I was reading this thread for the hell of it, and I’m just wondering what the rationale is behind the law that Rico cited.
I seem to recall something in high school about clove cigarettes making your lungs bleed. I figured it was some UL. Even then, though, I remember that you could buy the things if you wanted 'em.
Why would they be illegal?
-Joe
So that’s what happened in Florida – perhaps the reasoning in Maryland is the same.
they are a gateway drug to harder stuff like catnip and banana leaves
And, even so, nearly all states ban the importation of ciggies into their State without taxes being paid on them.
Gawd I hate those damn clove cigs, though. :mad:
Several municipalities that I know of banned them not based on increased health hazard over tobacco cigarettes (if any), but on nuisance grounds.
The smell of a clove cigarette is quite persistent and carries a good long ways. In fact, it’s noticeable quite a bit farther away than a tobacco cigarette is.
I lived in a town that banned clove cigarettes from public consumption on these grounds. Not everyone likes the smell of burning cloves, and some of the clove-smell-haters were persistent and noisy enough about it to get a public ban enacted.
Huh, according to a doc I found on the Ohio Dept. of Health Web site, Ohio agrees with the “more nicotine” claims as well.
Why are they legal for kids under 18 to buy, then? What makes them different than cigarettes, cigars and chew in that sense?
They are? Where?
Clove cigarettes have the same age restrictions as all other tobacco products. Well, at least in the jurisdictions I’ve purchased them when I used to smoke cloves. That being said, it might be considered “cooler” for under-18 teens to be smoking cloves. In my experience, they seem have a reputation of being associated with the goth / emo crowds.
(Bolding added)
I read that as twice the tar, twice the nicotine, and twice the carbon monoxide. I wonder how they get 100% more nicotine out of 30% less tobacco. Makes me doubt the tests they used.
Edited to add: Are clove cigarettes twice the size of a regular cigarette? Or perhaps unfiltered?
Maybe you just misunderstood:
[QUOTE=Rico
Moderator]
King Friday, according to your IP address you’re in Maryland. A quick Google found this:
Quote:
It is illegal to sell, give, or otherwise distribute clove cigarettes to ANY person, even if eighteen years old or older [Maryland Code, Criminal Law, §10-106].
[/QUOTE]
?? 
Not banana leaves! Banana PEELS!
Sheesh! And you call yourself a Doper!
Could just be stronger tobacco. Nicotine levels vary by cig.
Since I’m in Canada, where tar and nicotine levels are required by law to be listed on packs of cigarettes, and I have an old pack of clove cigarettes that I haven’t got around to tossing yet, I can speak to the amounts of tar and nicotine clove cigarettes contain.
A single Djarum Special clove cigarette (filtered, King Size) contains:
Tar: 59.09 mg
Nicotine: 2.58 mg
Carbon Monoxide: 24.56 mg
For comparison, I found another pack of regular cigarettes kicking around in the basement. Number 7 King Size Filter contains the following:
Tar: 12.0 mg
Nicotine: 1.0 mg
Carbon Monoxide: 14.0 mg
Hope this helps to settle the comparison questions about tar and nicotine levels that have arisen in this thread.
My bad - I meant to say “legal…in Ohio.”
I could have swore that when I was in college (in Ohio) that when we “smokers” were complaining to this girl (from Ohio) who was out smoking with us about her clove cigs, she said she started smoking them when she was a teen because they were legal for her to buy. Hence, I’ve been under the impression that they were legal for anyone to buy since then. It’s entirely possible that I misremembered this conversation or she was full of shit.
Unfiltered, usually wrapped in a dark brown wrapper, and scented with grape, strawberry, etc., to hook the kiddies ;), with a tiny string tied to hold it together . Also oddly enough, much shorter and thinner than a regular cig. Very harsh tasting- I can’t imagine that teens buying them to look cool are actually inhaling. Methinks that they can get in somehow without being taxed is the reason for the ban. I don’t see a 8th grade girl inhaling these, at all. I know guys who smoke unfiltered lucky’s who can’t smoke these.
You’re describing beedis, not clove cigarettes.
Beedis are definitely not the same thing as a clove cigarette. The two clove cigarettes that are left in the pack I referenced above are wrapped in brown cigarette paper (not leaves, as beedis are), are clearly machine-made, have a filter, contain cloves for flavoring (i.e. they are not fruit-flavored), and are not tied with string. Beedis can be smoked, but are otherwise entirely different things from clove cigarettes.
Oops…never mind. 
Thanks. That’s very interesting. I guess it is stronger tobacco.
An earlier post made me wonder what the “active ingredient” in cloves is, so if anyone’s interested, here’s the Wiki on oil of colves, and the active ingredient is eugenol. I bet you could make your own with a regular cigarette plus clove oil…
Ummm, I retract my suggestion about using clove oil… apparently it’s used in weed killers and can cause liver failure, etc.