Need Meercham "air leak" help

[REV]

hey all, i just picked up a nice Meercham pipe from my store and it seems to have an air leak at the threading. i know when i smoke it, it leaks smoke out of the seam where stem meets bowl.

is there anything i can do to cure this other than tightening it down all the way and end up smoking it sideways? would Teflon tape on the threads fix it, or it that a bad idea?

thanks!