Pipe Smoking Study, It Doesn't Look Good.

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gerryp

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 8, 2018
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Arabi, LA
On a side note, a few years ago they banned smoking in bars in New Orleans, a city known around the world as a shining beacon of healthy, honest living, safety, temperance, and only the most wholesome of pursuits. Excuse me for a second.

Whew, I crack myself up sometimes. Anyway they banned smoking because of the hazards that 2nd hand smoke poses. This was funny because I worked in a bar on St. Charles Ave. for a while and every bartender as well as the majority of customers smoked.

I've always been skeptical of the amount of risk associated with 2nd hand smoke. Not that it's good for you, but it seems like it would take a LOT of 2nd hand smoke inhalation to equal the risk of regular inhaling. I know enough about statistics, which isn't all that much, to know that people can use certain wording to make risk seem higher than it is. For example, let's say a study finds that people who wear brown shoes are twice as likely to fall down stairs as people wearing black shoes. It sounds bad for brown shoe wearers. What they don't mention though is that the chance of someone wearing black shoes falling down stairs is 1 in 1000. 2 in 1000, or 1 in 500, doesn't sound so bad, but DOUBLE THE RISK! scares people.

Around the time the ban went into effect, I did a little informal poll for my 300ish Facebook "friends". I asked if anyone personally knew of one or more people, who, having ruled out any other causes such as smoking or exposure to asbestos or whatever, had documented health problems that were determined to have been caused by 2nd hand smoke. Not one single person knew anyone who matched that description. Of course this "poll" is not a scientific one and proves nothing, but still....not one single person?

I'm going to hang my hat on that Surgeon General report from the 60s that said pipe smokers had a slightly higher risk of some cancers, but had longer lifespans. I figure that's probably a good trade-off.
 
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brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,602
14,666
"I bought the ticket, I'm going on the ride."

Yes, of course sir...but first you'll just have to wait in the security line.

Please empty your pockets and place the contents in this container along with any other metal items you may have on your person, such as a belt buckle, jewelry, etc. Also, please remove your shoes and carry them with you until you have been cleared by security.

You will of course also observe the NO SMOKING ORDINANCE.

Thank you and we hope you enjoy your visit here on Planet Happy Time!

*Please visit our website to take our satisfaction poll for bonus points you can store up for a return trip.
 

weezell

Lifer
Oct 12, 2011
13,653
49,163
I'm going to hang my hat on that Surgeon General report from the 60s that said pipe smokers had a slightly higher risk of some cancers, but had longer lifespans. I figure that's probably a good trade-off.
Yea, I pull the blanket over my head and won't look under the bed at night to...rotf
 
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olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
Yes, of course sir...but first you'll just have to wait in the security line.

Please empty your pockets and place the contents in this container along with any other metal items you may have on your person, such as a belt buckle, jewelry, etc. Also, please remove your shoes and carry them with you until you have been cleared by security.

You will of course also observe the NO SMOKING ORDINANCE.

Thank you and we hope you enjoy your visit here on Planet Happy Time!

*Please visit our website to take our satisfaction poll for bonus points you can store up for a return trip.
**Don't forget you can win special prizes if you rat out anyone you see not complying with the ordinances; rewards are double if you turn in your parents or other relatives.
 
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gerryp

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 8, 2018
704
2,368
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Arabi, LA
Yea, I pull the blanket over my head and won't look under the bed at night to...rotf

Just remember, when people lecture you about pipe smoking you can tell them the Surgeon General said it's good for you. Or to go f*** themselves...either one works.
 

perdurabo

Lifer
Jun 3, 2015
3,305
1,575
Oh it matters where the money came from. But you nor I will find out. It’s when they find a Greta (poor child) that the shit gets real.
 
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unadoptedlamp

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 19, 2014
742
1,368
I'm glad that smoking has been banned in pubs and restaurants. Cigarette smoke smells awful to me. I'd never seen anyone smoking a pipe in those places, but even so, that would probably get pretty nasty too, with all the different combinations available.

As for working in a room where a dozen or more people are smoking, it should be obvious to anyone that you are going to inhale a load of second hand smoke which is inherently unhealthy. It makes sense. Unless it doesn't to you. Many servers are on the lower rungs of our economic scale and depend on these jobs to make a meagre income. I support those who need the work but do not want the obvious health risk. They've been shat on enough.

Times have changed and studies have consistently confirmed what we all know. That's how science works, and you truly are an idiot if you want to try and disagree with a mountain of research that has been done on this topic, because everyone has been well informed by now. Or, you are just an addict looking to justify an addiction. Then, you might as well print off those research papers and use them to wipe your butt.

Listen, we're all addicts here. Some are just straight up addicted to nicotine, while others are also addicted to the collection. Pipe smoking is really a double whammy.

There's no shame in admitting it.

Some people enjoy the addiction, while others do not and seek out ways to free themselves. There's always some people (very few) who chime in with their 1 bowl a day or week or whatever, but they do not have a grasp on what addiction is. We all justify it in our own way. Better to face it straight on and accept it or stop being an addict.

