Once lockdowns and travel restrictions were finally lifted the world went a bit travel crazy. Flights everywhere were booked solid. Places like Paris went from virtually no tourists in 2020 and 2021 to record-breaking tourist numbers in 2022. Other popular destinations saw similar explosions in tourist numbers as people just wanted to get the hell out of their houses and reacquaint themselves with the world. Here at the Puffr wholesale head shop, we’ve talked to a lot of customers who have either recently been abroad or have imminent plans to travel and a lot of them have the same question: Can I take a bong or glass pipe on an airplane? Below, we’ll take a close look at that question.

Can You Take a Weed Pipe on an International Flight?

Ironically, it would have been much easier to answer this question 25 years ago. At that time nearly every country on earth considered marijuana a potentially dangerous, controlled substance. So the answer would have been a simple “No”. Today, it’s not so straightforward.

While many states in the US have legalized pot for personal use others have not, and marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance in the eyes of the federal government. In addition, while countries such as Thailand have recently decriminalized marijuana, leading to a thriving open-air pot market on the streets of Bangkok, other hot tourist destinations like France maintain some of the strictest marijuana laws in the developed world (outside of Japan, but Japan is still closed to most tourists).

So if you live in a state where it’s legal to smoke weed you may assume that everyone everywhere shares your joy and enthusiasm that pot laws have finally caught up with reality. But you’d be wrong. Taking a bong or customized water pipe on an international flight will be problematic at best and may get you in very hot water with customs in the country you’re traveling to.

Our Wholesale Head Shop Staff Offer Their Advice

First off, nothing has changed regarding a person’s ability to carry marijuana on a plane for either a domestic or international flight. It’s simply not allowed unless you have a verifiable doctor’s order.

Likewise, if you’ve bought a bunch of wholesale glass pipes and you try to bring them to another country with the intention of selling them or giving them to friends and acquaintances, you're very likely to be snagged at security in the US and have your pipes confiscated. You might also find yourself in significant legal hot water.

However, when it comes to individual pieces of weed paraphernalia like bongs and glass pipes, things are not so cut and dry. While the laws in many countries are still stuck in the 20th century, enforcement of those laws has become decidedly uneven.

For instance, you may arrive at Charles de Gaulle outside Paris with a bong in your bag and nobody bothers you. Someone else on another flight may be pulled aside by French customs and subjected to everything, including a body cavity search if customs suspects the person is carrying weed.

In addition, even if you got your custom bong all the way to Europe without incident and used it while there, again without incident, you may very well be snagged by US customs when you try to re-enter the country and be subjected to the third degree.

Is There a Way to Minimize the Risk?

Here are a few tips the travel veterans at our wholesale smoke shop offer for reducing the risk of getting in trouble by trying to take a weed pipe on a plane.

Carry only a single item

It may be tempting to purchase large quantities of our beautiful wholesale glass pipes and try to transport them to Europe to sell, but that’s a recipe for disaster. There are, after all, still anti-drug paraphernalia laws in place worldwide. Trying to bring 50 glass pipes into Heathrow (if you can get them past US security) is asking for trouble. Confine yourself to carrying a single pipe or bong.

Clean your bong or glass pipe well

You may find sympathetic security and customs officials who aren’t freaked out over a bong in your bag. However, if that bong contains cannabis residue, that’s a whole other story. You can avoid this potential pitfall by cleaning the hell out of your weed pipe before you pack it away. That way, if they open your bag to check out the pipe they won’t have any cause to invoke anti-drug laws.

Don’t try to hide anything

If you decide to risk it and transport your bong or glass pipe to another country with you there’s a 50/50 chance it will make it and you won’t get in trouble. Especially if the pipe is thoroughly cleaned. However, if you try to hide the pipe inside a cut-out book or a sock inside a shoe or some other way, and the authorities find it, you’ll raise all kinds of red flags with them. That’s called “artful concealment” and it tells customs you have something more to hide.

The best approach is to keep the pipe where it can be easily detected and then answer any questions if/when it’s found. Remember to stay calm and simply accept it if they take the pipe from you.

We hope you found this information helpful. For the widest selection of glass pipes, check out the Puffr wholesale smoke shop.