Hobby vs. Habit: Pipe Smoking

[admin]

An interesting discussion came about in the comments section of my last editorial published early August.
Please scroll down to the last comments at the below link, starting with a long one by doctorthoss made on Oct 7 at 6:01 pm.
I thought only old geezers smoked a pipe like a cigarette smoker smokes a cigarette - mainly, or solely for the nicotine. When it comes to cigars vs. cigarettes, it seems clear that cigars are solely smoked for the flavor and cigarettes for the nicotine. I thought pipes were just like cigars in that respect, but I am being told no.
Please read the comments first, then chime in here ... and over there too with a copy / paste.
http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/kevins-blog/here-we-go-again-ridiculous-melodramatic-absurdity-disguised-as-facts/comment-page-1/

 

[jsiddle]

I read most of his post... before I got bored lol...
I suppose you can get addicted to the nicotine and smoke a pipe for it... but at that point, once its become a habit just for the nicotine, you would think that person would change to a cigarette since its "easier"...
I dont ever see myself getting addicted to the nicotine... I might get addicted to the hobby of pipe smoking for its flavor and relaxation... but I will never be addicted to nicotine where I couldnt drop it like a bad habit... pun intended

 

[mangers]

I am a ex cigarette smoker and the pipe is what helped me quit. I smoke a pipe for the different flavors available with pipe tobacco, but I must admit that if the tobacco I smoke is a mild blend with a low nictine content I am left unsatisfied. So with that said, I mainly smoke blends that contain a good nic hit. I don't collect pipes, I have 15 pipes and they are nothing special except to me. The tobacco I have on hand is minimal also, although I have been stocking up with my favorite blends here of late. I don't consider my pipe smoking a hobby, I guess I would call it a habit.

 

[sjpipesmoker]

Jsiddle, you should go back and read doctorthoss post, it's very interesting.
I have to agree with him, ANYONE who uses any sort of nicotine delivery system is in some way addicted to nicotine. People only smoke certain pipe tobaccos because of the heavy dose of "Vitamin N", like doc was saying, read the tobacco reviews, if that doesn't say anything about addiction, then I don't know what does.
I also smoke cig's, and at time I need a quick "fix" so I have a cig, other times when I have the time to relax I grab my pipe and the craving is over because I got my nicotine from the pipe.
I doesn't bother me that I need nicotine. If I didn't I wouldn't smoke. I don't like the way It smells and I don't like that, at least here in California, we are mostly looked at like were aliens because we choose to smoke.

 

[shawn622]

Here is the deal with me. I dipped Copenhagen for 24 years. I smoked cigarettes very lightly for 6 years. It was a way to quit dipping. And it worked. I started smoking a pipe out of sheer curiosity. I used to inhale my pipe a little bit at first, but now, unless it is an accident, I don't inhale, now I do not have the NEED for nicotine. I just smoke my pipe when I have time. It slows me down and takes my focus off of everyday life struggles. So I don't believe I am a nicotine addict anymore, But I sure do have an obsession with pipes and tobacco. lol

 

[fshu2]

a habit is done habitually hence the name i for one do have my daily smokes but this weekend did not touch my pipes not only did i not touch them i did not even think about smoking them. i do not think it is fair or accurate to say that any one who uses a nicotine delivery system is in some way addicted to it. that would be like saying any one who drinks a glass of wine is in some way addicted to it.

 

[numbersix]

I think I agree with parts of both of your arguments. If we're mainly talking about hobby versus habit, I think it's a combination of both.
I am not "addicted" to nicotine, but I do enjoy a nic kick now and then (and my impression on this forum is most here do too). But I also agree that cigarettes are much more akin to a nicotine delivery system than pipe smoking.
I also think it's a reasonable to point out that luxury tobaccos are not laden with chemicals and thus not as addicting and not as bad for you. But it's an tough argument to win (regardless of its merits) since "all tobacco is bad" is the mantra of the day. People too often dismiss the complexity or grey areas in an argument and like to reduce everything to a simple black and white interpretation of "right and wrong".

 

[mick]

Habit and hobby need not be mutually exclusive terms. One just needs to look at the gourmet food industry to see how a hobby can be made from a necessary habit.
Also, certainly both types of smokers exist: those who smoke pipes as a nicotine delivery service and those who have no prior smoking experience who want to enjoy the hobby (c'est moi!). Smoking a pipe for me is like drinking beer; I like to try all different kinds, but I'm not trying to get my buzz on. :lol: Both of them, I could live without (physiologically), but I don't want to because I enjoy it.

