We Don't Count
Jamie McDonell
what I eat, what I spray in my pits, what I wipe... well, never mind).
Today, I was surveyed on what I smoke. I've never smoked cigarettes.
So under what I smoke, I put down cigars and, under Other, I entered
"pipe." (I smoke a couple of bowls each day.) The survey bot then
asked me how many cigars I smoke each year. I entered "6" - I'm down
from the 50 or so I used to smoke each year. The bot then informed me
that, in essence, I didn't count as a smoker. I'm not entirely certain
I'd count, even if I smoked my equivalent in cigars each day, but they
didn't even want to know how much pipe tobacco I go through each day.
It could be a 2oz. pouch for all they care.
I don't know whether to be insulted, or happy I'm flying below radar.
(I'm Canadian, and the smoke Nazis are nasty sods up here.)
Mmm
"pack-years." This is a measure of tobacco smoke exposure.
Many tobacco related diseases begin to become apparent after a certain
number of pack-years. For example, I heard an interview of an oral and
maxillofacial surgery talk about treating certain jaw cancers that
mostly appeared after 60 to 70 pack-years. Certain eye conditions seem
to appear after 20-30 pack-years. THIS DOSEN'T MEAN THAT THEY CAN'T
OCCUR EARLIER, just that this is a useful predictor of when the
problem might occur.
The calculator also includes pipe and cigar smoking. I plugged my pipe
smoking numbers in (I smoke an average of 1 bowl a day - somedays 2,
somedays none, 3 is a rarity). By this calculator, I will reach 10
pack years on my 100th birthday. At which time I promise to quit.
Charles Potter
Well, I guess that us pipe smokers are by far the smallest group of
tobacco users these days. And it's also true that the earlier and more
unbiased studies on the ill effects of tobacco use concluded that pipe
smokers in general live as long if not longer than non-smokers. But with
todays political and sociological views on smoking, I'm very surprised
to hear that they're letting you off the hook, so to speak. Down here in
the states, it's not so much about what is harmful, but more about
stomping out all tobacco users and their evil habits. It's basically
become an issue of control of one group of people by another. I'm sorry
that you guys in Canada have to pay so much for your pipe tobacco, but I
imagine that we will be catching up with you quite soon. :(
Charles
Maxim
A fellow pipe smoker who is a senior researcher at the Atlanta Center
for Disease Control - told me that 25% of all cigarette smokers get
lung cancer, that is no surprise, what is a mystery is why the other
75% don't. Or put another way Charles De Gaulle smoked 3-4 packs of
unfiltered Gitane every day, and even with his high stress job, of
being the French leader during and after WWI, ( also he was French -
in itself stressfull), he lived to 89. Churchill who certainly
overate, smoked lots of cigars and drank copius amounts of champagne,
whisky, and wine lived to be 91 , even with a higher stress job.
Remember he became Prime Minister when he was 65, during WWI, and
besides running the war he had to deal with De Gaulle. I can't thing
of a higher stress job. I suspect a huge amount of how long is
determined by your genes, no matter what you do. The Joy of Running
guy died of a heart attack at 51.
Maxim
www.pipes2smoke.com
Charles Potter
>
> A fellow pipe smoker who is a senior researcher at the Atlanta Center
> for Disease Control - told me that 25% of all cigarette smokers get
> lung cancer, that is no surprise, what is a mystery is why the other
> 75% don't. Or put another way Charles De Gaulle smoked 3-4 packs of
> unfiltered Gitane every day, and even with his high stress job, of
> being the French leader during and after WWI, ( also he was French -
> in itself stressfull), he lived to 89. Churchill who certainly
> overate, smoked lots of cigars and drank copius amounts of champagne,
> whisky, and wine lived to be 91 , even with a higher stress job.
> Remember he became Prime Minister when he was 65, during WWI, and
> besides running the war he had to deal with De Gaulle. I can't thing
> of a higher stress job. I suspect a huge amount of how long is
> determined by your genes, no matter what you do. The Joy of Running
> guy died of a heart attack at 51.
