At meetings and conferences, filter-tipped cigarettes were standard features on the podium alongside writing pads, pencils and ashtrays.

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"There're no ticket counters, no terminals and no baggage handlers, " says Crandall, 68, who still chain-smokes his cigarettes down to the filter.

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Some hooksters claim that the water-pipes are healthier than cigarettes: even though hookah also involves puffing on flavoured tobacco, the water acts as a filter.

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