A
pipe used for the
boiling and
inhalation of
drugs in
freebase form. Named for
crack cocaine, though they may be used for smoking
methamphetamine,
DMT,
heroin,
2-CT-7 or anything else that comes as (or can be made into) a
freebase. The idea behind the
crack pipe is not to
burn the
material being smoked, but instead to heat it as quickly as possible, letting it
sublime into
smoke, which is
inhaled. Typically
drugs consumed in this way are
destroyed if the
flame touches them --
DMT being the exception -- so smoking them with a standard
pipe wouldn't work.
The common, and cheap, crack pipe is simply a five inch long glass tube. To use it, the "rock" is placed about an inch in from the end opposite your mouth, and heated from below with a lighter. You have to be careful with this that the chemicals don't turn to liquid for very long before they evaporate, or they'll flow out the end of the pipe, or worse, into your mouth. I've heard that crack is fast about turning to smoke, while DMT tends to be liquid for quite a while. Do your research, maybe even do a test run with the pipe well away from your lips, as boiling hot liquid down your throat seems a poor way to start any drug experience. Another solution is to wad up steel wool into a ball and stuff it into one end. The rock can be melted against the wool, and the wool can be heated during inhalation to release any chemical it soaks up.
The other, safer kind of crack pipe is essentially a glass sphere with a vertical tube leading in, and a horizontal tube leading out. The rock is dropped in through the top, the sphere is heated, and the smoke is inhaled, carbureted with air from the vertical tube. These pipes are terrifically fragile, only usable as paraphernalia, and so large they are difficult to hide. If you own one, it should probably never leave your home.
These somewhat standard crack pipes can be bought at some head shops by asking for a "kit." They are typically not on display, because unlike bongs and other pot paraphernalia, they cannot be explained as tobacco smoking accessories.
If these are unavailable in your area, emergency crack pipes can be made out of damn near anything. The most popular version in my area is a light bulb with the base removed (done by heating it until the glue melts, and pulling off with pliers), and a hole drilled in the top. Glass drill bits are cheap at any hardware store, and light bulbs are available everywhere. If you decide to go this route, either get transparent light bulbs or spend a long time making sure the white powder is all out of the bulb before you smoke from it. You do not want to breathe that powder. If that isn't ghetto enough for you, you can always use an aluminum can with a hole cut in the side, or just heat up the rock on tinfoil and inhale the smoke through a straw.
My interest in DMT is purely scientific in nature, of course.