# Why isn't pipe tobacco used for cigarettes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750 "2007-12-20T21:25:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/1 "2007-12-20T21:25:09Z")
Pipe tobacco smells so much better than cigarette tobacco. Is pipe tobacco not used more often because of cost? Is there some fundamental difference in how the two methods are done that makes pipe tobacco less preferred in a cigarette? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/2 "2007-12-20T21:33:10Z")
WAGs: 1. Pipe tobacco is much more coarse than cigarette tobacco. 2. Pipe tobacco is much more moist than cigarette tobacco. 3. Pipe tobacco is not packed as tightly as cigarette tobacco. 4. Pipes can get hotter because the tobacco is better insulated, and because the heat originates further from your mouth. These all relate to burning rate, and have been fine tuned over years of smoking to extract the most amount of nicotine from each respective method, and, almost as importantly, keeping the cherry lit. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/3 "2007-12-20T21:37:28Z")
So is it impossible to chop and pack pipe tobacco so that it can go into a cigarette without losing the nice smell? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/4 "2007-12-20T21:42:04Z")
Heh, heh, heh…Sounds like someone needs to _try_ it! 😃 For those of us who have, it’s different for sure. Basically, the fact that it is very moist means you can roll very nice cigs, but when you try and smoke it the cherry tends to light on fire and then burn very slowly once it’s going. And when you inhale it’s like inhaling a freight train - it’s really not recommended. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/5 "2007-12-20T22:00:53Z")
I’ll roll a cigarette with pipe tobacco now and then. It usually works out fine, but sometimes it doesn’t stay lit so well. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/6 "2007-12-20T22:01:16Z")
I believe that there are pipe tobacco cigars & cigarillos. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/7 "2007-12-20T22:04:47Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] I believe that there are pipe tobacco cigars & cigarillos. [/QUOTE] There are, and it’s tobacco heavily soaked in molassas ala regular pipe tobacco. However to me, I prefer a fine receptical just as much as a fine tobacco they are mutually inclcusive to me. NO way would I roll pipe tobacco again…Blagh… ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/8 "2007-12-20T22:05:53Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] So is it impossible to chop and pack pipe tobacco so that it can go into a cigarette without losing the nice smell? [/QUOTE] IANAT(obaccanist), but I am both a pipe and cigarette smoker, so I can answer this question briefly, probably with several msitakes. Tobacco isn’t a single plant, and not all tobaccos are treated the same way. The main tobaccos used today are latakia, burley, Virginia, and Oriental. The problem with using pipe tobacco for cigarettes, even if it’s dried and chopped finely, is that cigarette tobacco is usually Virginia and Oriental, because of their properties mentioned above: they burn smoothly, evenly and much cooler than the other two types above. If you enjoy the ‘old man’ scent of tobacco, that’s produced by latakia, which has so much moisture and burns so hotly, that no amount of treatment is going to enable it suitable for cigarette smoking. Furthermore, it burns so much hotter than Virginian or Oriental tobaccos that inhaling it is pretty much out because it dries out the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat so quickly. Burley, and its various cousins (Perique, Kentucky, Cavendish) , is the tobacco most often used in flavored blends, and is probably a safer choice to try to inhale. A cigarette smoker would still not likely enjoy it, as it has a much fuller flavor than Virginia tobacco, which probably means a much higher particulate ratio… this would make it nastier to suck down the pipes. Dunhill’s London mixture is a pure Oriental/Virginia blend that you can find that, if dried further and chopped might make a better substitute. But you best bet, I imagine, is to go to an independent tobaconnist that mixes its own tobacco and see if they can add small amounts of a flavored burley to a regular cigarette tobacco. That might do it, or they can explain to you why you’d be burning a hole through the back of your throat after a couple of puffs. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/9 "2007-12-20T22:08:33Z")
There are always Clove cigs. I love the way they smell. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/10 "2007-12-20T22:11:29Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] There are always Clove cigs. I love the way they smell. [/QUOTE] I’m down with the cloves, but they’re illegal in my home state…Maryland. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/11 "2007-12-20T22:13:03Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] There are always Clove cigs. I love the way they smell. [/QUOTE] Like goth kids? ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/12 "2007-12-20T22:13:59Z")
Thanks for the input. I myself don’t smoke. But after years of dealing with my parent’s cigarettes, I really came to appreciate the smell of pipe tobacco at a friend’s house. So what about the pipe prevents the hotter burning, more particulate pipe tobacco from drying out the mouth’s mucous membranes? It seems like the added filtration through unlit tobacco would help reduce the hurt of a cigarette more than the straight shot of a pipe’s stem. And how, exactly, does one smoke anything without getting it into their lungs? Considering I live in Northern California, it’s kinda pathetic that I don’t know how one does not inhale. But still, can someone describe it? ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/13 "2007-12-20T22:15:47Z")
