Identify this re-occurring piece of garbage on my lawn

[phreesh]

I own a corner lot house in suburbia. Two sides have streets and a back alley in the, er, back.

About once a week I find a specific type of trash in my side yard.

It's a plastic pop bottle (355 ml) cut in half (bottom discarded with a clear plastic bag taped to the bottom. They're pretty carefully taped and have some sort of liquid in them. It could be rainwater. I haven't had the courage to sniff the liquid yet (hmm 'Sniff the Liquid' - possible band name?).

While I am annoyed that they keep being tossed in my yard, I admit to being intrigued about their purpose. As they're usually thrown near my back alley, I think it could be either automotive or drug related.

Are they 'huffing' gasoline? Is it some sort of funnel for fuel? Maybe (Jesus) it's for pissing in a car? I have no idea.

Anybody have the straight dope?

[Casserole]

While we wait for more serious answers... if you have a significant sample of the liquid in question, might I suggest you pour it into a beaker and place it atop a bunsen burner?

For two marks: Find the boiling point.

[Mangetout]

It sounds like huffing apparatus - the bag provides the necessary expansion volume so the user can breathe the fumes in and out. The bottle isolates the contents from the user's face (so he doesn't end up like Gold Paint Man (http://blogquebecois.com/crime/))

[xanthous]

I wonder why someone would go to the trouble of modifying a bottle like that for urination purposes.* Just the other day I saw what I'm sure was a bottle (intact) full of pee on the side of the road.

*unless it was a giant gallon-size ziplock bag! :D

[jayjay]

Just the other day I saw what I'm sure was a bottle (intact) full of pee on the side of the road.

Trucker bombs (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/rant/pee.html).

[Really Not All That Bright]

Does the water look greyish? It sounds like half a gravity bong.

[panache45]

But for most of these purposes, wouldn't they continue using the same one, rather than discarding it and making new ones?

[Dallas Jones]

It's a Bose-Heisenberg beer piss time machine. Quite common in the 23rd century. Probably some college student working on a thesis.

[JFLuvly]

I watched a girl at a party make one of these one night, she called it a lung. She pushed the bag inside the bottle and put a piece of tinfoil, with small holes punched in it, on the screw top. She then put some weed on the tinfoil and lit it and drew the bag out of the bottle, which pulled the smoke into the bottle. The tinfoil lid was discarded and she inhaled the smoke through the threaded part.

My guess would be that if you looked around you would find the tinfoil somewhere. I don't really have enough knowledge on drugs like crack and such but I would guess that you could use it for this also.

[purplehorseshoe]

I watched a girl at a party make one of these one night, she called it a lung. She pushed the bag inside the bottle and put a piece of tinfoil, with small holes punched in it, on the screw top. She then put some weed on the tinfoil and lit it and drew the bag out of the bottle, which pulled the smoke into the bottle. The tinfoil lid was discarded and she inhaled the smoke through the threaded part.

My guess would be that if you looked around you would find the tinfoil somewhere. I don't really have enough knowledge on drugs like crack and such but I would guess that you could use it for this also.

That sounds complicated, even for potheads.

Hmm, lotsa guesses and speculation. OP, you got a picture for us?

[phreesh]

Picture? Shit, those things were GARBAGE. Garbage with unknown liquids inside. It was all I could do to kick them into a trash bag.

The bong thing sounds like it might be on the right track. We have some late-twenties renters across the way. They seem educated enough to both not be into hard drugs and also interested in overly-complicated ways to get high.

I think I also recall some tinfoil in the area where I've found them. The liquid seems spurious to the apparatus. Perhaps it was rain or dew.

[Serenata67]

It's a Bose-Heisenberg beer piss time machine. Quite common in the 23rd century. Probably some college student working on a thesis.

Haha! That's rich! :D

[J Cubed]

But for most of these purposes, wouldn't they continue using the same one, rather than discarding it and making new ones?

Not if mom searches their rooms.

[Mesquite-oh]

That sounds complicated, even for potheads.
There are potheads that are constantly striving for new ways to get high and will go to great lengths to build something that they heard about. Then they proudly present their contraption/technique to their fellow potheads for testing and review and a good time is had by all.

I have never seen a device like what the OP describes, but it being used for some sort of drug use is a good guess.

[phreesh]

Found another one this morning. Will take a photo tonight and try to upload.

Closer inspection reveals no liquid and a piece of tape tied to the end of the bag. I think the tape would add in being to able to withdraw the bag from the top of the bottle as described by JFLuvly.

I think these are indeed 'lungs'.

Man, smoke all the dope you want, just stop throwing shit on my lawn.

[Starbreaker]

There's this idiot that throws beer in my yard. It's irritating.

[carnivorousplant]

Man, I hate finding Dom Perignon bottles in the yard.

[Irishman]

phreesh said:
Man, smoke all the dope you want, just stop throwing shit on my lawn.

Well, you could try knocking on their door with the evidence, and point out that if you have to call the police to report "suspected drug paraphenalia", then the cops will be knocking on doors and generally providing much unwanted attention. However, if the trash stops appearing in your lawn, then there won't be a need to call the cops.

Or you could just call the cops and report the "suspected drug paraphenalia" and point at the house you think is responsible.

[Shot From Guns]

Another vote for home-made drug paraphenalia. This sounds very much like something a pothead college boyfriend made.

[Lust4Life]

There are potheads that are constantly striving for new ways to get high and will go to great lengths to build something that they heard about. Then they proudly present their contraption/technique to their fellow potheads for testing and review and a good time is had by all.

I have never seen a device like what the OP describes, but it being used for some sort of drug use is a good guess.


I knew a woman who would only use a lung for her pot fix,complicated or not.

[Cagey Drifter]

this is so bizarre to me. But here is a video of what is described (I think). Skip the stupid beginning part and start at around 0:15.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAdkuE3fniA

[psychonaut]

I own a corner lot house in suburbia. Two sides have streets and a back alley in the, er, back.

About once a week I find a specific type of trash in my side yard.

It's a plastic pop bottle (355 ml) cut in half Where do they sell 355 mL pop bottles? I've only ever seen bottles in 500 mL, 600 mL, 1L, 1.5L, 2L, and 3L. I see lots of 355 mL cans, though.

[susan]

Bumping to say that if it looks more like this (http://chattahbox.com/us/2009/08/25/shake-and-bake-meth-on-the-rise-creating-new-addicts-and-arrests/) than like the lung in the youtube video, it's detritus from a newer form of methamphetamine production.