The moderation of an addiction.

[newbroom]

I'm 66 yrs old and have been addicted to tobacco since I was in grammar school. It's my contention that once the link has been established in your brain, nicotine receptors of some sort may lay dormant, but they are always there waiting for your weakest moment. I've quit smoking for over 5 yrs. at least 3x. I'm talking about cigs now.
A moment of severe stress and I'm back to the nicotine. It doesn't take much to open that flood gate. Cost became a motivator, along with a guilt that stemmed back (npi) to my early exposure to the 10 commandments motivating me to stop, along with the fear of cancer.
So, to summarize, I have been addicted to fear and guilt for a very long time as I have fought to satisfy those demon nicotine receptors.
Now along comes a corn cob pipe. Not the first I've ever smoked, of course, but the first I've learned to appreciate. It takes some of us more time to arrive at those epiphanies that one discovers along with moderation.

A pipe, I've deduced, not only eliminates having to deal with the paper, it will automatically moderate your smoking experience.
I know that a lot of you are laughing your asses off right now. Moderation?....I've been reading these forums rather voraciously to learn about the subject(s) of pipes and tobacco. I have read about your obsessions first hand. I can see that the concept of moderation is subjective.
What I'm talking about is one's very approach to tobacco changes with a pipe. Sipping a smoke rather than taking a drag is a giant step for mankind.
The complexities of pipes and tobaccos, remind me of those you'd examine if you were an oenophile or cheese enthusiast. Variety is the spice of life.
Today, after about 6 weeks of pipe smoking, using Sir Walter Raleigh as my primary smoke, I'm expecting my first two new Peter Stockebye blends...I've read reviews and more reviews...looked at costs..and ordered some of what I know will be another big step toward pipe enjoyment.
I haven't been sitting around smoking my cob either. I jumped into the fray by winning a couple of bids for pipes on ebay. Two of those I acquired are clunkers I could have avoided with earlier exposure to this website, but it isn't like I bought one of those phony $$$ meerschaums...I can or could likely sell them back on the bay...but for now...I'm willing to wait.
I've learned something about moderation and impulse since I had the impulse to buy a pipe.

 

[terry]

For me, nicotine takes a backseat when it comes to pipe tobacco..I enjoy aromatics and they seem to have very little nicotine in them..I do not have nicotine cravings from smoking the blends I enjoy. I have dipped/chewed tobacco products in the past and was very addicted to those products. I've quit all other forms of tobacco except for pipe tobacco. I only smoke my pipes about once or twice a day and I may go for a week or more with out smoking my pipe. I have learned to enjoy my pipe tobacco for what I feel is the way pipe tobacco was ment to be used, slow enjoyable and relaxing aroma and taste. ::

 

[newbroom]

I have learned to enjoy my pipe tobacco for what I feel is the way pipe tobacco was ment to be used, slow enjoyable and relaxing aroma and taste.

I'm learning. It can't be ALL bad.

 

[andystewart]

Welcome to the forum newbroom! Glad to hear you're beating the cigarettes. I've never taken any other form of nicotine than pipe tobacco but I know about wanting the drug. The time and pace involved in pipe-smoking control the frequency with which I smoke and the variety of pipes and tobacco lend an enjoyment and variation I wouldn't get with cigarettes. Could I stop now? Probably not. Do I want or need to? Absolutely not! I don't drink or gamble and very rarely eat junk food. I exercise regularly. I am content.
Andy

 

[fadingdaylight]

Great post newbroom. As a 20 year cigarette smoker, I can relate on the nicotine addiction issue. I have severe anxiety issues, and I find myself reaching for cigarettes as soon as it starts coming on. However, once I finally got serious about pipes, about 6 months ago, my overall anxiety level improved quite a bit. The ritualistic aspects of the pipe help bring an overall calm to my life. Choosing a tobacco, choosing a pipe, prepping and drying out the tobacco, packing, lighting, tamping, sipping. It is a very soothing hobby.
Even with the PAD/TAD attacks, I spend less on pipe stuff than cigarettes. I started out with briars, and recently fell in love with cobs. I can buy up cobs regularly without feeling a dent to the wallet, or an evil eye from the misses.

 

[newbroom]

Could I stop now? Probably not. Do I want or need to? Absolutely not! I don't drink or gamble and very rarely eat junk food. I exercise regularly. I am content.

