Pipe smoking is a form of tobacco smoking that has its roots in North American culture, according to Encyclopedia Brittanica. Mexican priests smoked pipes in religious ceremonies while Native Americans smoked pipes to represent peace. While the popularity of pipe smoking has declined in American culture, its cultural roots remain.
Declining Popularity
Pipe smoking has decreased in popularity in the 2000s. In 2004, Americans purchased less than 5 million pounds of pipe tobacco---a 91 percent decline from 1970, when Americans purchased 52 million pounds, according to The Washington Post. An estimated 1.6 million Americans are pipe smokers.
Structure
At its most basic level, a pipe contains a bowl into which tobacco is placed and a stem through which smoke is inhaled, according to Encyclopedia Brittanica. The bowl of the pipe itself can be made of different materials, including clay, corncob, meerschaum and briar-wood. Pipe smokers can add flavored tobaccos to the pipe, giving a pipe an aromatic smoke when burned. Examples of flavor additives include cherry or chocolate, according to The Washington Post.
Popular Culture References
Pipe smoking is often associated with "sophistication, affluence, education and celebration," according to Drs. Michael B. Steinberg and Cristine D. Delnevo of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in New Brunswick, N.J., sources for Reuters Health. Famous scientists and authors were pipe smokers---including Carl Jung, Jean-Paul Sartre, William Faulkner and Albert Einstein, according to The Washington Post. Pipe smoking also is associated with popular culture---Sherlock Holmes, among other literary characters, famously smoked a pipe.
Health Effects
Although not as damaging as cigarette smoking, pipe smoking can also damage the heart and is associated with increased risk of heart disease, according to Reuters Health. Because pipe smoking still involves tobacco smoke, it is not without damaging effects. Tobacco is a known carcinogen that can cause cancers, such as mouth or lung cancer, for those who smoke it or are subject to secondhand smoke, according to Go Ask Alice, a health resource from Columbia University.
Misconceptions
Many pipe smokers mistakenly believe that pipe smoke is not inhaled into the lungs, according to Reuters Health. However, the impaired lung function detected in pipe smokers' lungs reveals otherwise. According to a 2010 study published in the "Annals of Internal Medicine" conducted by researchers Dr. Josanna Rodriguez, et al., pipe smokers experienced greater airflow obstruction than those who did not. Airflow obstruction affects the lungs and can ultimately lead to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
References
- Go Ask Alice: Cigar and Pipe Smoking: Safer Than Cigarettes?
- Reuters: Cigar, Pipe Smoking May Raise Lung Disease Risk, Too
- The Washington Post: Bowled Over No Longer
- Brittanica: Pipe (Smoking)
- "Annals of Internal Medicine"; The Association of Pipe and Cigar Use With Cotinine Levels, Lung Function, and Airflow Obstruction; Josanna Rodriguez, MD, et al.; February 16, 2010
