Have you noticed something slightly unexpected appearing on Carshalton High Street?
Bongs.
Yes, those glass smoking devices that you might once have associated with student bedrooms, festivals or rather more alternative corners of society are now being sold on the High Street.
So what’s a bong, exactly?
It’s basically a pipe with a chamber of water. Smoke is pulled down through the water before it’s inhaled. The water cools the smoke and makes it feel smoother and less harsh on the throat and lungs. It also catches some of the particles in the smoke – although it certainly doesn’t make smoking safe.
Bongs are most commonly associated with cannabis – the drug made from the cannabis plant – although smoking accessories can have other uses too.
And it’s not necessarily all about traditional smoking. Some devices can be used with vapes, while others are designed for “dry herb” – simply plant material that’s heated rather than burned, producing vapour instead of smoke.
What about CBD?
Then there’s CBD. You may have seen that popping up everywhere too. CBD is a substance naturally found in the cannabis plant, but unlike THC – the ingredient responsible for the cannabis “high” – CBD doesn’t make you intoxicated. It’s now sold in products such as oils, gummies and creams.
So is everyone suddenly smoking cannabis?
Actually, no.
The latest figures suggest cannabis use in England and Wales has fallen slightly.
What seems to have changed is how visible the whole culture around smoking and vaping has become.
The old-fashioned tobacconist has increasingly been replaced by the vape and smoking-accessory shop. These shops can now sell a surprisingly wide range of products – from vapes and rolling papers to grinders, pipes and bongs.
Cannabis itself remains illegal for recreational use in the UK, but references to cannabis are everywhere in music, social media and popular culture. Meanwhile, legal CBD products have helped make cannabis-related products seem much less unusual.
So perhaps the bong on Carshalton High Street doesn’t mean Carshalton has suddenly become a hotbed of cannabis use.
It may simply be another sign of how much the high street – and our attitudes towards smoking and vaping – have changed.
Still, a bong in a Carshalton shop window? That’s probably not something many of us would have predicted 20 years ago.
