use. To get fresh air into the bong and harvest the last remaining smoke, a hole known as the "carburetor", "carb", "choke", "bink", "rush", "shotty", "kick hole", or simply "hole", somewhere on the lower part of the bong above water level, is first kept covered during the smoking process, then opened to allow the smoke to be drawn into the respiratory system. On bongs without such a hole, the bowl and/or the stem are removed to allow air from the hole that holds the stem.

Bongs have been in use by the Hmong in Laos and Thailand, as well all over Africa, for centuries. [5] One of the earliest recorded uses of the word in the West is in the McFarland Thai-English Dictionary, published in 1944, which describes one of the meanings of bong in the Thai language as, "a bamboo waterpipe for smoking kancha, tree, hashish, or the hemp-plant". A January 1971 issue of the Marijuana Review also used the term.

Bulb syringe
This enema bulb syringe features a bulb-shaped reservoir and a nozzle for delivering small amounts of fluid directly into the rectum. Rectal bulb syringe.jpg
This enema bulb syringe features a bulb-shaped reservoir and a nozzle for delivering small amounts of fluid directly into the rectum.
Cocaine spoon
Chinese snuff bottle stopper with a snuff spoon (also known as a cocaine spoon) Stopper, snuff bottle (AM 687402-2).jpg
Chinese snuff bottle stopper with a snuff spoon (also known as a cocaine spoon)

A snuff spoon is a tiny spoon used for nasal insufflation of powdered substances. In the ancient time the spoons were used to ingest psychotropic substances, [6] in the 18th century − tobacco, [7] in the 20th century − cocaine (the spoon is thus also known as a cocaine spoon or coke spoon). Some local statutes in the US treat this spoon as drug paraphernalia, defining it as a spoon that is too small and thus "unsuited for the typical, lawful uses of a spoon". [8]

Glass blades
Glass blades Glassblades.jpg
Glass blades

Spots (also known as spotting, knifers, knife hits, knife tokes, dots, hot knives, kitchen trackingblades, or bladers) refers to a method of smoking cannabis. [9] Small pieces of cannabis are rolled (or simply torn from a larger bud) to form the spot.

The practice originated in the 1970s when drops or dabs of hashish oil were smoked (three dabs of hash oil were considered to be a good standard dose). Generally, the tips of two knife blades are heated, the spot or drop of hash oil, is compressed between the two blades, and the subsequent smoke is inhaled through the nose or mouth.

Another means that is gaining popularity is specially made glass presses heated with a propane or butane torch. [10] In order to facilitate this process, a spottle (also referred to as a bowser, hooter or toker) or hitter is often, but not always, used to funnel the smoke and maximize the amount inhaled. A spottle is generally made from a funnel or cone-shaped container, such as the top (or neck) of a plastic or glass bottle or a gallon of milk/water. [11] [ full citation needed ] [12]

Injection equipment
A clandestine kit containing materials to inject drugs, a bottle of a type of lean, promethazine, an antiemetic, and unidentified pills Clandinjectkit.JPG
A clandestine kit containing materials to inject drugs, a bottle of a type of lean, promethazine, an antiemetic, and unidentified pills

A wide variety of drugs are injected, often opioids: these may include legally prescribed medicines and medication such as morphine, as well as stronger compounds often favored in recreational drug use, which are often illegal. Although there are various methods of taking drugs, injection is favoured by some people as the full effects of the drug are experienced very quickly, typically in five to ten seconds. It also bypasses first-pass metabolism in the liver, resulting in higher bioavailability and efficiency for many drugs (such as morphine or diacetylmorphine/heroin; roughly two-thirds of which is destroyed in the liver when consumed orally) than oral ingestion would. The effect is that the person gets a stronger (yet shorter-acting) effect from the same amount of the drug. Drug injection is therefore often related to substance dependence.

