Behind the ‘Myths’ About Pipe Smoking
As a pipe smoker, I was interested to read the article on the “myth” of the safety of pipes and cigars appearing in The Times (Dec. 24).
As an educated and knowledgeable pipe smoker, I must point out that the information in it runs contrary to numerous studies done both in the United States and Europe. The studies done in this country were done by the U.S. surgeon general, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, and the Harvard School of Medicine, to name a few.
The surgeon general, for instance, states in his current report that pipe and cigar smokers do not appear to experience risk of heart disease that is significantly higher than that experienced by nonsmokers. Other studies have found that pipe smokers seem to even have slightly greater longevity than nonsmokers due to the relaxation factor. And as for cancer, the incidence of oral cancers in pipe and cigar smokers was at one time found to be .0025% above that for nonsmokers, a figure that still stands in the body of research.
While it is quite true that inhaled pipe smoke is dangerous, whether or not a pipe smoker inhales to any degree is a matter of smoking technique. Any knowledgeable pipe smoker will have a proper smoking technique, one in which no smoke is inhaled. To say that all pipe smokers inhale at least a little bit shows an incredible ignorance of the practices of experienced pipe smokers as opposed to those who smoke drugstore-quality pipes and tobaccos, the latter group making up the majority of American pipe smokers.
The reason cigarette smokers have such trouble switching to a pipe or cigar is because they cannot get past the need to inhale, nor do they generally have the patience to learn how to do it properly.
Also, if second-hand smoke from pipes is so dangerous lung cancer would show up as a health risk to pipe smokers since they are exposed to their own second-hand smoke as much if not more than those around them. And yet lung cancer has been found to be virtually non-existent in pipe smokers unless they inhale their smoke directly.
What impresses me about the studies cited in The Times article was that there was no mention made of the kinds of tobaccos smoked by those studied, along with other crucial information such as the amount they smoked. There are a number of factors that can have an affect on whether or not pipes are safe (the nature of cigars is such that these factors are absent), and to do a study and simply state that pipes are in fact a health hazard shows a complete lack of appreciation for the importance of these factors. While things like this may make the anti-smokers happy, they do nothing to help promote accurate information for those who should have it, even if that information goes against what someone may want to believe.
I urge all pipe smokers to become acquainted with all studies done so far on pipes and health before they accept the findings stated in The Times article. The safety of pipe smoking, far from being a myth, is a fact established by long experience. Besides, it is my understanding that the surgeon general and others who have studied pipes and health have based their studies on actual research and not on myths.
STEPHEN JOHNSON
Los Angeles
