# Head shops will kick you out if you say the word "bong?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511 "2011-02-24T22:26:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/21 "2011-02-25T03:48:05Z")
One of my relatives used to work at a “head shop” in Seattle. Officially of course it was a tobacco shop. He stated that during his employee training that if a customer came in asking for a bong/crack pipe/other drug term, they were instructed to tell them “we don’t sell illegal items. We only sell tobacco products.” If the customer didn’t take the hint and still used drug terms, he was instructed to order the customer to leave the store. There were a number of times he did have to order customers out but there was never any serious confrontation. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/22 "2011-02-25T04:00:39Z")
I noticed these plastic flowers being sold in glass tubes at a local mini mart for a couple bucks. The glass tube was about the size of a cigarette. A friend clued me in that the glass tube is perfect for crack pipes. The flower is simply a gimmick so it isn’t drug paraphernalia. The glass break from the heat and they have to buy another “flower”. This stuff is all around us. Unless you look, it goes unnoticed. I only questioned it because the people I saw buying those “flowers” didn’t exactly look like housewives or interior decorators. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/23 "2011-02-25T04:04:03Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I noticed these plastic flowers being sold in glass tubes at a local mini mart for a couple bucks. The glass tube was about the size of a cigarette. A friend clued me in that the glass tube is perfect for crack pipes. The flower is simply a gimmick so it isn’t drug paraphernalia. The glass break from the heat and they have to buy another “flower”. > > This stuff is all around us. Unless you look it goes unnoticed. I only questioned it because the people I saw buying those “flowers” didn’t exactly look like housewives or interior decorators. I remember when I was about 16, stopped for gas, had some female friends in the car with me and picked up a couple of those for them. We couldn’t figure out why both ends of the glass tube came off (they had corks in them). Years later I figured it out. Couldn’t believe you could buy a crack pipe right at the corner Citgo. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/24 "2011-02-25T04:21:11Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Interesting, I wouldn’t have known a balloon would be off-limits. What ostensibly legal purpose would people be buying nitrous carts for? Many years ago, a college friend of mine [asked and got an answer from The Master](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/482/how-does-nitrous-oxide-work-is-it-dangerous) on this very topic. ---
**Author:** ![Burton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Burton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burton)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/25 "2011-02-25T16:48:43Z")
They’re very touchy about that at the one near my office too. Completely ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/26 "2011-02-25T17:06:38Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > … > How is it that the term “bong” is illegal anyway, but not the device? Isn’t it still a bong if it’s used for tobacco? How is calling it a bong an admission of drug use? > … How common is it to smoke tobacco in a water pipe, really? Are there a significant number of non-stoner pipe smokers who smoke tobacco with a bong? If it were common, I would expect that upscale tobacconists would carry them. As far as I’ve been able to tell, they don’t. You can look at racks and racks of fine briar pipes, but no glass. At all. Period. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/27 "2011-02-25T17:12:23Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > When I was in college (mid 80s) we had one head shop in town (which also sold comic books and gaming supplies, which was why I spent a lot of time there). I don’t recall their ever having an issue with bongs (I never heard anybody refer to them as anything but “water pipes”) but they had a real thing about scales. If you even hinted that you thought that the various scales they sold were for anything but weighing letters, they got very grumpy with you. Okay, I know I’m a total innocent, but what are the scales for? Hard drugs? I’m not sure why you’d need a scale for pot. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/28 "2011-02-25T17:29:00Z")
