Does alcohol in a bong make you fade?

October 28, 2022

Does alcohol in a bong make you fade?

It turns out that putting random liquids in a bong is a stoner oddity as old as smoking weed itself. So much so, in fact, that we even did it ourselves a few years ago. After smoking a bong long enough, questions inevitably arise: will anything other than water taste good? will it kill me Will it take me insanely higher?

The internet is full of articles and forums weighing the validity of different liquids in bongs. One guy tried bong ribs (separately) with mouthwash, hot sauce, mountain dew, and ranch dressing — I mean, how boring do you have to be? Ranch rips aside, other stoners tout the use of iced tea, Gatorade, and LaCroix in bongs, all of which sound delicious. But will they actually affect the taste or the high?

The subject of alcohol in a bong is quite controversial: some love it, some hate it, and there’s a lot of trash talk on both sides. So what actually happens when you add alcohol to your bong instead of water: do you get fades? Will the weed seep into the alcohol? Is it dangerous?

We spoke to a scientist to help unravel this age-old stoner mystery.

The Leaf Bong Experiment: What Happens When You Replace Bong Water With Other Liquids?

What happens when you inhale alcohol fumes?

Finally, we recommend people not to put alcohol in a bong when smoking weed, as inhaling alcohol fumes is dangerous. The effects of inhaling alcohol vapor are difficult to determine, and even measure. Unfortunately, this is a fad, but we strongly advise against it.

“From a health and safety perspective, snorting alcohol is generally considered a very bad idea. It’s one of the reasons we drink alcohol rather than inhaling its vapors through a device like a nebulizer,” said AJ Fabrizio, cannabis scientist and co-founder of the American Cannabinoid Association. “You’re probably going to get very, very sick and never want to do it again.”

The body processes substances differently depending on how you consume them, which also affects how that substance affects you. For example, when you eat an edible, THC is processed in your stomach and then in the liver, which takes a while for the THC to take effect. When smoking or vaping weed, you will feel the effects much quicker as THC is absorbed directly into the bloodstream via your lungs.

When you drink alcohol, the stomach and liver have to process the liquid before the intoxicating effects kick in. If you inhale alcohol fumes, you would hit the effects much quicker than if you drank it, as it would be absorbed through your lungs.

Fabrizio also explained how effervescent alcohol in a bong can intensify the fumes.

“They would replace what would normally be water vapor or normal ambient atmosphere in the bladder or on the smoke with alcohol vapors, which then cause their own intoxication,” he said. “Every time you take a hit and start sucking it up, not only are you getting the smoke from the cannabis, you’re getting the fumes from the alcohol as well.”

Another problem with inhaling alcohol is how would you even quantify an alcohol vapor “hit”?

“The problem when you’re inhaling the actual vapors of the alcohol is that you have a problem titrating effectively so you don’t overdo it,” Fabrizio said, referring to measuring or dosing a substance.

It’s important to note that we’re talking about ethyl alcohol, which is the alcohol you drink: gin, vodka, rum, whiskey, etc. These are very different from isopropanol, or isopropyl alcohol, which is commonly used to clean bongs and glassware.

“Repeatedly inhaling alcohol is generally a dangerous thing,” Fabrizio said. “Isopropanol can eventually kill you, but in the short term there are common side effects like dizziness, headaches, ataxia (which is basically awkward and unable to really move), and poor muscle control.”

Although isopropanol is dangerous and very different from ethyl, inhaling ethyl alcohol is still not a good idea.

Cannabis Science 101: The Complex Chemistry of the Bong

Is THC lost in alcohol?

No real scientific studies have been done on the effects of how THC behaves when it comes in contact with ethanol alcohol, but Fabrizio explained that alcohols are polar, meaning they generally weaken cannabis by absorbing THC, terpenes, and others Dissolve cannabis compounds, more so than water.

“Ultimately you are ruining what cannabis is. The terpene profile is completely overshadowed because all you’re going to have is the taste of the alcohol,” he said. “[If] There’s rum in there, most of what you’re going to taste is the rum.”

He went on to explain that terpenes enhance the experience of a high and destroying them would likely diminish your high. THC potency would also be reduced.

will you catch fire

We found many people on internet forums claiming that smoking with alcohol in a bong causes a fireball in the lungs. With low-proof alcohols this is probably not a problem, with high-proof alcohol it is possible.

“Anything under 100 proof – inhaling the alcohol and then blowing out the fumes and trying to set it on fire is probably going to be difficult just because the other gases are mixed in. But when you get to those higher concentrations, fire becomes an absolute hazard,” Fabrizio said.

We’re not sure if a lit ember would ignite hard alcohol in a bong, but we recommend you don’t try it at home.

Aside from the fire hazard, changes in temperature, like heating the alcohol, make it more volatile, which makes the fumes worse. Additionally, drawing air through a bong creating a negative pressure in the chamber increases volatility and can also be more dangerous.

“This small amount [of temperature change] enough to increase the alcohol’s volatility quite significantly,” he said. “The difference between what you get when you put your head over a glass of alcohol and sniff it, or stick a straw in the alcohol, or something that blows air through the alcohol, is very different.”

How to avoid the dreaded crossfade high

Concerns with crossfading

If you’ve ever been blinded from mixing alcohol and weed, you know it can be a tricky game. The balance between the two substances can be difficult and ruin your night very quickly. Crossfading gets even trickier when you’re not just mixing alcohol with weed, but inhaling alcohol with weed.

“It’s usually not a good idea to take them together at the exact same time just because it makes it that much harder to titrate your dose,” Fabrizio said.

But not only is it difficult to reconcile the two substances, they also act as opposites, almost canceling each other out.

“We’re talking about cannabis that from a physiological point of view…is perfectly safe, even if you overdo it. And what you’re doing is you’re mixing in something that physiologically does the exact opposite of what the cells in the body do… [with] Neurons, we know for sure that alcohol is one of the most toxic compounds that humans have regular access to nerves,” Fabrizio said. “We know for sure that cannabinoids do the opposite; they actually help maintain and protect nerve cells.”

Finally, we strongly recommend that you do not put alcohol in your bong. Not only is it dangerous, but it also makes balancing fades harder and ultimately kills the flavor of your weed and reduces the high. And that’s why you smoke weed in the first place, right?

Pat Goggins

Pat Goggins is a senior content editor at Leafly, specializing in cannabis cultivation after working for a commercial grower in Oregon. When you’re not correcting typos, chances are you’ll find him on a boat or in the mountains.

Check out Pat Goggins’ articles

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