>
> Maxim
> www.pipes2smoke.com
As for De Gaulle and Churchill, I think that you meant WWII, Max. And
most cigarette smokers have some kind of lung problems if they live long
enough. People can't suck all of that tar into their lungs for all of
those years with no adverse affects. Pipe smoking is not as harmful
because the pipe is smoked for the flavor and aroma, and usually the
smoke is not inhaled. But the anti-smoking crowd lumps all forms of
smoking together, and won't listen to reason.
Charles
Jamie McDonell
Never expect the anti-smoking crowd to even make a passing reference
to reason. My maternal grandfather never smoked a day in his life and
died with (but not from) lung cancer. My paternal grandfather was a
two pack a day man and until the Parkinson's affected his breathing,
he never even had a persistent cough. Mind you, Ma's father did die at
101.5. And, many years after a rather severe case of CO poisoning in
his thirties (the '20s), Da's father died (of Parkinson's) at 83.
I have no great problem with the Antis oppressing the poor sods who
see fit to suck nic sticks (or cancer/emphysema sticks) and catching
me up in their net, but at least have the intellectual honesty to
admit to what they're really doing and not claim some bogus link to
second-hand smoke. (Yes, you can get cancer/emphysema from second-hand
smoke. It's just that any statistically valid study will tell you that
you have to spend the majority of your life in rooms that are so smoke-
filled that you wouldn't have been able to find them in any public
venue by the end of the 20th century, what with SmokeEaters and all.)
As to taste and all, while that's why I'm in the game, unless I'm
seriously mistaken, we pipe (and cigar) smokers have a major advantage
when it comes to nic fixes. Somebody who's more into this than me can
correct me, but AIUI a higher alkalinity in pipe (and cigar) smoke
means that we absorb more nicotine through our mucous membranes. I
can't imagine what would happen to a cigarette smoker who took a long
drag on a bowl of my beloved Condor. Hell, I have to mix it down so I
don't feel like someone has clamped a vise on my forehead.
Bruce Watson
Bruce Watson
Charles Potter <cpotte...@netscape.com> wrote:
>
>As for De Gaulle and Churchill, I think that you meant WWII, Max. And
>most cigarette smokers have some kind of lung problems if they live long
>enough. People can't suck all of that tar into their lungs for all of
>those years with no adverse affects. Pipe smoking is not as harmful
>because the pipe is smoked for the flavor and aroma, and usually the
>smoke is not inhaled. But the anti-smoking crowd lumps all forms of
>smoking together, and won't listen to reason.
"Virtually, all cigarette smokers inhale, even those who say they do not,
and they continue to do so when they switch to pipes or cigars."
--William Bennett, MD, is associate editor of the Harvard Medical
School Health Letter, Science 80, September/October 1980.
"Recall that carbon monoxide is only absorbed through the lungs. Also,
serum carboxyhemoglobin levels accurately reflect exposure to carbon
monoxide. Given the elevated serum carboxyhemoglobin levels demonstrated
in ex-cigarette smokers who smoke cigars, it is clear that ex-cigarette
smokers, even though they report no inhalation, do inhale."
--Marc J. Schneiderman, M.D., 1998
Jamie McDonell
> In article <56d117ec-39d5-45e5-9418-026f0e404...@u20g2000vbq.googlegroups.com>,
Ashamed? I'm proud to smoke a pipe. Just which part of "the smoke
Nazis are nasty sods up here" didn't you understand?
Bruce Watson
Jamie McDonell <seu...@rogers.com> wrote:
>> In article
><56d117ec-39d5-45e5-9418-026f0e404...@u20g2000vbq.googlegroups.com>,
>>
>> >I'm one of those guys who gets surveyed on everything (what I drink,
>> >what I eat, what I spray in my pits, what I wipe... well, never mind).