Nasal spray bottle
Actuation of a nasal-spray bottle, used to deliver medication via the nostrils Action photo of nasal spray on a black background.jpg
Actuation of a nasal-spray bottle, used to deliver medication via the nostrils

Substances with good water solubility can be dissolved in water and administered using nasal spray bottles. This method allows for more precise dosing compared to snorting powder directly. To prepare a nasal spray solution, the drug powder is first dissolved in a small amount of water, then transferred to a nasal spray bottle filled with additional water to reach the desired concentration.

Nitrous oxide equipment
Food grade N
2O charger (bottom right), cracker (top right) and balloon NOS Cracker With Balloon And Charger.jpg
Food grade N
2
O
charger (bottom right), cracker (top right) and balloon
Snuff bullets
Two snuff bullets for snorting drugs in powder form Two snuff bullets for snorting drugs in powder form.jpg
Two snuff bullets for snorting drugs in powder form
Spoon
For cocaine (in a plastic bag at bottom) to be converted to crack, several supplies are needed. Pictured here are baking soda, a commonly used base in making crack, a metal spoon, a tealight, and a cigarette lighter. The spoon is held over the heat source to "cook" the cocaine into crack. Crack Ingredients.JPG
For cocaine (in a plastic bag at bottom) to be converted to crack, several supplies are needed. Pictured here are baking soda, a commonly used base in making crack, a metal spoon, a tealight, and a cigarette lighter. The spoon is held over the heat source to "cook" the cocaine into crack.

Dealer-specific

Dealer-specific products are used by drug sellers or traffickers for preparing drugs for distribution. Items such as digital scales, vials, and small zipper storage bags that can be used to package crack, heroin, or marijuana fall into this category.

Contamination

Banknotes frequently changes hands, increasing the risk of exposure to viruses from past users. Cocaine lines 2.jpg
Banknotes frequently changes hands, increasing the risk of exposure to viruses from past users.

Sharing snorting equipment (straws, banknotes, bullets, etc) has been linked to the transmission of hepatitis C. (Bonkovsky and Mehta) In one study, the University of Tennessee Medical Center researches warned that other blood-borne diseases such as HIV, the AIDS-causing virus, could be transmitted as well. [13]

Bongs that are cleaned regularly eliminates yeast, fungi, bacteria and pathogens that can cause several symptoms that vary from allergy to lung infection. [14] [15] [16]

Re-used uncleaned vapes, and vape sharing, may cause bacterial pneumonia, [17] [18] fungal pneumonia, [19] and viral pneumonia. [17]

A collection of safe drug use supplies commonly used to inject heroin, fentanyl, or other illicit opioids Assortment of drug paraphernalia.jpg
A collection of safe drug use supplies commonly used to inject heroin, fentanyl, or other illicit opioids

Legality

United States

In the US, enterprising individuals would sell items openly in the street, until anti-paraphernalia laws in the 1980s eventually ended the practice. With the growth of the Internet, drug paraphernalia sellers have greatly expanded their sales to a worldwide market.

According to the Federal Drug Paraphernalia Statute, 21 USC 863, which is part of the Controlled Substances Act, in the US it is illegal to sell, transport through the mail, transport across state lines, import, or export drug paraphernalia as defined. Possession is usually illegal under State law. The law gives specific guidance on determining what constitutes drug paraphernalia. Many states have also enacted their own laws prohibiting drug paraphernalia. In the 1982 case Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. , the US Supreme Court found a municipal ordinance requiring licensing for paraphernalia sales to have sufficiently distinguished marketing for illegal use to be constitutional. Government crackdowns have resulted in the arrest of sellers of recreational drug paraphernalia, such as actor Tommy Chong, who spent time in prison in 2003 for having his name used on bongs for sale via the internet. [20]

The American drug paraphernalia laws can also apply to many items that have more legitimate uses than illegal drugs. Small mirrors and other glass products (such as Pyrex test tubes and "glass crack pipes"), lighters, rolled up currency, razor blades, aluminium/tin foil, credit cards, and spoons have all been used to prosecute people under paraphernalia laws, whether or not they contain residue of illegal drugs. While United States federal statute defines paraphernalia with the concept of primary use, in practice, this can be interpreted to be what the individual was currently primarily using the item for, allowing for common items to be treated as paraphernalia only in cases where more clear evidence allows such determination of primary use.[ citation needed ]

