# Pipeweed is NOT "weed" in LOTR! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipeweed-is-not-weed-in-lotr/219700 "2003-12-18T05:19:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipeweed-is-not-weed-in-lotr/219700/61 "2014-02-26T21:03:12Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Hmm, from your link: > > And I can attest to the fact that quickly smoking several cigarettes in a row can indeed get you high, albeit briefly. Yep. Tobacco has psychoactive properties that people nowadays don’t appreciate due to changing patterns of tobacco use. As I said back in 2003. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipeweed-is-not-weed-in-lotr/219700/62 "2014-02-26T21:08:51Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Brought to Middle-Earth by Cirvaltaralë…? No, it was the Riders of Roi-Tan. ---
**Author:** ![misterv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6f9a4e/32.png) [@misterv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterv)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipeweed-is-not-weed-in-lotr/219700/63 "2014-02-27T02:50:06Z")
Stoners have an amazing ability to relate anything to weed. The word ‘pipeweed’ is simply too easy. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipeweed-is-not-weed-in-lotr/219700/64 "2014-02-27T02:56:34Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > As others have said, I’m sure Tolkien intended pipe-weed to be tobacco or something analogous… but he certainly did not consider it to be devoid of psychoactive properties. In the piece called “The Hunt for the Ring” in _Unfinished Tales,_ Tolkien goes into some detail regarding the use of pipe-weed by Gandalf and Saruman. At first, Saruman was contemptuous of Gandalf’s use of the weed. At the meeting of the White Council in 2851, Saruman spoke against Gandalf’s advice to attack Dol Guldur; Gandalf sat and smoked in silence, which irritated Saruman, and he later said, “I wonder a little that you should play with your toys of fire and smoke, while others are in earnest speech.” Gandalf replied, “You would not wonder, if you used this herb yourself. You might find that smoke blown out cleared your mind of shadows within. Anyway, it gives patience, to listen to error without anger.” As we know, Saruman later became a regular user, but he attempted to keep this fact secret from Gandalf. Thanks for the reference, great post. Pretty much confirming my inclinations; this is not a reference to pot. Herbalism was/is a fairly wide practice and many plants have psychoactive properties. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipeweed-is-not-weed-in-lotr/219700/65 "2014-02-27T10:04:27Z")
> [@misterv](#): > > **Stoners have an amazing ability to relate anything to weed.** The word ‘pipeweed’ is simply too easy. A way in which super-keen enthusiasts for any pursuit or subject, tend to act… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pipeweed-is-not-weed-in-lotr/219700.md?page=3)