 

[jsiddle]

But I also agree that cigarettes are much more akin to a nicotine delivery system than pipe smoking.

This!

I also think it's a reasonable to point out that luxury tobaccos are not laden with chemicals and thus not as addicting and not as bad for you

This too!

now I do not have the NEED for nicotine. I just smoke my pipe when I have time. It slows me down and takes my focus off of everyday life struggles. So I don't believe I am a nicotine addict anymore, But I sure do have an obsession with pipes and tobacco. lol

This This!

 

[jsiddle]

It's like saying all beer drinkers are addicted to beer...
Ok ya, so I have a beer every now and then, but that doesnt make me addicted

 

[voorhees]

I do not smoke for the nicotine. I do not like the way it makes me feel in heavy doses like cigarettes can(smoked maybe 10 nails ever). I'm sure I get it in small amounts from pipe or cigar smoking, but its minimal. I keep about 40-50 ciagrs on hand and several pipe tobaccos as well. I enjoy the pipe/cigar smoking process and the potential for relaxation that comes with it. Same with spirits/cocktails...which I keep on hand as well.

-Jason

 

[jbbaldwin]

I’m 39 and started smoking a pipe as a teenager.
It would seem I have a need for nicotine; I also like chewing tobacco and snuff, but gave those up years ago mostly out of fear of oral cancer - remember Ryan what’s-his-name who died at a young age in the 1980’s and was the (marred) face of the anti-tobacco campaigns of the time? It was a habit I could take or leave.
I could also take or leave pipe smoking for a number of years as the only tobaccos I knew were aromatics; I learned some years later that I don’t like aromatics. This, combined with the fact I couldn’t smoke indoors, led me to cigarettes as a college student.
Simultaneously being introduced to pipe tobacco I enjoyed and becoming unhappy with the way my house smelled from cigarettes (not to mention the amount it was costing to make it smell that way) caused my to return to the pipe, and I am a happy pipe-smoker.
All of this is to say that during the past 25 years I have never been without some tobacco product or other. I believe I have a nicotine addiction (maybe not pathological like a heroin addiction would be) along the same lines of my caffeine addiction: I have a need to consume those compounds but I can function without them. They make my days more pleasant but are not, in themselves, dangerous to my health (depending on which studies one reads).
While I think the insidiousness of cigarettes is in the other chemicals added by their manufacturers and while I prefer to smoke a pipe, I also think we should not allow ourselves to be fragmented (dare I say balkanized?) into warring groups of tobacco-users. Internecine conflicts will not help any of us.

 

[johncorosz]

While I think the insidiousness of cigarettes is in the other chemicals added by their manufacturers and while I prefer to smoke a pipe, I also think we should not allow ourselves to be fragmented (dare I say balkanized?) into warring groups of tobacco-users. Internecine conflicts will not help any of us.

I couldn't agree more. I noticed in my travels there are many pipe smokers who seek the highest nicotine levels under the phrase "real tobacco taste" and each time I smoke those blends I can tell they have high nic. content due to the buzz I get. I also am a cigarette smoker so the nic. debate means nothing to me. I am just offended when I get "blown off" as a pipe smoker because I prefer aromatics versus the heavy blends. I smoke a pipe for the flavor, the process of smoking it and preparing it and finally the overall mood it puts me in. I feel more relaxed, not like I need a fix the way cigs do and I would like to think it makes me more reflective of my thoughts.

 

[sjpipesmoker]

I usually only smoke 2 bowls a day, once on the way to work and the other on the way home. My drive is about 30 minutes, a perfect time for me to relax so I can start my day and relax after my shift. It's a habit for me to smoke at those 2 times and I look forward to it. Like Fshu2 said, I also can go days and not smoke my pipe. I'm more addicted to cigs and less the pipe. Some pipe smokers smoke for the nicotine and others do not.

