# Tobacco Pipes?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tobacco-pipes/311226>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 6, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tobacco-pipes/311226 "2005-07-06T02:00:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tobacco-pipes/311226/1 "2005-07-06T02:00:54Z")

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So, I was surfing the web, and came accross a website about tobacco pipes, and it mentioned that, when done in moderation, smoking pipe tobacco is healthier than cigarettes, cigars, or chew because it keeps the tobbaco itself farther away from your mouth (thus no lip or gum cancer from having the tobbaco resting against the inside of your mouth)

I can kinda buy that, but it also said that, when done in moderation, that smoking pipe tobacco can actually provide certian health benefits. The thing that makes this a bit harder for me to buy is that every site I saw this claim on, they were also selling tobacco pipes.

So Dopers, is there any information out there on the relative benefits/risks of pipe smoking as opposed to other forms of tobacco use? Assuming only moderate (once a month to once a week at most) use here.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tobacco-pipes/311226/2 "2005-07-06T04:17:28Z")

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There is a good deal of bad science and antique folklore in that. There’s the assumption that pipe smokers don’t inhale the smoke. That’s wishful thinking. I smoked a pipe for a few years, and I know you can’t avoid inhaling some smoke. There’s the assumption that pipe smoker don’t get any of the condensate or goo of the smoke. Again, that’s bogus. Even with Petersen trap pipes and calabashes, you get some liquid in your mouth.

Benefits of tobacco? That was believed 150 years ago, but no serious medical authority will back that now.

The distance from the fire to the smoker was thought to be worth something, but now the things we know about second-hand smoke put the torch to that theory.

If I thought that pipe tobacco smoke was anything but dangerous, I’d still be smoking it. I love the smell and taste of pipe tobacco. Sorry, no dice.

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**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tobacco-pipes/311226/3 "2005-07-06T05:12:36Z")

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I think pipes are _less_ harmful then cigarettes only because you don’t inhale pipe smoke or most pipe smokers smoke less then cigarette smokers.

But pipe smoke still has all the crap found in cigarette smoke and most pipes have no filter system.

Either way it’s bad for you.

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**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tobacco-pipes/311226/4 "2005-07-06T07:31:36Z")

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I beleive that Monty Python’s Graham Chapman died of cancer (throat or lung?)most likely caused by decades of pipe smoking.