The United States' largest gathering of pipe smokers is being held near Chicago but none are lighting up inside the convention center, aficionados lament.

Illinois law requires pipe smokers attending the Chicagoland International Pipe & Tobacciana Show to retreat to a tent 15 feet away from the St. Charles convention center if they want to enjoy a puff or two, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.

How would you like it if you went to a wine tasting and you couldn't taste the wine? asked Al Shinogle, 53, of Denver, who was smoking a hand-carved Danish pipe. It's a freedom issue.

Shinogle was one of about 4,000 pipe lovers from 60 countries attending the event.

Organizers had sought unsuccessfully to get an exception to the state law that went into effect this year, arguing it was essentially a private club meeting.

That argument didn't fly with anti-smoking advocates.

This is the first time we've seen such a blatant attempt ... to actually undermine the law through legal sophistry, said Mike Grady of the American Cancer Society in Illinois. We're very happy with the outcome. This is the perfect example that the law is being enforced.

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