>> >Today, I was surveyed on what I smoke. I've never smoked cigarettes.
>> >from the 50 or so I used to smoke each year. The bot then informed me
>> >that, in essence, I didn't count as a smoker. I'm not entirely certain
>> >I'd count, even if I smoked my equivalent in cigars each day, but they
>> >didn't even want to know how much pipe tobacco I go through each day.
>> >It could be a 2oz. pouch for all they care.
>>
>> >I don't know whether to be insulted, or happy I'm flying below radar.
>> >(I'm Canadian, and the smoke Nazis are nasty sods up here.)
>>
>> Why are you ashamed to be a smoker?
>
>Ashamed? I'm proud to smoke a pipe. Just which part of "the smoke
>Nazis are nasty sods up here" didn't you understand?
If you're proud why are you concerned about pack-years?
Does a golfer claim he doesn't play that much golf?
A golfer is proud that he plays a lot. He doesn't keep track of
"golf-years."
Jamie McDonell
> In article <he7fbe$hc...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> Charles Potter <cpotter13...@netscape.com> wrote:
As you also answered my initial post, I have to ask: Just which part
of " I've never smoked cigarettes," didn't you understand? Or is it
just that you have to post a snippet of anti-smoking fact, no matter
how much of an non sequitur, when you possess no counterpoint germane
to the discussion? I said that I had never smoked cigarettes, and
nobody else said they had.
Jamie McDonell
> In article <5a048b45-8e21-4fbe-bbc7-e8d9e7973...@m11g2000vbo.googlegroups.com>,
How wonderful of you to read some non-existent concern about "pack-
years" (properly bowl-years) into my comments. Yes, I know how much I
smoke. No I'm not concerned about the amount. I smoke an average two
or so bowls a day. That's the amount that best fits into my lifestyle
on the average day. Some days I smoke more, often much more. Some days
I smoke less, sometimes nothing - for weeks on end. As to golf, I'm
with Mark Twain: It's the ruination of good walk.
Bruce Watson
Why should you care at all how much you smoke?
Non-existent concern?
I don't think so.
Jamie McDonell
> In article <973b2713-7eae-4ba1-bc09-f37a154a8...@g31g2000vbr.googlegroups.com>,
I love it when people read their own prejudices into other's
statements, rather than reading the statements.
I know how much I smoke, therefore I am concerned about how much I
smoke? Sorry. I know how much I smoke because I keep track of most of
the minutiae of my life, and because I know how long it takes me to
laze through each of the various sized bowls I smoke.
When I limit the amount I smoke, it is because I limit the amount of
time I smoke. As I am sure you wouldn't know, pipe smoking is a time
consuming hobby. I likewise limit the amount of time I spend watching
television, or on discussion groups.
Ken Dixon
debate with Brucie. He's a anti-tobacco zealot and nothing you say will
change his point of view.
Most have kill filed him as a waste of skin and time so, if you must,
please take it to email.
Bill D.
I feel a bit ashamed. I just put this in and by the time I hit 100 I
will only be at 19 pack years at what is a much higher rate than I
currently smoke. At most, I get in 2 in day. I don't smoke my pipe
every day, because I am busy and prefer to smoke while sitting around
watching a good movie or reading a book. This happens only a few
times a week. 19 just seems a bit low, like I am not really dedicated
to this or something and it somehow implies that I will not die having
achieved as much pleasure from a pipe as some of the rest of you. I
need to fix this inadequacy.
Happy puffing,
Bill D.
Bill D.
Oh, I'm sorry. At least you have the brains to smoke your pipe to try
and feel better about this.
Happy puffing,
Bill D.
Tom S.
On Nov 23, 12:20 pm, anon3...@nyx.nyx.net (Bruce Snotball) wrote:
Ashamed? I'm proud to smoke a pipe. Just which part of "the smoke Nazis are nasty sods up here" didn't you understand?
See, it's a matter of denial....