Head shops are very much alive and well in the US, however. Generally, though, they have signs near presumable paraphernalia saying "For tobacco use only" or "Not for use with illicit drugs." Many also ban customers for referencing the use of illegal drugs when buying items. Similar policies are used in online head shops, where customers are often made to verify detailed disclaimers of their non-use of illegal substances before buying items. [21]

United Kingdom

In the UK, while cannabis is illegal, owning drug paraphernalia is not illegal, but under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, the individual may be committing a criminal offense if the items contain traces of drugs.

Under Section 9A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, It is a criminal offense "to supply or offer to supply an object for providing or preparing a controlled drug if a person believes that the article will be used in circumstances where the administration is unlawful. [22] If convicted in a magistrates' court, the penalty is a maximum of six months in prison and/or a £5,000 fine.

Sweden

In Sweden, pharmacies can only sell syringes and hypodermic needles to people with a doctor's prescription for medical use. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recreational drug use</span> Use of drugs with the primary intention to alter the state of consciousness

Recreational drug use is the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness, either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime. When a psychoactive drug enters the user's body, it induces an intoxicating effect. Recreational drugs are commonly divided into three categories: depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bong</span> Device used for smoking tobacco, cannabis, or other herbs

A bong is a filtration device generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco, or other herbal substances. In the bong shown in the photo, the smoke flows from the lower port on the left to the upper port on the right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drug prohibition</span> History, effects and enforcement of the prohibition of drugs

The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis edible</span> Food item containing cannabis extract or cannabinoids

A cannabis edible, also known as a cannabis-infused food or simply an edible, is a food item that contains decarboxylated cannabinoids from cannabis extract as an active ingredient. Although edible may refer to either a food or a drink, a cannabis-infused drink may be referred to more specifically as a liquid edible or drinkable. Edibles are a way to consume cannabis. Unlike smoking, in which cannabinoids are inhaled into the lungs and pass rapidly into the bloodstream, peaking in about ten minutes and wearing off in a couple of hours, cannabis edibles may take hours to digest, and their effects may peak two to three hours after consumption and persist for around six hours. The food or drink used may affect both the timing and potency of the dose ingested.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Head shop</span> Retail outlet for cannabis and tobacco products

A head shop is a retail outlet specializing in paraphernalia used for consumption of cannabis and tobacco and items related to cannabis culture and related countercultures. They emerged from the hippie counterculture in the late 1960s, and at that time, many of them had close ties to the anti-Vietnam War movement as well as groups in the marijuana legalization movement like LeMar, Amorphia, and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaporizer (inhalation device)</span> Device to vaporize substances for inhalation

A vaporizer or vaporiser, colloquially known as a vape, is a device used to vaporize substances for inhalation. Plant substances can be used, commonly cannabis, tobacco, or other herbs or blends of essential oil. However, they are most commonly filled with a combination propylene glycol, glycerin, and drugs such as nicotine or tetrahydrocannabinol as a liquid solution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis (drug)</span> Psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant

Cannabis, also known as marijuana or weed among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various traditional medicines for centuries. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive component of cannabis, which is one of the 483 known compounds in the plant, including at least 65 other cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporizing, within food, or as an extract.

A gravity bong, also known as a GB, bucket bong, grav, geeb, gibby, yoin, or ghetto bong, is a method of consuming smokable substances such as cannabis. The term describes both a bucket bong and a waterfall bong, since both use air pressure and water to draw smoke. A lung uses similar equipment but instead of water draws the smoke by removing a compacted plastic bag or similar from the chamber.

