Opium pipe

[Chiral]

Would it be legal to own and purchase say an authentic Chinese Opium smoking pipe....if I was to locate one say overseas or even locally are they legal to import and or own as ornaments...I'd really like to start a collection of smoking implements as something of a small hobby and put them in cases say and hang on the wall....I don't want the boys in blue doing me up for owning paraphernalia though particularly when they will be clean and unused.

anyone have any ideas or sources they could PM the sources of course.

H.

[Birdman]

just make sure it hasnt been used. mum tried to get me one from honkers,

she was denied by customs 'cause of remanents of the big O. And it was made of

ivory,double whammy.

[holymountain]

i had an aunt who came back from thailand with what she thought was a souvenier ornamental walking stick... turned out it was actually one of those big long opium pipes. i wonder if she's still got it...

[FancyPants]

A couple of mates' (brothers) parents are quite worldly travellers, have a beautiful collection of opium containers and a couple of pipes that they've brought back from Northern Africa, Middle East, and Asia. Some porcelain, some timber, some tin... I imagine they'd done a lot of collecting before customs/quarantine laws in Aus were quite so rigid, but I do also remember one of the sons saying there were no residue in them, I'd assume for customs purposes even decades ago O pipes would have been checked for substance.

Ah sorry that's probably not quite valuable enough info for your pupose Good luck though, I'd love to start such a fascinating collection.

[Chiral]

Yeah I've found a few sources and some amazing antique ones...I just need to know what the law is on importing them...would be kinda hard to know if any residue was contained in some old antique ones but I'm happy to investigate and see what turns up...during the course of the day I have found some simply stunning pipes made from jade and wood and carvings of dragons etc..really beautifully made ones.

H.

[hebrew]

ohh awesome man i have wanted to buy one for a long long time too, didnt know the legalities either so am keen to hear of how you go and if you find some sources. would make a good collection item i reckon

[Genesis]

A mate of mine has a really awsom opium pipe. His father bought it back from Afganistan when he was stationed over there a few years ago. I asked him and he rekons his old man had no problems getting it over here, don't know if he went through customs though

By the looks of it its pretty old but has no signs of use.

Gen

[J Smith]

Hi,

I cannot find anything in the Customs Act that specifically prohibits the importation of unused pipes. I suppose that part of the reason for this is that many pipes may be used for tobacco purposes, rather than for smoking illicit substances.

I am not a lawyer however so this statement is only based on my own interpretation of the Customs Act and related regulations.

[Foton]

I saw an Chinese opium pipe in the adelaide museum that was taken by cops in the 1820's by memory. Very nice looking pipe, very long. Just thought id add that...

It may be worth writing a letter / email to customs and asking.

[Rizla]

Here in the USA (southwest) I have seen at least one old beauty in an antique dealer's, fairly high end. Definitely was used heavily. If I'd had any sense, I'd have bought it. Don't know what the legality would be, suspect gray area kind of crap, if they want to screw you around for some other reason they might use it, probably wouldn't, etc., etc.

You really should read Peter Lee's book, "The Big Smoke", about the chinese smoking culture, tons of gorgeous pipe pictures in there. "Narcotic Culture", a more recent scholarly book, is great on the facts versus the myths of the chinese opium "plague" (i.e. there were lots of middle class, occasional users; most of the shriveled dope fiend pictures of the time were of desperately poor users, and have as much to do with the typical user as a salvation army casualty has to do with the average drinker, etc., etc.). Interesting stuff.

[Conan Troutman]

if you purchase an authentic item there will likely be residue.

The ornamental type as are found in tourist markets in golden triangle area, thailand ect. is likely to be unusable as they are quite often a lot more haphazardly carved, best to look out for a single piece bamboo pipe or one of the brass water cooled contrapitions that are often seen on ebay..

or make your own...I would love to see an authentic aussie Phragmites pipe.

[Birdman]

opiummuseum.com

tops site with a ton of crisp pics. Beautiful even. Google search bamboo pipe and check out the tribesman bong,very nice

[Rizla]

Wow, beautiful site birdman, thanks.

Edited April 29, 2009 by Rizla

[Birdman]

[Chiral]

I got beat by 1 dollar on a beauty last night on e-bay....I had it won until 7 seconds to go and some sucker beat me with a dollar....GRRRRRRR...oh well the hunt continues...I really wanna collect some antique ones..the new chinese made ones are fakes and are crap....

