# I won't smoke a ham, but I'll smoke that Salem! Re Vegans who smoke cigarettes **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 18, 2005, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721 "2005-10-18T07:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AThingWithFeathers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@AThingWithFeathers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AThingWithFeathers)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721/21 "2005-10-18T23:43:44Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > OTOH, I once had dinner with a vegan and had a burger (this was years ago, before I was a vegetarian) and he made faces and snide remarks about my dinner. **Recalling a conversation on veganism on the SDMB, I asked him if he ate honey. He said yes, and when I pointed out it was an animal product, he insisted that bees weren’t animals, they’re _insects_.** I have a friend who’s a vegan, and I asked her this very same question. Her reasoning is that the bees aren’t being harmed in the beekeeping environment, unlike how the cows in the milk industry are “bred for milking and cramped into stalls.” She also tried to give up cigarrettes for awhile, but _that_ lasted a week. OTOH, she’s the only vegan/vegetarian I know who smokes on a regular basis. Also, apparently American Spirits don’t use [animal testing](http://www.smokinganimals.com/aspirit.html). (Not an unbiased site by any means, but it is clearly run by vegetarian/anti-animal testing people.) ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721/22 "2005-10-19T00:19:18Z")
Hey, anybody want to be fascinated by bees and honey? Read [Robbing the bees](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743250214/qid=1129681100/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-7531102-0708661?v=glance&s=books)! I really enjoyed it (finished it yesterday), and learned a ton about bees. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721/23 "2005-10-19T00:34:46Z")
I went to the University of Michigan (“The Harvard of the West, the Berkeley of the East”) in the late '80s. We had amazingly large numbers of vegetarians who smoked, and didn’t believe in bathing all that often either. You could tell them by the slight brown pallor over their skin and clothing before you got close enough to smell them. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721/24 "2005-10-19T00:40:48Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > You are assuming that they did not grow their own tobacco in the garden, dry it in the shed, cure it and then roll their own. Isn’t it illegal to grow your own tobacco? Something about the commerce clause? Or maybe licensure… ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721/25 "2005-10-19T01:05:04Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Isn’t it illegal to grow your own tobacco? Something about the commerce clause? Or maybe licensure… No, tobacco isn’t controolled the way, say peanuts are. You may grow tobacco if you like and try to sell it at auction. It’s simply that the people who do this really know what they’re doing. What you’re smoking in a cigarette is as far removed from anything found in nature as a dachshund. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721/26 "2005-10-19T02:22:02Z")
> [@AThingWithFeathers](#): > > I have a friend who’s a vegan, and I asked her this very same question. Her reasoning is that the bees aren’t being harmed in the beekeeping environment, unlike how the cows in the milk industry are “bred for milking and cramped into stalls.” > > She also tried to give up cigarettes for awhile, but _that_ lasted a week. OTOH, she’s the only vegan/vegetarian I know who smokes on a regular basis. Also, apparently American Spirits don’t use [animal testing](http://www.smokinganimals.com/aspirit.html). (Not an unbiased site by any means, but it is clearly run by vegetarian/anti-animal testing people.) [First-Ever"Cruelty-Free" Smokes Hailed by PETA](http://www.smokinganimals.com/aspirit.html) A cruelty free…_cigarette!_ Yes, we stand proudly on moral principle in refusing to inflict the deadly compounds and gases that result from burning tobacco on the lungs of poor, helpless animals, so smoke American Spirits and be confident you’ve chosen the ethical smoke! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721/27 "2005-10-19T02:50:09Z")
In all fairness to vegans, it’s pretty damned hard to keep a ham lit. ---
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721/28 "2005-10-19T15:21:24Z")
Aside from any sort of coolness/trend factor that might be associated with smoking/going veggie, could the appetite suppression induced by smoking play a part? ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721/29 "2005-10-19T16:21:18Z")
**Stonebow** , why would that matter? Vegans aren’t by their nature any hungrier than other people. I guess the real issue is WHY someone doesn’t eat meat. If it’s for health reasons, yeah, it doesn’t make sense that they use tobacco. But if it’s animal cruelty, there really is no logical disconnect here. People don’t always give up meat for the same reasons. Please keep that in mind! ---
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721/30 "2005-10-19T16:40:53Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > **Stonebow** , why would that matter? Vegans aren’t by their nature any hungrier than other people. It matters as a means to regulate food cravings. Meat is tasty, and usually smells really good when cooked. If a committed vegan had to associate with meat-eaters, why not employ something to diminish the natural reaction to otherwise tasty food? Also, don’t underestimate the social aspect of this. Food sharing is a vital human interaction, one that many vegans (and veggies of any stripe) get cut out of…and I’ve noticed that smoking is a very social activity as well. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721/31 "2005-10-19T18:12:06Z")
Ah, I see. I still think it depends on why they give up meat. Personally, I hate steak. So I don’t have to worry about craving it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wont-smoke-a-ham-but-ill-smoke-that-salem-re-vegans-who-smoke-cigarettes/326721.md?page=1)