Can You Smoke Weed Out of a Tobacco Pipe?

First of all, tobacco's curing process and burning attributes are very different from those of weed. Tobacco’s ultimate aim is to produce an experience that provides a tasty, smooth, and consistent smoke, which makes it a relatively complex product. It often burns at a significantly higher temperature than marijuana, it's tighter, and should be handled in a more careful way.

This sets an atmosphere in which the burning tobacco leaves can reach the other leaves that are in contact with it, making it a persistent burning ember. On the other hand, weed is a comparatively easy crop to smoke that can be grown and cured by almost any adult. It's also usually intended for nothing more than to get you high, and possibly to taste good. 

Pipes used for smoking cannabis have been around for thousands of years. To cherish the taste, comfort, and a pleasant buzz that is gentler than the experience you get when using a bong, but packs more punch than a joint. Every self-respecting stoner should smoke out of a classic pipe at least once in their lives. But well different smoking devices and methods were made for you to choose your favorite one,

There are plenty of ways you can smoke cannabis. Of course, joints, vaporizers, and bongs are some of the favorites. On the other hand, pipes are available for pretty much every person’s particular taste––with their variety of types, sizes, characteristics, and designs. The options are limitless, from classic hand pipes to bubblers with percolators, and everything in-between. However, is it possible to simply use a tobacco pipe you might have lying around if you don't have any specialized equipment at hand to smoke weed?

Yes, absolutely. But what’s different about smoking weed with a tobacco pipe? Well, for starters, you won’t be able to clear every hit, and the bowl will probably pack a lot more. That is why the carb that’s inside the weed pipes is necessary. If you let the weed smoke sit in the chamber of a pipe for too long, it won’t taste good, besides the smoke left in the chamber after a hit will be wasted.

When designing a marijuana pipe, the general purpose is to develop an appropriate mechanism in order for the user to smoke their weed in a practical manner––without the smoke loss that is typical in tobacco pipes. Weed simply does not burn like tobacco. Smoking weed from a tobacco pipe isn't an impossibility, though. You will get a self-sustaining ember that will withstand several hits, if not the whole time, as long as you pack a tight bowl and light it well.

First, for instance, you can find that the bowl on some pipes may be too big to use as efficiently as you’d like, so try to find a pipe with a rather small bowl. You will also need to clean it more often, especially if you don't have a screen that matches the bowl. Screens can help prevent burning pieces of cannabis from being inhaled, but if you don't have a pack of pipe screens that big, you can try using a piece of wire or a paperclip twisted into shape, or even a  screen from a faucet head will do.

After grinding your weed, make sure it’s evenly broken down but not too finely ground.  Then, place the ground weed on a flat surface. After that, you should pack at the bottom of the bowl an appropriate amount of weed that allows for free airflow. This considering that the tobacco pipe doesn’t have a carb; so the weed at the top has to be packed firmly enough to stay lit. To achieve this, the “three-layer” method is perfect to complete the task.

The “three-layer method” consists in inserting some of your grinded weed in the pipe chamber until it piles up over the top. After that, you should press the weed down to around the halfway point before it's compressed. Repeat this step two more times and pack down the weed until it's just below the chamber's rim.

There are divided opinions about using a wooden tobacco pipe to smoke weed. Wood is porous, so it will absorb the flavor of the weed, therefore, many might argue that it is definitely worth it to spend a little more money to simply use a separate pipe for each type of herb you smoke.

Usually, the tobacco pipe is crafted with a semi-porous material ideal for the absorption of the oils created by tobacco, but the weed pit contains resin, which hunks up the pipe and destroys the taste of any tobacco you smoke after. Other people would prefer to blaze their cannabis through a traditional tobacco pipe because it spices up the sensory experience. The woody undertones of the heated pipe will also add a pleasant touch to your strain's overall aroma profile.

Once again the importance of washing your pipe and not using it for smoking tobacco needs to be emphasized. Otherwise, the leftover tobacco or ashes in your pipe might ruin the whole taste. A wooden pipe can be a nice alternative to how you usually smoke your stuff, as long as you are not careless with its maintenance. In addition to this, if you're just thinking about using the tobacco pipe for marijuana once, you better not do it––it’s simply not worth it.

Once your bowl is packed correctly, take a draw on the stem. You'll know you’ve packed it correctly if the draw has a comparable resistance to drinking soda through a straw. On the other hand, if you inhale from it and it sounds like an empty straw, it’ll mean that you packed the weed too loose.

After you’ve packed the weed appropriately, circulate a soft flame around the top of the weed in your pipe, and inhale with a firm, steady puff. You’ll want all the smoke from the marijuana to go through your lungs to get you high.

In the end, you can of course do whatever you want––it’s your life. Now you know that you actually can smoke weed out of a tobacco pipe, but it’s far from ideal. Both herbs leave their mark and taste, and they’re quite different and often unpleasant to mix. There’s a reason why tobacco pipes and marijuana pipes are built differently––each herb behaves differently. 

The most ideal thing to do if you want to smoke weed from a pipe is to simply get a pipe that was specifically made for smoking weed. How do you know if it’s good enough? Well, for starters, if it’s well made, it shouldn’t make you cough too much––it ought to be a smooth experience! It should also be easy to clean, and it most definitely must have a good filter that you can replace overtime. 

Author: Mike T.