Shotgun (cannabis)

In the drug slang of consumers of cannabis, "shotgun" ("shotties" is also used as a friendly reference to the slang) can have one of a number of meanings. The most common meanings refer either to smoking methods that require that one person exhales through lit herb while another inhales the resultant smoke, or to devices that rapidly increase the speed with which smoke passes through a smoking implement.

Origin of the term

The name shotgun comes from the use of an actual shotgun as a pipe in the Vietnam War. The shotgun would be unloaded and the breech left open, into which a pipe was placed. After being lit, one soldier would blow into the pipe while another would inhale smoke from the muzzle of the barrel. This can be seen in the Oliver Stone film Platoon, where Charlie Sheen and Willem Dafoe act this out. [http://www.glass-pipes-water-bongs.com/dictionary/shotgun.html] [http://youtube.com/watch?v=JtDOvVWdSXs] .Shotties are where you take a hit from a bottle with no liquid inside. People easily get shotties confused with blowbacks, where one person puts a joint in between their lips and blows the smoke into the receiving person's mouth through the roach.

Form of blowback

The blowing of a "shotgun" or "super" is another name for kind of blowback. When smoking a marijuana cigarette of some sort, typically a hollowed-out cigar called a "blunt", two people can participate in the blowing of a shotgun. When the cigarette is nearly burned all the way through, the lit end is placed in one person's mouth, with his lips clenched tightly on the unburning end. Another person (or both) forms a tube or pathway with his or their hands, palms, or interjoined fingers (index to forefinger and an O is made similar to the "OK" symbol) and the person with the cigarette in his mouth exhales forcefully, forcing the smoke into the other person's mouth. A shotgun is best "blown" not with a very short blunt, but with a longer one as there is less heat built up in the "blower's" mouth. The blunt must, however, be short enough that its airway is not too blocked and letting little smoke out.

This practice is sometimes regarded as intimate, and to be performed only between friends or lovers. Sometimes in this situation, the person receiving the shotgun puts their mouth directly onto the cigarette in the other person's mouth, so that their lips may touch it is an erotic kiss.

Elevator (Rising Shotgun)

The rising shotgun is a more involved version of the traditional shotgun. It requires a blunt that is ideally about ¾ burned away. The receiver sits down on a chair and breathes heavily and fast for a few minutes, basically inducing hyperventilation. The giver then blows a shotgun through the blunt as normal, but does it as the receiver is slowly standing up. The muscle tension combined with the induced hyperventilation causes a head rush. In combination with the inhalation, the rising shotgun produces an instant "buzz" feeling and later on a potential high from the intense amount of smoke taken in at a slightly "weaker" state of mind. Rising shotguns have caused people to black out in the past, so it is generally accepted that one should place a chair or ideally a mattress behind them in case they should fall backwards.

Other meanings

*A type of pipe: (also called a steam roller) A straight length of large-diameter pipe, usually acrylic or bamboo, open on both ends, with a bowl perpendicular to the pipe near one end. The user covers the end of pipe closest to the bowl with one hand, presses the other end against one's mouth, lights the bowl and inhales, and then removes the hand covering the far end of the pipe to let a large volume of air into it, flushing all the smoke into the lungs at once.
*A No-Joint Shotgun: Often the shotgun (as described above) doesn't actually involve a joint or a blunt at all. Sometimes, one person inhales very deeply and then exhales the smoke directly into another person's mouth or nose. This is regarded as very intimate and mostly carried out as part of a sexual relationship, though not always. It can also be done by making an O with the thumb and forefinger, and then having both persons interlock the three extended fingers, to make a tube for the smoke to pass through. This method is quite efficient, because both get the effect of what otherwise would have been exhaled up in the air. The hit is not usually very potent, as the greatest part of the THC content is absorbed in the first few seconds. This technique may also be used if the receiving party finds the smoke from the blunt or joint to be too harsh if inhaled directly.
*Secondary hole in a pipe (also known as a "carb", "choke", or "rush hole"): Many pipes, particularly glass pipes, have a small hole on the side near the bowl that allows air to directly enter the barrel of the pipe, bypassing the bowl. Initially, this hole is plugged with a finger while the material is lit inside the bowl. Once the pipe is filled with smoke, the shotgun is released, rapidly increasing the speed at which the smoke enters the lungs of the recipient since the inhaler no longer feels the resistance provided by the substance in the pipe. This practice is equivalent to removing the slide on a bong.
*Practice related to smoking a gravity bong: A shotgun occurs when the smoker carefully inhales and exhales repeatedly in sync with raising and lowering the bottle, repeatedly forcing the smoke into his lungs.
*A type of bong: Shotgun (popular parlance 'shotty') is a home-made device similar to a bong used in the UK. It consists (normally) of a 500ml bottle that has a hole melted near the bottom, and a metal tube stuck through. A small ball of tobacco is placed in the tube, which is then dabbed onto ground cannabis. When smoked, the cannabis is burnt, and as the tobacco begins to burn the ball shoots into water in the bottom of the bottle, giving a rush of smoke.
*Double-barrel shotgun: A shotgun, or double-barrel shotgun, is the practice of smoking two cannabis cigarettes, stuck adjacent to each other and smoked simultaneously.
*Smokers Game: When passing a joint/cigarette with a group, take a set number of inhalations then only release until the joint/cigarette has reach you again in the circle. This is also known as "Around the world", "Baseball", or "Chicago".

ee also

*420 (drug culture)
*Roach clip
*Monster shotty

References

External links

* [http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/slang/ Drug Slang & Terminology Vault]