We're a small cohort, widely dispersed, and politically we run the spectrum. So we have to find niche issues that tweak the discussion. Since we are disproportionately older (pardon me young members) we should play the ageism card regularly. They're picking on a few million old gents and women who will rise to heaven of some other problem long before pipe tobacco gets any of us. Pipe smoking is an ingredient in sociability and we're more likely to do it, for the most part, than pot-holder weaving or model ship building (or you name it). We should harken to the historicity and tradition: pipe smoking is too difficult for others to pick up easily, so poses less of a threat. It's like Scottish dancing; some people love it and do it every week, but no one is getting crushed in the mob to join a class. It provides boutique businesses in out-of-the-way places where employment is otherwise thin. Take a look at where our online retailers are located, and add Sparta, N.C., Washington, Mo., and dozens of small communities that support artisanal carvers. We could get in front of the discussion with a Legalize Tobacco Pipe Smoking campaign with t-shirts and buttons. People might ask, "I thought tobacco pipe smoking was legal." Which gives us an opening to state our grievances. If gramps and grandmaw make enough of a fuss, it might be worth regulators' while to edit out the pipe tobacco regs and stick with pursuing vapes, which is the growth industry. The corporations which mostly started this regulatory momentum don't have a dog in this fight, so they wouldn't give a flip whether pipe smoking is boom or bust. And, as an aside, tobacco pipe smoking might be a safety value to vent off young folks who might want to have some outlet, without the high fashion and heavy marketing of other products.
