Cool twisted tube, amber colored glass bong. Like this bong ? Click the image for more info.
In general, even people who don’t smoke marijuana will look at a bong and say, well, that’s a bong, all right. Historical evidence indicates that even the Founding Fathers would likely have felt the same way. To those who are concerned with enforcing their own version of morality through the weight of the law, bongs and pipes are known by a different term, one that carries with it considerable negative connotations: Drug paraphernalia.
Daddy Drug Warbucks
The War on Drugs is no cottage industry. Billions of dollars are spent each year, at all levels of government, trying to stop people from enjoying a plant that grows out of the Earth. The amount of time and money wasted in this regard is endless. The advertising budget of the Partnership for a Drug Free America alone could ameliorate suffering in so many places, but all they want to do is crack eggs into frying pans for $100,000 a clip in TV commercials. It’s easy to do when you’re pulling in millions of dollars in contributions from the tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutical industries, as Partnership does.
Apple Bongs and Oranges
The prohibitionist instincts of groups like this cause them to focus on “drug paraphernalia”. They ignore the opinions of health experts who know that use of a bong reduces the amount of tar and carcinogens in the smoke that so many millions of Americans inhale. They’re happy to feature pictures and videos of bongs and pipes lined up on white sheets next to heroin syringes and cocaine grinders, knowing fully well the fraud they are perpetrating.
Whether these kinds of groups are genuinely concerned about drug use in America or are only in it for the easy money, they do a disservice to all Americans – including the ones who wrested a Republic from the hands of an English king – who have fought so hard, and for so long, to preserve our freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness. The battle they fight has nothing to do with the American way.