> [@JFLuvly](#): > > Here in Canada they sell bongs, at least the one around here does and they don’t mind talking about weed or anything related. This is what I was going to say too - I read the OP and was all confused until I remembered that he’s in the US. You can totally go into a head shop around these parts and discuss the bongs. They’ll even tell you the pros and cons of each as I know when I was purchasing a gift for a friend\*. I wound up getting him a lovely hooka, as well as a bunch of pipes, which they also sold at that particular shop. \*Seriously - it was a gift - I smoked pot when I was younger so I’m not being cagey here. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/29 "2011-02-25T17:30:21Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Okay, I know I’m a total innocent, but what are the scales for? Hard drugs? I’m not sure why you’d need a scale for pot. Drugs, pot included, are usually sold by weight and in very small quantities. So to be a dealer or an informed consumer, you need a high quality scale that is accurate down to fractions of an ounce. Unless you’ve got a scientific supply place in town, you usually can’t find such a scale just anywhere so the head shops sell them. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/30 "2011-02-25T17:30:56Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Okay, I know I’m a total innocent, but what are the scales for? Hard drugs? I’m not sure why you’d need a scale for pot. You know, I have no idea! The crowd I hung around with didn’t do drugs (or at least I never saw them if they did) so I wasn’t really up on all the paraphernalia. All I know was that the head shop had a dazzling array of different “postal scales” and they got annoyed if you referred to them in any other way. ETA: Ah, \*\*GreasyJack \*\*answered in a simul-post. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/31 "2011-02-25T18:23:36Z")
The head shop I frequent (for, uh, candles) has signs warning that you will be denied service if you use the words “bong, shooter, one-hit” etc. I’ve never tested the theory myself, and see no reason to. Oddly enough, when I bought a [del]bong[/del] water pipe last week, the guy behind the counter was quite helpful in explaining to me where to put my “tobacco,” how much “tobacco” to use, etc. He used the word “stuff.” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/32 "2011-02-25T18:35:27Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Drugs, pot included, are usually sold by weight and in very small quantities. So to be a dealer or an informed consumer, you need a high quality scale that is accurate down to fractions of an ounce. Unless you’ve got a scientific supply place in town, you usually can’t find such a scale just anywhere so the head shops sell them. So what’s a “dime bag”? Is that, like, ten ounces? I always thought it was… oh, I don’t have any idea what I thought it was. I feel like somebody’s maiden aunt. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/33 "2011-02-25T18:44:18Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > So what’s a “dime bag”? Is that, like, ten ounces? I always thought it was… oh, I don’t have any idea what I thought it was. I feel like somebody’s maiden aunt. A tenth of an ounce; just like a dime is a tenth of a dollar. Ten ounces? :eek: That’s a prison sentence! ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/34 "2011-02-25T18:52:04Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > So what’s a “dime bag”? Is that, like, ten ounces? I always thought it was… oh, I don’t have any idea what I thought it was. I feel like somebody’s maiden aunt. How old are you? This term has been around since the 70s and probably longer. > [@HeyHomie](#): > > A tenth of an ounce; just like a dime is a tenth of a dollar. > > Ten ounces? :eek: That’s a prison sentence! Wrong! It is simply a bag of dope worth $10, usually around a gram of marijuana. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/35 "2011-02-25T18:55:13Z")
I’m 31, I’ve just never done any drugs. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/36 "2011-02-25T18:55:59Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Wrong! It is simply a bag of dope worth $10, usually around a gram of marijuana. You and I must have completely different [del]dealers[/del] independent pharmaceutical contractors, because when I ask mine for a “dimebag” I get a tenth of an ounce. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/37 "2011-02-25T18:58:34Z")
See, this is what happens when you don’t have the FTC protecting consumers by regulating nomenclature. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/38 "2011-02-25T19:04:58Z")
I once had a discussion with our local overnight 7-11 clerk. He told me they can sell any type of paraphilia as long as it is legal, and carry rolling papers and bongs. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/39 "2011-02-25T19:07:15Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Drugs, pot included, are usually sold by weight and in very small quantities. So to be a dealer or an informed consumer, you need a high quality scale that is accurate down to fractions of an ounce. Unless you’ve got a scientific supply place in town, you usually can’t find such a scale just anywhere so the head shops sell them. Reloading scales, both electronic and balance type, are available at Cabellas, Gander Mountain, gun stores, and from about a million places on-line. They are excellent for very accurately weighing small amounts of substances. Gunpowder, for example. Midway USA, for example, sells an electronic reloading scale for less than $20 that measures in grains, grams, carats, or ounces. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511/40 "2011-02-25T19:07:57Z")
“Gentle correction” is far more likely than “forceful ejection”. They want your business, they just want you to use the proper terminology. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-shops-will-kick-you-out-if-you-say-the-word-bong/572511.md?page=3)