Old thread but a good one. Smoking with a laser can certainly be done as safely and conveniently as using a butane lighter. You just need the right type of laser. Certainly not a regular type burning laser pointer, they're too dangerous, awkward to hold and don't work very well for our purpose.
I have been smoking herb with a laser device for a very long time and it is far better than using a normal lighter. And no I don't need safety glasses when using it. This laser lights up an entire bowl in under 5 seconds however for this laser to cause eye damage, you would need to point it directly at someone's eyes from less than 2 inches away, making it safer than a jet/torch lighter. There are multiple factors in the laser design which make this a possibility but it basically works like a solar hit in the way it focuses light hence reflections are not dangerous. I use this laser with all glass bongs and glass cone pieces and have never used any form of eye protection as it is simply not needed. In fact this is significantly safer than solar hits because the dot is not as bright and does not contain UV light. When I used to do solar hits I would wear sun glasses since the dot is blindingly bright and I believe that looking at that dot too much can do damage over time. This laser puts out pure red light with no UV or infra-red and when using it to hit a bowl you don't look at the red dot of light because the laser device blocks it from view.
Pros of using a laser:
Much more efficient. As in you use less herb and get bigger hits.
Tastes far better than using anything else. Actually makes hits taste a lot smoother and I might even say creamier. When comparing to a lighter after months of using a laser you will notice the difference like night and day and will never want to use a lighter again.
Much more reliable than a lighter. Works every time, never had a failed start, you press the button and the laser works, no exceptions. Also the long life of red laser diodes means it will last several hundred years of daily use or at least a lifetime.
Completely wind proof.
Bong water will not develop that rotten smell that we all know of as the smell of bong water. Even when the bong water is totally black, it has a neutral smell rather than a completely gross smell. That is something I found very interesting about using a laser and it tells me that this is a much cleaner way to light up.
