If he knew..

[Makar]

I am more inclined to believe it was something similar to tobacco that they were smoking, at least in the books. In the films, it seems PJ tried his hardest to make it marijuana. I think people like PJ (and me), who were young and smoking pot when they first read LotR are more inclined to imagine it as weed, while Tolkien, who was old, Roman Catholic, and smoked a tobacco pipe, probably intended it to be tobacco. Although I do like Gandalf's "before you knock it, try it first" (to paraphrase) line to Saruman in UT.

[davem]

Well, its clearly stated to be tobacco in The Hobbit, & I suspect Tolkien only changed it to 'pipeweed' in LotR because calling it tobbaco would have sounded too anachronistic, & caused problems of explantion. Of course, Tolkien does state it was a variety of nicotiana, so he clearly intended it to be similar to tobacco rather than cannabis. I suspect that it tasted very similar to the coffee-caramel flavour tobacco currently available (that's a personal feeling based on what I smoke

And for the record, I'm just a bit older than PJ & I've never touched 'weed'. Tobacco, the real stuff, not the chemically laced junk they put in cigarettes, for all its risks, is very calming in its effects & is most conducive to thinking.

[mark12_30]

From the Prologue, part 2, Concerning Pipe-Weed:

There is another astonishing thing about Hobbits of old that must be
mentioned, an astonishing habit: they imbibed or inhaled, through pipes of
clay or wood, the smoke of the burning leaves of a herb, which they called
pipe-weed or leaf, a variety probably of Nicotiana. A great deal of mystery
surrounds the origin of this peculiar custom, or 'art' as the Hobbits
preferred to call it. All that could be discovered about it in antiquity was
put together by Meriadoc Brandybuck (later Master of Buckland), and since he
and the tobacco of the Southfarthing play a part in the history that
follows, his remarks in the introduction to his Herblore of the Shire may be
quoted.

[Lyta_Underhill]

I've rarely felt the inclination to smoke the stuff myself, however, last season, I attempted to grow some in a planter. It didn't do too well, since I started a bit late, but I did get seeds to try again this year! The only bad thing about it is that I can grow no more than five tobacco plants at one time by law. Otherwise I would grow them as a border for my home to keep the bugs off. (Nicotine sulfate is a great pesticide, but don't get it on your skin!) I guess it'll have to be citronella or chrysanthemums....

Cheers!
Lyta (not quite Samwise Gamgee...)

[Eruanna]

I had always assumed that it was merely tobacco that the Hobbits smoked. However,in the prologue's 'Concerning Pipeweed' Tolkien does seem to hint that there is not just the genuine weed but that some Hobbits grew and smoked a variety of herbs some fouler, some sweeter. In my youth 'herbal ciggies' (sometimes called wacky baccy) was a euphemism for cannabis!

I read once that Christopher Tolkien, before he gave up the habit, always smoked Navy Cut and had recollections of there always being empty Navy Cut tins around his childhood homes, used mainly for storing miscellaneous bits and bobs like screws and washers.

[dwarfguard]

i agree with eruanna on this one.I believe tolkien smoked a pipe to relax and think.I highly doubt "weed" ever crossed his mind.Maybe the reason you never here elves smoke is because mortals might of originated the practice.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Makar

In the films, it seems PJ tried his hardest to make it marijuana.

What makes you say this? I don't get the sense that the portrayal of pipeweed in the films is much different from its portrayal in the book.

Mind you, one does have to wonder about a race that makes a habit of consuming "weed" and mushrooms in such large quantities.