Posts tagged cigarettes

Getting a Grip on That Cigarette

June 17, 2010 · Filed under diy, Environmental Detox, Health Care, herbs, Personal Care · Tagged , , , , , , ,

There may have been a time, maybe back when the American Indians were rolling their own, that cigarettes were just tobacco rolled in paper. Sounds appropriate, doesn’t it? Afterall, that’s what you want to smoke: Tobacco. But mass production coupled with problems in the making of the product has caused the tobacco industry to make some serious changes in the ingredients. Problems with the product burning “evenly”, problems with a standard cigarette rather than a rough variation, problems with making the tobacco burn more slowly to deliver better value, et al.. have led the industry to make changes over time. Chemicals have been added to the end product. Some cause the leaf to dry faster while others make it taste better. But you better beleive it. There are now more chemicals in that cigarette than there is actual tobacco.

And have you ever thought about that? About just how toxic those chemicals might be, especially when burned and inhaled? Would you stand in a paint shed that had been set on fire and just breathe? Without a mask? How long do you think that exposure could last before you couldn’t breathe at all? And how lasting do you think the effects would be? Would you end up with lung disease? Cigarettes do cause lung disease after all and you know that. But that alone is a gamble that most smokers are willing to take. After all, everyone has heard the stories about 100 year old folk who smoked all their lives. But perhaps they started smoking, as children, back in a day when cigarettes were purer, less tainted. And perhaps that’s the difference. But who knows?

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Green Cigarettes

July 14, 2009 · Filed under Environmental Detox, Natural Remedies, Personal Care · Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Not only are cigarettes bad for you but they are also hard on the planet. Tobacco as a crop is prone to disease and insects love to eat it so it is constantly sprayed with various chemicals and pesticides. These end up in the environment, as well as your body, and pollute soil and water. Common pesticides that are used in Tobacco insect control include DDT, Aldrin and Dieldrin, which are not allowed on food crops but can be used on the stuff you smoke. Nice to know your lungs are full of DDT, no? But these horrible chemicals also contribute significantly to ozone depletion. As I already noted, they seep into the local water supply, not good for those living on these tobacco plantations or in neighboring villages.

The production of tobacco crops uses more than six kilometers of paper per hour, which equals about 600 million trees a year. Consider that fact the next time you are signing a petition on rainforest destruction while having a smoke. And did you know that even the filters are bad for the environment? They are not biodegradable and they end up in the landfill and in garbage piles everywhere for decades. Since butts are the single most littered item in the U.S. and worldwide, cigarettes may be, in fact, the least environmentally friendly item out there.

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Herbs to Stop Smoking

July 7, 2009 · Filed under Environmental Detox, Health Care, herbs, Natural Remedies · Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

In your efforts to quit smoking Tobacco, you are going to have to deal with your nerves. In fact, this is the one thing that disrupts the process the most. I quit smoking several different times in my life and went back years later, more than once, and the last time I quit the hardest part was being tense and wanting the soothing effects of Nicotine. Another factor people overlook is the comfort of habit. I was so used to picking a cig out of a pack, lighting it up, fingering it, tapping it, butting it… etc.. it was a routine and routines bring familiarity and comfort.

So while you are trying to stop destroying your body with smoke, you are also contending with nerves, habituation, discomfort and change in routine. There were times during the day and certain things I did that I had come to associate with smoking. And when I went to do those things I also went after a smoke. It was hard to keep doing those things without a cigarette. All of these reactions though are tied to our feelings of comfort and security, combined with the soothing effects of Nicotine, the hard part of quitting the smokes is mostly about our emotions and nerves.

There are nothing on earth that soothes nerves or settles anxieties better than herbs. Although it’s not a good idea to just replace Tobacco with herb cigarettes or to quit smoking cigarettes by smoking Marijuana, there are herbs you can use in different forms that will help quell the tensions that arise when you quit smoking. Here is a list of a few of them and how you should use them to get the best effect:

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Herbal Tobacco

June 30, 2009 · Filed under diy, Environmental Detox, Health Care, Herb Recipes · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Making homemade herbal tobacco may be a good idea these days with cigarette taxes going through the roof and people trying to quit. Herbal tobacco is not as addictive as leaf tobacco and can be used to help wean the habit off of cigarettes and then easily just stop. In my next post, I am going to address herbs that can be used to help with nicotine withdrawal. If you combine herbal tobacco as a substitute for commercial cigarettes and also use the right herbs to help ease the pains of withdrawal, you might be able to quit painlessly And, as a bonus, herbal tobacco is lot less expensive and nobody’s taxing herbs right now.

So if you’d like to take a stab at making some herbal tobacco and rolling up your own smokes, then I have a few recipes for you to try. Do not be fooled into thinking that smoking herbs is going to be any better for you in the long run because drawing smoke into your lungs on a consistent basis is bad no matter what. So you should stop doing it as soon as you get off the hard stuff. Try to use the most natural rolling papers you can find or smoke the stuff in pipes. You could make cigars out of herbs but it would be a tricky thing, drying out leaves in a consistent manner, curing them and then rolling them into logs. It’s possible but it takes talent.

And remember that tobacco is actually a herb, as well. It has been used throughout history in many a manner, even as a healing property. So it is not inherently evil. However, the addictive properties of many herbs, which include poppies, datura (jimson weed), marijuana, salvia, naked ladies and deadly nightshade (belladonna) as well as tobacco, should be fair warning to treat them with respect and not abuse. They can do wonderful things under the right conditions and for the right reasons, but they all have the ability to turn you into a slave. So treat herbs with care and these herbs, in particular, with a lot of care. Do not overdo.

So if you are ready to take a shot at herbal tobacco, then here are the recipes. And next week I promise to post the herbs you can take at the same time to help quell the nicotine cravings.

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