The adovocacy group,
NORML1, has released a comprehensive research study indicating that Vaporization is an effective way to reduce the harmful effects of smoking pot. The study shows that it's possible to significantly reduce the toxins associated with smoking pot by using an effective vaporizer. It seems reasonable to assume that the health benefits described in the NORML study would also apply to pipe tobacco or other smokable substances.
A high quality commercial vaporizer is available from VaporMagic2 This is an excellent device, but it's costly at about $160 (all prices USD).
For those of a more frugal nature, there are many homespun vaporizer designs available, involving everything from soldering irons to vacuum cleaners. Prior to plowing this alternative however consider that the primary component of most high quality commercial vaporizers is a heat gun that allows fine control over the heat applied to the tobacco. A good head
costs over $120 by itself. The rest of the stuff is lab glassware
and tubing that would cost you $20 or so if you could find it anyway.
So, rather than reinventing a perfectly functional wheel,
my advice is this: if you smoke, you should probably consider a vaporizer,
and if you need one your best bet is probably to buy a decent commercial model.
If you are still determined to roll your own vaporizer here are some
pointers:
- I've read instructions for a homemade vaporizer that suggest using a soldering iron as a heat source. The problem with this is that you don't want to ingest any lead and most soldering irons have a shiny silver glob of heavy metal on the business end. New irons usually come pre-tinned and, worse yet, the old used soldering iron on your workbench likely has aging gobs of poison gack on it. Lead has always been known to cause problems, but recently doctors have drastically reduced the levels of exposure they consider harmful to the low parts per billion. My wife is a stained glass artist and one doctor told her that he believes that any exposure at all can produce significant developmental problems in children and adolescents. So the idea of lighting your bong with a soldering iron is a really bad thing.
- Even though vaporizers by definition don't "burn" the
material, they still get very hot. So don't use anything in your
construction that either burns or vaporizes at low temperatures.
Glues, plastics, paper, Pringles cans...
- Running your vapors through water or other liquids serves no purpose at
all. Vapors aren't hot enough to bother cooling, and the water may
absorb some of the active ingredients and defeat the purpose. Skip
the plumbing.
- It's all about the temperature. You need to get the material just hot
enough that it vaporizes but doesn't quite ignite. That's why you
need a precisely controlled heat source like a commercial heat gun which
is expensive and that brings us back to square one.
Footnotes:
1NORML Vaporizor Article: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4250,
2VaporMagic: http://www.vapormagic.biz