 

[juvat270]

Just my two cents...
I smoked cigarettes for 18 years. Started in 1989 when I was 13 years old and finally quit in 2007. Around 1997, I also started chewing tobacco. If and when I couldn't smoke, I had a pinch in my cheek. I quit chewing in 2000. That same year I bought my first pipe and have been smoking a pipe ever since.
The biggest difference I've noticed between the three: I don't crave my pipe in the same way that I did with cigarettes and chew. When I smoked cigs and chewed, I NEEDED a cigarette or chew. The first thing I did when I woke up was light a cigarette. It was like I couldn't function, I couldn't do anything until I had that initial cigarette. Shower, shave, brush my teeth, not until I had a smoke first. When I went to work, I HAD to have a cigarette before I started. Same with chew, it was a craving that put everything else on hold until it was satisfied.
With pipes, I find that I never have that craving or "need" to smoke. I certainly crave the flavor of my favorite blends in the same way that at times you crave a certain food for dinner or something to drink. But its never a "oh man I need to smoke" feeling. I can and have gone weeks without touching my pipe and that addictive craving never showed up.
Thats why, for me at least, pipes are a hobby; not an addiction. I would concede that perhaps 'habit' could be used in place of hobby. But I could never call my pipe smoking an addiction. It's not.

 

[sixmp]

I am an ex-smoker and i was totally addicted to nicotine (naturally)

I managed to quit cigarettes and after a few months i started pipe smoking.

I was very aware of the fact that there could be a high chance or becoming addicted again so i was very careful of any signs of craving that may show up.

Around a year has passed and i have smoked roughly 3-4 bowls of pipe tobacco a day practically every day. While smoking these bowls i feel relaxed (one of the effects of nicotine) and as a bowl lasts me around 2 hours and i have 3-4 a day i find i am relaxed pretty much the whole day.

I have had days where i have not smoked any tobacco and suffered no cravings or side effects of nicotine withdrawal. Does this mean i am not addicted? or does it mean my addiction is so low that the withdrawal effect going on in my body has no noticeable effects?

The reason i ask is because people have different levels of addiction, some will go crazy if they cannot get their fix and others just wont seem to notice and will look as though they are not addicted.

I say this because in my mind everyone must be effected in the same kind of way by a drug. Various things will effect how each person is effected be it weight or how much nicotine they take in etc.

With that taken in to account people who smoke pipes and pipe tobacco and do not inhale smoke are taking in far less nicotine than a cigarette smoker.

So if i were to guess i would say that everyone who takes in nicotine regularly must be addicted to some degree and because our perception of it is distorted we expect addicts to be all crazed people running around stressed out of their heads trying to get that next fix when in reality this is not always the case.

 

[captainprophesy]

Anything done over and over will eventually become habit... thats in anything that we do in life, be it exercise to pipe smoking and everything in between.
now for the addiction part of the thread.... again as my previous statement, anything can become addictive... people can become addicted to gambling, drinking (alcohol or non alcohol) ... hell people can become addicted to masterbating! ..... all it takes is for someone to be "broken" in a sense or of a weak mind. They use whatever it is they are addicted to to compensate for whatever is missing in their lives.
Cigarettes are addictive not so much because of the nicotine (of which I just read somewhere that nicotine can be beneficial to your health in small amounts) but because of the over 4000 shitty chemicals they add to cigarettes.
...and yes we smoke a pipe for the nicotine, thats why we smoke tobacco. We just smoke it in this manner because we either like the ritual of prepping the pipe and or because it's slower than a cigarette and we can "enjoy" it more... but in the end we smoke tobacco in our pipes for the nicotine!

 

[juvat270]

...and yes we smoke a pipe for the nicotine, thats why we smoke tobacco. We just smoke it in this manner because we either like the ritual of prepping the pipe and or because it's slower than a cigarette and we can "enjoy" it more... but in the end we smoke tobacco in our pipes for the nicotine!

Nope. Sorry. If pipe tobacco had zero nicotine in it I would still smoke it.

 

[lankfordjl]

Remember...

(1) An individual can be addicted to anything, ANYTHING! You name it...anything.

(2) Psychological addiction is just as strong as a chemical addiction. This has been confirmed time and time again.
I can only speak for myself (and I suppose I am unique). I have tried pipes, cigars, and nasal snuff (though never cigs)...all without ever feeling anything... that is, I've never felt a nicotine "kick"...nothing. I have tried to use them to excess for the very purpose of feeling the nicotine effect...no luck. So, I can say for sure I smoke a pipe as a hobby; it is aesthetically pleasing to me; pipes are an art form. I don't smoke much, but when I do, it's for quiet time or me time or reflection. ::

 

[mlaug]

We had a similar discussion last summer:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/hobby-versus-addiction#post-250207
Personally, I gave up pipes for 15 years while my daughters were small. It was easy to quit. I missed it, but more for the comfort of the taste of favorite blends than N withdrawal. I usually avoid heavy N blends anyway and have never smoked cigerettes so I don't feel I have an physical addiction to nicotene.