Nicotine is the single most addictive substance to mankind. You're fooling yourself it you think you're not in it's grasp. This is also science, accepted by anyone with the capacity to think logically.

If you really are not addicted, submit yourself to science because friend, you're going to make an absolute boat load of money when you contribute to the cure of nicotine addiction. Seriously. Your body is worth more than an equal pile of diamonds if that's really true.

But we all know it's not and these are always the backflips, contortions and other mental gymnastics of a nicotine addict.

So, really, for sure now. Your pipe smoking addiction is almost certainly (likely in the highest percentile) going to mess with your life at some point. Also most likely in a very unpleasant way. A study from the 1960's isn't going to change that.

We don't have a sticky page of all of the pipe smokers who have quit, suffered severe health consequences or died because it's uncomfortable and probably bad for advertising. But, having observed this forum for quite a few years now, I've seen a number of people go for these exact reasons. Hell... a tobacco blender has had his leg cut off because of this addiction (surprisingly common among nicotine addicts) and I'll bet $100 it's attributed to other reasons in places like this, despite the well known connection.

These threads are always amusing and pop up every few months. I just felt like laying it all out. Now I'll go smoke a pipe.
 

oldmooner

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 22, 2011
102
42
84
Sherman, Texas
I will be 80 in November (if I'm lucky) and have smoked a pipe for almost 60 of those years. Wonder how old I would be if I hadn't smoked? Longevity and general likelihood of most diseases is gene related. "Luck of the draw". It is too late for me to change my ways now-even if I wanted to.
 
I agree with ALL of you above. Whatever I wanted to say ... has been said (Mostly)

I will summarize
  1. Smoking puts you at a higher risk in terms of a lot of diseases
  2. Risk does not mean it is going to happen - It just measures the likelihood (Or probability) that it is going to happen. Just because it did not happen it you does not mean it will not happen to others
  3. Risky behavior often gives people pleasure - The onus is on you on how much risk to take and enjoy a boring life or a more fulfilling life. A ship is safe in the harbor but that’s not what ships were designed for
  4. Everything in moderation


.
 

gerryp

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 8, 2018
704
2,368
56
Arabi, LA
Good new everyone! Nicotine is not the most addictive substance in the world. At the very worst it's 3rd, behind heroin and cocaine. (Its exact position in the list differs depending on the source.) This probably isn't a newsflash to many of us.

I got a little chuckle from the post insisting that we are, without question, nicotine addicts for puffing on a couple bowls of pipe tobacco per day. I was reminded of the scene in "Half Baked" where Dave Chappelle, who's at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, tells the other attendees that he's addicted to marijuana. Bob Saget stands up and says, "Marijuana??? I used to s--- d--- for coke!!!"

Note: I didn't put the pipe smiley in my post, it appeared and won't go away.
 

unadoptedlamp

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 19, 2014
742
1,368
Very few addicts of any kind handle the confrontation with truth well. It is a normal response. Really, addiction is a fascinating topic that is absolutely worth reading a book or two on. You may even develop a little bit of compassion for the heroin junkie breaking into your car at night. Maybe.

We will pick apart anything to find humour, logical fallacies, anecdotes and any number of other coping mechanisms to deal with an (often) unpleasant reality. Most addicts are simply untruthful (again, a classic response to which I am also guilty) and I suspect a majority of people on this very forum have attempted to break their addiction at least once. The rest are probably liars.

My best guess about forum member turnover is that many members either die or quit.

Being addicted to something doesn't make you weak. You are just an addict. As we all are.

If you can find some joy in that, then it is fine. I just find these discussions amusing. Ask a pack of addicts about the drug that is killing or harming them and you get some very creative responses and special pleading! Am I the only one who finds that aspect of these discussions amusing?

I guess I can just laugh at myself, as I have said and thought many of the comments already posted here. It's textbook classic, and I was amused to find it in myself as well.

I'm a piper! I have a nice collection of both pipes and tobacco. But I don't kid myself about the true motivation behind all of this.

Simply achieving longevity isn't a prize. My grandfather lived a long time and smoked cigarettes until he died. He was a slim guy, had great genes, and lived a "full" life. Most addicts looking to justify it would stop there and say 87 years! 87! Can you believe it? He had all of his wits and could move around ok.

But that doesn't mean he didn't have some health issues which were brought on by his addiction that would have been far more pleasant to live without in the remaining few years. For some people, it's all worth it. In those last few years, most people, especially if they're no longer addicted, experience regret.

His son is over 70 now and cycles 20km a day, in-between days of working out. He's an absolute machine and is in peak condition. Far healthier than the majority of people half his age... by a long shot. He'd kick a 20 year old's ass any day. He may also die when he's 87, but his experience will be far different.

And really, that's the point. We love to laugh, poke holes, say "what about Joe?," and do all kinds of other things to avoid the truth. None of us want to end up with a crippling disease that makes the last decade or so of our life shit and we'd do just about anything humanly possible to avoid that, except stop ingesting one of the most highly addictive substances known to man (see what I did there?). But, unfortunately, that's what awaits.

But, such is the life of an addict. Just call it what it is. That's all.
 
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