# Clove cigarettes - illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 2, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787 "2004-09-02T16:16:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/21 "2004-09-03T19:54:10Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > From your link (thank you!) it looks like they’re illegal in the following states: > > New Mexico (this I knew, since it was the basis of my discussion yesterday) > Nevada > Maryland (I saw a site elsewhere saying that their consideration was indeed enacted) > **Florida (though its status is unsure, based on what I read elsewhere)** > \ If they are, I have broken the hell out of some laws. 😃 You can definitely by a pack of Sampoernas at our local Texaco, right down the street from Ol’ Jeb. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/22 "2004-09-03T20:11:41Z")
Huh - the only clove smoker I know is a clean-cut, jockish medical student who just finished getting his PhD in Neuroscience. Perhaps he’s just a goth at heart… ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/23 "2004-09-03T20:51:29Z")
**harmless** , check out [this](http://www.unknownnews.net/p0812-1.html) link. I guess the law was declared unconstitutional. But it addresses why you can buy them in Florida. Looks like the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing. ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/24 "2004-09-03T21:06:04Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > **harmless** , check out [this](http://www.unknownnews.net/p0812-1.html) link. I guess the law was declared unconstitutional. But it addresses why you can buy them in Florida. Looks like the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing. Go figure. :rolleyes: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![quothz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/da6949/32.png) [@quothz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quothz)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/25 "2004-09-04T02:45:13Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > **Chairman Pow** From your link (thank you!) it looks like they’re illegal in the following states: > > New Mexico (this I knew, since it was the basis of my discussion yesterday) I dunno about those other states, but although cloves are illegal for sale in New Mexico you can purchase clove tobacco and roll your own. I -think- you can also buy clove cigars, and you -might- be able to buy clove cigarettes on the reservations. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/26 "2004-09-05T05:31:38Z")
AFAIK it is not illegal to buy and/or sell **cloves** anywhere. So why bother? Perhaps it’s like buying the separate legal ingredients to manufacture some drugs which are not legal. Seems like a far reach for the long hand to make in regards to this wacky tobacky. That’s NOT even. :rolleyes: Maybe we should just outlaw ALL tobacco products? Then what? When I was a kid we used to smoke a little grapevine. ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/27 "2004-09-05T05:39:23Z")
> [@t-keela](#): > > AFAIK it is not illegal to buy and/or sell **cloves** anywhere Be that as it may: [Maryland says no](http://weblinks.westlaw.com/Search/default.wl?RP=%2FWelcome%2FFrameless%2FSearch%2Ewl&n=66&Action=Search&bhcp=1&CFID=0&DB=md%2Dst&Method=TNC&Query=clove+cigarette&RLT=CLID%5FQRYRLT373759&SP=mdjud%2D1000&spolt=Return+to+the+Maryland+Code+and+Court+Rules+Web+Site&sposu=http%3A%2F%2Fgovernment%2Ewestlaw%2Ecom%2Fmdcode&spou=http%3A%2F%2Fgovernment%2Ewestlaw%2Ecom%2Fmdcode&ssl=n&strRecreate=no&Submit1=Search&sv=Split&RS=WEBL4.08&VR=2.0&SPa=mdjud-1000). ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/28 "2004-09-05T07:01:34Z")
**Math** your link didn’t work for me. So you are saying that in Maryland a person can’t go to the spice dept. at a grocery store and purchase cloves or the oil. I also couldn’t go to the pharm/medical dept. and get a bottle of clove oil? OR did you mean that in Md. the cigs are illegal. I know the smokes are being banned because they are being sold to minors in lplace of tobacco and this is being carried over to adults as well. So now what…we’re gonna just make everything illegal. **Cloves** give me ffin break. Aspirin and over the counter pain relievers next…hell they can smoke or snort that if they want. Dumbasses think they legislate people straight and/or sober. :smack: There’s plenty of shit they can smoke (ie: crepe myrtle seeds, banana peels, various cacti, poppy seeds, what else?)… I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Grow your own if nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![quothz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/da6949/32.png) [@quothz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quothz)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/29 "2004-09-05T07:33:32Z")
> [@t-keela](#): > > AFAIK it is not illegal to buy and/or sell **cloves** anywhere. Don’t be disingenious. We’re using ‘cloves’ as shorthand for ‘clove cigarettes’. This is very widespread usage and is pretty obvious in context. If this sort of thing confuses you, perhaps a little reading up in the ‘context clues’ chapters of grade-school textbooks can help. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/30 "2004-09-05T07:43:47Z")
I was being absolutely serious, so can the bullshit. If you can buy cloves at the fucking store, how in the hell can it be illegal to purchase cigarrettes just because there are cloves mixed in the tobacco. If so, then what would prevent someone from simply buying the cloves and mixing it themselves? You can also stuff the smartass comments on my reading comprehension. I guarantee you don’t want to go there either. BTW in my searches I have found some references to whole cloves being on not for sale list. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/31 "2004-09-05T07:50:26Z")
**quothz** let’s just chalk this up to a misunderstanding on both our parts. You thought I was trying to be funny. I was not. I overreacted to some snide comments made by you. Forget about it, I apologize for my part in this little misunderstanding. Okay ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/32 "2004-09-05T15:55:46Z")
> [@t-keela](#): > > OR did you mean that in Md. the cigs are illegal. I was saying that the cigarettes are illegal, since you were asking: > [@](#): > > If you can buy cloves at the fucking store, how in the hell can it be illegal to purchase cigarrettes just because there are cloves mixed in the tobacco. My link is to the MD annotated legal code on westlaw. > [@](#): > > I know the smokes are being banned because they are being sold to minors in lplace of tobacco and this is being carried over to adults as well. (a) Why ask why if you already “know” why? (b) they can’t be sold “in place of” tobacco since they _contain_ tobacco. (c) The statute gives no reason why. I’d like a cite supporting your assertion. Really, I’d like to come back to the disjunct between > [@](#): > > how in the hell can it be illegal to purchase cigarrettes just because there are cloves mixed in the tobacco. and > [@](#): > > I know the smokes are being banned because… So, are you asking a question, or do you know (or think you know) and are using this as an excuse to go off on a rant about people banning all this stuff? If it’s the latter: I agree in general, but this isn’t the forum. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787/33 "2004-09-05T16:44:12Z")
> [@Mathochist](#): > > Kreteks are alleged to be more dangerous to the health of the smokers than regular cigarettes. I haven’t seen any direct evidence of this, though I’m willing to believe it’s slightly true. Hmm interesting. I could see that as posible, but I smoke 1 or 2 cloves a day as compared to half a pack or more of regular cigarettes a day that I used to smoke. So even if they are somewhat worse than regular cigarettes I figure it’s balanced out by the fact that I am smoking much less (2 as compared to 13). And it’s certainly not just Goths smoking them. I don’t think anyone would mistake me for a goth… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clove-cigarettes-illegal/262787.md?page=1)