H.

[B. Loco]

I brought one back from Asia and the customs inspectors actually picked it up and looked at it, said 'no worries' and let me through. I actually made sure it was at the top of my bag so they would know I wasnt trying to conceal it. But yes, be careful that it's not make from ivory.

[random]

Look what I found on ebay. Disclaimer- purely looking for entertainment purposes at antique pipes online.

Anyone want to buy it for me? it's beautiful.

P.s this particular one isn't an antique, just some kind of replica from an online orient store. But looks very cool to me.

Edited June 10, 2011 by meeka

[devance]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookah

[Also known as the head of the hookah, the bowl is a container, usually made out of clay or marble, that holds the coal and tobacco during the smoking session. The bowl is loaded with tobacco then covered in a small piece of perforated aluminum foil or a glass or metal screen. Lit coals are then placed on top, which allows the tobacco to heat to the proper temperature.

There is also a variation of the head which employs a fruit rather than the traditional clay bowl. The fruit is hollowed out and perforated in order to achieve the same shape and system a clay bowl has, then it is loaded and used in the same manner.

Bowls have evolved in recent years to incorporate new designs that keep juices in the tobacco from running down the stem. The Tangiers Phunnel Bowl and Sahara Smoke Vortex Bowl are two examples of such bowls.

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The hooka is the best and in time tested for a thousand years in arab world since they don't have anything but hashish and tobacco [no alcohol]they know for sure.

But answer to your question probably the long tobacco and a thin stem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_pipe_%28tobacco%29

[The bowls of tobacco pipes are commonly made of briar, meerschaum, corncob or clay. Less common are cherrywood, olivewood, maple, mesquite, oak, and bog-wood. Generally a dense-grained wood is ideal. Minerals such as catlinite and soapstone have also been used. Pipe bowls of all these materials are sometimes carved with a great deal of artistry.]

So not a opiumm pipe

(pipe was used for a long ways 9 inches from the very hot bowl bubbling opium[plant tar] bowel for getting out the tar hot [the tar would in the stem the stem of the pipe] [not into the lungs] and so inhaling morphine[

All I got is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_pipe

[An opium pipe is a pipe designed for the vaporization and inhalation of opium. True opium pipes allow for the drug to be vaporized while being heated over a special oil lamp known as an opium lamp. It is thought that this manner of "smoking" opium began in the seventeenth century when a special pipe was developed that vaporized opium instead of burning it. [1]

The configuration of the typical opium pipe consists of a long stem, a ceramic pipe-bowl, and a metal fitting, known as the "saddle", through which the pipe-bowl plugs into the pipe-stem. The pipe-bowl must be detachable from the stem due to the necessity to remove the bowl and scrape its insides clean of opium ash after several pipes have been smoked. The stems of opium pipes were usually made from bamboo, but other materials were used such as ivory, silver and jade, to name a few. Pipe-bowls were typically some type of ceramic, including Yixing clay and blue and white porcelain. Sometimes opium pipe-bowls were carved from more valuable materials such as jade. [2]

Because of its design, the opium pipe needed an opium lamp in order to function. The lamp was as highly specialized as the pipe, and was designed to channel just the right amount of heat upon the pipe-bowl so that the opium would vaporize and allow the smoker to inhale the intoxicating vapors.

Due to opium eradication campaigns in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, genuine opium pipes are now extremely rare.]

ca---------------------------------------------

You anything in internet if look long enough.

Edited June 10, 2011 by devance

[Zen Peddler]

I purchased one while in asia and brought it back without even considering that it might be a problem. It now sits on my mantle piece.That being said it was sold in a shop cataring to tourists so while it looks old I doubt its authentic.

Edited June 12, 2011 by Zen Peddler BlueGreenie

[random]

Sorry double post again

Edited June 12, 2011 by meeka

[random]

Nah the one I showed is a replica selling for $18 at an orient store. Lol. But its still very pretty nontheless.

[etherealdrifter]

 

i've heard of people taking a 'travellor' in the car to the gig(i like coopers red)

but this one looks more appropriate in some rare occasions

[etherealdrifter]

travellor

[Zen Peddler]

Mine is actually an old antique opium lamp.

[random]

Very cool