Nicotine and the Pipe Smoker
Greetings fellow TPLers, I've had this on my mind for awhile now so I thought I put it out there for some feedback from y'all.
First, I'd like to provide a short bit of background. In my foolish, youthful days, I was quite the pot smoker. I smoked a lot of it for decades. Looking back, I regret it greatly as I, literally, wasted many decades of my life where nothing was accomplished and many ambitions were unfulfilled. I take the blame for that.
So, fast forward to today... I am approaching 50 and I esteem myself to be much wiser. I know that I won't so easily be trapped.. but, has the trap already been sprung with pipe tobacco? I find myself naturally gravitating to the nicotine heavy blends. Unashamedly, I will state that I like how the nic makes me feel. I have a high-stress job. I like the calming effect and the relaxed state that smoking a pipe puts me in. When smoking, I know how to moderate it so that the nic doesn't overwhelm me. Nevertheless, I seem to be repeating a pattern here where the nicotine heavy blends may be replacing pot. I recognize this pattern. When it comes down to it, I understand that it is all a matter of discipline. If don't have that kind of discipline at this age, I shouldn't be smoking a pipe. However, I do believe in the saying of 'all things in moderation'. It will be up to me to find the balance or know when to pack up the pipe and call it a day. Does or has anyone else had this kind of struggle? - Regards, Matthew
Comments
I grew up in the 60s' but lucky never got involved in pot. I smoked on two occasions and both resulted in a bad experience and sever headache so it came to an immediate end. I was even involved in the music business and managed to evade the magnetic pull pot has on rock musicians.
I too use the pipe as a source of relaxation. As a matter of fact I can associate it to the lowering of my blood pressure. I've had high blood pressure all my life and I've been on pills to regulate it as best as possible . And even with the pills it can still get pretty high. I'm a Type A Personality ... and for a long time had a hair trigger. But once I got back into serious pipe smoking it's dropped my blood pressure significantly as it has helped to chill me out and relax.
Let me clarify something - I'm not a newcomer to pipe smoking, I've been smoking a pipe for going on 50 years but until about two years ago after watching YouTube Videos and gaining useful information from pipe forums like The Pipeline did I learn to break decade long bad smoking habits which greatly decreased my smoking enjoyment. By learning proper smoking techniques and actually embracing pipe smoking as a hobby ... learning about different blends, proper maintenance, creating a cellar, buying Estate pipe from second hand shops and turning it into a restoration project, and establishing friendships within the community ... had an almost Zen-like quality to it for me. It was as though the secrets of the Universe had been revealed, and I had time to slowly absorb that information one smoke at a time.
And I achieved this calming effect from the act of pipe smoking not by smoking high nicotine blends ... but quite the opposite. I'm usually going for something without the nic hit. Maybe you should slowly wean yourself off the high nic blends and simply focus on the relaxing pleasure associated with the pipe smoking experience rather than using your pipe as a delivery system for the addictive properties of nicotine. Try sweet flavorful aromatics(vanilla, chocolate, maple, caramel, honey, fruit flavors - or even rum) and think of your pipe not as a bowl of tobacco but as a dish of dessert.
I know there are many here who only smoke strong English or Var-Per blends and would never recommend an aromatic blend to a fellow pipe smoker ... but maybe in this particular instance where someone is trying to forestall slipping back into an unhealthy situation a low nicotine aromatic might be beneficial.
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Interesting... very interesting...
Tnx for sharing...
Welcome to the forum.
In my youthful high school days we were more into alcohol and sex and I don't remember being around too many pot smokers - and this was in the late 1960s and early 70s. Then I enlisted in the Coast Guard and there were rules about smoking weed. We were more involved in seizing it and other drugs.
On the other hand, I started smoking a pipe in 1972 and have always found it to be a way to relax and de-stress after a busy day. I personally don't find pipe smoking to be addictive. I normally smoke at least one bowl a day but I've also gone two or three days without smoking a pipe.