[QUOTE=King Friday] I’m down with the cloves, but they’re illegal in my home state…Maryland. :smack: [/QUOTE] Clove cigarettes are better, but for some reason are viewed as childish. Any input on this? And they’re not nearly as good as pipe tobacco. Why on earth are they illegal in Maryland? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/14 "2007-12-20T22:21:44Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] \ And how, exactly, does one smoke anything without getting it into their lungs? Considering I live in Northern California, it’s kinda pathetic that I don’t know how one does not inhale. But still, can someone describe it? [/QUOTE] It’s the same with smoking a cigar, you don’t suck on it like a cigarette and take a full inhale. You taste it and just smoke it with minor inhales I guess you could say. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/15 "2007-12-20T22:24:24Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] Why on earth are they illegal in Maryland? [/QUOTE] To protect the children. Really that is the reason. A lot of people would outlaw cigarettes completely but they cannot because there are too many adults who would be upset about if that was done. Cloves on the other hand are mainly smoked by a small younger crowd so the outrage, when they were outlawed, was small enough to contain. It looks like only New Mexico, Maryland and Utah outlawed their sale. I thought it was a lot higher but I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/16 "2007-12-20T22:28:21Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] Clove cigarettes are better, but for some reason are viewed as childish. Any input on this? And they’re not nearly as good as pipe tobacco. Why on earth are they illegal in Maryland? [/QUOTE] Sometime back in the mid-80’s, there were some deaths related(?) to clove cigarettes. The story went (when I was living in Annapolis and hanging about tobaconists frequented by legislators) that supposedly some Maryland state official’s daughter smoked clove cigarettes, got in a car crash, and died from the ensuing blow to her chest. Apparently smoking cloves had ‘crystalized’ her lungs. I know… it sounds Urban Legendish to me, too. But I did get it from a member of the body that illegalized it. They’re also illegal in New Mexico, with similar stories behind it there. Clove cigarettes do have a much higher content of nicotine than other cigarettes… although no clove smoker I know smokes nearly as many of them as normal cigarette smokers. > [@Pullet](#): > > So what about the pipe prevents the hotter burning, more particulate pipe tobacco from drying out the mouth’s mucous membranes? It seems like the added filtration through unlit tobacco would help reduce the hurt of a cigarette more than the straight shot of a pipe’s stem. First off, while there is no filter, there’s a long stem to pipes that allows the tobacco to cool off. More importantly, I imagine, it’s not in the device you smoke the tobacco, it’s the method: pipes aren’t inhaled, and drying out the mouth doesn’t hurt the way drying out the throat does. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/17 "2007-12-20T22:31:35Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] Clove cigarettes are better, but for some reason are viewed as childish. Any input on this? And they’re not nearly as good as pipe tobacco. Why on earth are they illegal in Maryland? [/QUOTE] From what I could find out about this travesty, those in favor of the ban in Maryland said that “too many teenagers” were smoking them and it has “become a gateway to tobacco abuse.” I’ll admit, I can’t stand a basic Camel or Virginia Slim but I do occasionally puff on a cigar. I “discovered” cloves in Miami a few years ago and enjoy them the same way I do cigars…I don’t inhale. A pack lasts me probably 2 months which is a good thing since I have to order them on line. The cloves are shipped from Indonesia and they make it clear that if US Customs confiscates the package, they’re not responsible. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/18 "2007-12-20T22:35:53Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] Thanks for the input. I myself don’t smoke. But after years of dealing with my parent’s cigarettes, I really came to appreciate the smell of pipe tobacco at a friend’s house. So what about the pipe prevents the hotter burning, more particulate pipe tobacco from drying out the mouth’s mucous membranes? It seems like the added filtration through unlit tobacco would help reduce the hurt of a cigarette more than the straight shot of a pipe’s stem. [/quote] The shape of the pipe, and how you smoke it make the difference. And in reality the smoke has to travel a lot further with a pipe then with a cigarette. I have never smoked a cigarette that was as cool as a well lit and maintained pipe, but I have never smoked one as hot as a badly lit and maintainted pipe. It really is a different experience. I am not sure how to describe it beyond that other then to say that smoking a pipe feels completely different then smoking a cigarette. > [@](#): > > And how, exactly, does one smoke anything without getting it into their lungs? Considering I live in Northern California, it’s kinda pathetic that I don’t know how one does not inhale. But still, can someone describe it? Imagine sipping a drink through a straw. Same principle. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/19 "2007-12-20T22:38:00Z")
[QUOTE=Diomedes] Sometime back in the mid-80’s, there were some deaths related(?) to clove cigarettes. The story went (when I was living in Annapolis and hanging about tobaconists frequented by legislators) that supposedly some Maryland state official’s daughter smoked clove cigarettes, got in a car crash, and died from the ensuing blow to her chest. Apparently smoking cloves had ‘crystalized’ her lungs. I know… it sounds Urban Legendish to me, too. But I did get it from a member of the body that illegalized it. They’re also illegal in New Mexico, with similar stories behind it there.\ [/QUOTE] Yep, that’s pretty much the story around here, except it was supposedly our governor’s daughter at the time. Fortunately, I can buy Djarums on the “rez”, and there’s at least one on every major route I travel. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750/20 "2007-12-20T22:38:22Z")
Ok, I think I’m getting the picture now. How does the reputation of clove cigarettes fair among cigarette smokers? Is it something only the immature or novice smoker would do? What we need to do is bring back cigarette holders. That way, the hotter burning pipe tobacco can be used. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-pipe-tobacco-used-for-cigarettes/430750.md?page=2)