Lacing or cutting, in drug culture, refer to the act of using a substance to adulterate substances independent of the reason. The resulting substance is laced or cut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis smoking</span> Inhalation of marijuana fumes

Cannabis smoking is the inhalation of smoke or vapor released by heating the flowers, leaves, or extracts of cannabis and releasing the main psychoactive chemical, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is absorbed into the bloodstream via the lungs. Archaeological evidence indicates cannabis with high levels of THC was being smoked at least 2,500 years ago. As of 2021, cannabis is the most commonly consumed federally illegal drug in the United States, with 36.4 million people consuming it monthly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roach (smoking)</span> Stub of a smoked cigar/cigarette

A roach is the remains of a joint, blunt or roll up cigarette after most of it has been smoked. Most roaches are disposed of immediately after smoking a joint; however, some users will retain the roach for use at a later date. Some users maintain that smoking the roach again has a more intense high due to a high concentration of resin that gathers at the tip of the filter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One-hitter (smoking)</span> Type of smoking pipe

A one-hitter is typically a slender pipe with a screened narrow bowl designed for a single inhalation, or "hit", of smoke or vapor from a small serving of heated cannabis flower, tobacco leaf or other dry, sifted herbal preparation. It is distinguished from western-style large-bowl pipes designed for strong tobaccos that are burned hot and tasted but not inhaled. Instead, by properly distancing a lighter flame below the opening, inhalant users operate at vaporization temperatures, minimizing combustion waste and toxicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spots (cannabis)</span> Method of smoking marijuana

Spots refers to a method of smoking cannabis. Small pieces of cannabis are rolled to form the spot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis consumption</span> Methods of marijuana administration

Cannabis consumption refers to the variety of ways cannabis is consumed, among which inhalation and ingestion are most common. All consumption methods involve heating the plant's THCA to decarboxylate it into THC, either at the time of consumption or during preparation. Salves and absorption through the skin (transdermal) are increasingly common in medical uses, both of CBD, THC, and other cannabinoids. Each method leads to subtly different psychoactive effects due to the THC and other chemicals being activated, and then consumed through different administration routes. It is generally considered that smoking, which includes combustion toxins, comes on quickly but lasts for a short period of time, while eating delays the onset of effect but the duration of effect is typically longer. In a 2007 ScienceDaily report of research conducted at the University of California–San Francisco, researchers reported that vaporizer users experience the same biological effect, but without the toxins associated with smoking. Δ9-THC is the primary component when inhaled, but when eaten the liver converts this to the more psychoactive 11-hydroxy-THC form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hash oil</span> Oleoresin obtained by the extraction of cannabis or hashish

Hash oil or cannabis oil is an oleoresin obtained by the extraction of cannabis or hashish. It is a cannabis concentrate containing many of its resins and terpenes – in particular, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and other cannabinoids. Hash oil is usually consumed by smoking, vaporizing or eating. Preparations of hash oil may be solid or semi-liquid colloids depending on both production method and temperature and are usually identified by their appearance or characteristics. Color most commonly ranges from transparent golden or light brown, to tan or black. There are various extraction methods, most involving a solvent, such as butane or ethanol.

Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 U.S. 489 (1982), is a United States Supreme Court decision concerning the vagueness and overbreadth doctrines as they apply to restrictions on commercial speech. The justices unanimously upheld an ordinance passed by a Chicago suburb that imposed licensing requirements on the sale of drug paraphernalia by a local record store. Their decision overturned the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of cannabis terms</span>

Terms related to cannabis include:

Drug pipes are vessels used as drug paraphernalia to aid the smoking of hard drugs. They usually consist of a glass tube with or without a bulb, the latter particularly used when freebasing methamphetamine or crack cocaine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drug policy of Missouri</span> Overview of the drug policy of the U.S. state of Missouri

The drug policy of Missouri involves the policies, measures and laws set by the government of Missouri to control substances.

References

Creative Commons by-sa small.svg  This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

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  20. Actor Maxwell Parker Hahn Sentenced To prison on Drug Paraphernalia Charges
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