http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123509294170728733.html

Public-health experts, of course, don't think pipe smoking is at all cool. It's smoking, and it's dangerous, they say.

"The end result would be they'll have fewer teeth," says Jasim M. Albandar, a professor of periodontology at Temple University, in Philadelphia. Dr. Albandar headed up a study published in December 2000 that focused on the dental impacts of pipe and cigar smoking. He found that pipe smokers had severe plaque, inflamed gums and higher risks of periodontal disease, even though they tend to smoke less often than cigarette smokers do.

"It's a misconception that pipe smoking is a healthy alternative," says Thomas J. Glynn, director, cancer science and trends, for the American Cancer Society. Dr. Glynn says that pipe smoking has been associated with oral cancers and lesions of the lip, tongue and gums which can cause severe facial disfiguration.

Youthful pipe smokers seem to think the habit is less harmful than smoking cigarettes because the smoke isn't inhaled. "I recognize that it can be hazardous in the extreme," Ms. Murakami says, but "it seems healthier than smoking a cigarette. It helps me calm down, and it helps me think."

Others like that it's still unconventional in style. "There's something culturally attractive about smoking a pipe," Mr. Wilford says. "There may be some nostalgia there, too."

To: Rachel - C/O: Rachel

1,000,000 hugsandkisses

Sincerely,
Arthur Buttface