Umm...this may be a stupid question, but did you actually fill the lighter with butane?

Another stupid question: Did you get a different butane lighter when you tried the 20x? A regular lighter won't work.

Salvia is definitely not a sham. I can't speak on behalf of this specific website, but the 15x I had worked on me and everyone who tried it (about 10 different people). It didn't work on one guy at first, but we found out later he wasn't doing it right. You have to inhale really hard, also.

Your homemade bong might have some problems as well, but I have no reason to think so. Just trying to think what could have gone wrong.