Using an Old Tobacco Pipe for Cannabis

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Dear Stoner: I found my grandpa's old tobacco pipe while going through his stuff after he died. No one in my family smokes, but I thought it could be cool for an occasional weed bowl. Is that possible in a tobacco pipe? Do I need to clean it first?
Austin

Dear Austin: You can smoke out of anything from an apple to a couple of cleverly angled holes in the ground, but you'll find varying degrees of success and cleanliness as time goes on. Unless you like the taste of spliffs and inhaling tobacco smoke, though, you should give Grandpa's old puff piece a good scrubbin' before you get goin'. Here are some tips to get that family heirloom clean and protected:

click to enlarge

You can smoke weed out of tobacco pipes, but more maintenance is required.

Flickr/Joe Haupt

Find plenty of shanked pipe cleaners and rubbing alcohol, and unscrew the pipe. Dip the pipe cleaners in alcohol and gently but firmly scrub the inside of that sucker until the tobacco debris is gone. Use a cloth or cotton swab to clean the mouthpiece and exterior areas — but not with alcohol, because it could blemish the wood or pipe features. After you're done, consider using metal or wood polish on the exterior and coat the bowl with some weed ash to protect the wood from resin tar. Now you're ready to smoke: Put chunkier, hand-pulled buds on the bottom and finely ground herb on top to prevent sucking weed into the stem, and repeat the cleaning process frequently.

Send questions to [email protected].