First off, thank you for the kind welcome. This is a wonderfully friendly forum and I realize that the subject matter is essential to its civilization.

I admire your Presbyterian ethics regarding drinking,gambling, and junk food. I've managed to avoid at least the junk food and the gambling. I do enjoy a couple of glasses of red wine in the afternoon as well as other non alcoholic inebriates.

You hit upon the motive for my little spiel when you embraced your pipe smoking with out guilt or fear. I think that's what I've discovered too. I feel as if my tobacco experience is now one I can not only live with, but that it will enhance the quality of my life. How's that for an endorsement of pipe smoking?

I just re-read the last two sentences and thought...or is it rather a comment on the quality of my life? heh heh

 

[pruss]

Welcome aboard, newbroom. Hell of a journey you're on, pal. But there are lots of us on the same highway.
I can relate to the fear, anxiety, guilt, and I'll throw anger in there, pieces around dealing with addiction. I was a pack a day smoker for over ten years, and was unapologetic about it. Then I started really feeling the physiological effects of the smoking, and was newly married, and managed to kick the cigs. That was tough. Freakishly tough. I didn't smoke anything for six years, and then I came back to the pipe.
When I came back to pipe smoking I was afraid of becoming hooked, needy, addicted to smoking again. This hasn't been the case for me. As fadingdaylight aptly puts it, the ritual of preparing, lighting and enjoying a pipe have helped preserve smoking a pipe as a meditative indulgence. The fact that a pipe isn't an instant gratification smoke certainly helps me rationalize it as a completely separate and different experience from firing up a cigarette.
Now, at eighteen months back in to pipes, I have no fear, anxiety, guilt around smoking a pipe, nor any misconception about it potentially leading me back to cigarettes. That just isn't going to be my road.
Enjoy your exploration of new tobaccos, pipes and smoking techniques. I look forward to reading your posts.
-- Pat

 

[mso489]

It's hard to tell if/when you're hooked with a pipe. I smoke a bowl a day, but not every day, and several bowls on

occasion. I don't go for a nicotine buzz. I don't think my mood or stress changes if I take a few days off. But

I do notice my will can get subverted, when I decided I don't have time to smoke "today," and then do anyway.

I've never smoked cigarettes enough to buy any. I spent years not smoking, decades, really, when my late

wife quit cigarettes, to help her stay off them. Stayed off until my living wife had a health crisis and I needed

a way to relax between care-taking duties. Considering genetics, I had a dad who chain smoked a pipe and

cigars from age 13 or so until he was 65 and quit cold turkey. My mom smoked cigarettes, but so little that all

packs of cigarettes went stale before she ever finished them. It's like "alcoholism" or "alcohol troubles," very

ambiguous and not well defined. I think you can be hooked on very few bowls, and not hooked smoking quite

a bit; the difficulty is knowing where you are with it, and the pipe smoker isn't a good judge of his/her own habit.

 

[mso489]

newbroom, I'd be glad to recommend some quality inexpensive briar pipes for your consideration, but I

hate to offer these suggestions gratuitously because many Forums members are into up-market pipes

and don't want to read my dissertations on the splendors of the $23 to $70 pipes.

 

[cigrmaster]

newbroom, welcome to the forum and thanks for your well though out post above. I have an addictive personality and have known this for many many years. I make sure that it does not get in the way of my responsibilities, so when I do buy my pipes and tobacco, I do so guilt free.
I believe every pipe smoker who was a cigarette smoker should never feel guilty about their pipes or tobacco as the cigarettes cost way more and do so much more damage to your self and to your family. Enjoy your new world and remember, every new pipe smoker should own at least one of these pipes.

http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/rasmussen/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=141241
I happen to own ten from this maker and love them all. Now if you believe this, I have a certain bridge that begins with the name Brooklyn, that I would like to possibly sell to you. lol

 

[newbroom]

Thanks everyone for your helpful and considerate responses.

Cigrmaster, that is a beautiful pipe, no doubt about it.

I just got my first Peter Stokkebye in. It changes the entire paradigm. I got some Luxury Bullseye Flake and some Peaches and Creme...hadn't tried any aromatics from an OTC source thinking that I might not enjoy them from having tried some many many years ago...but I put my trust in this here website and so far I'm very glad I did.

I'm not buying bridges today, at least not intentionally.