# cloves vs. cigarettes **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2002, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843 "2002-03-18T06:03:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![the\_duke\_69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@the\_duke\_69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_duke_69)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/1 "2002-03-18T06:03:13Z")
Wich is better? and what is the point behind somoking either one of them? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/2 "2002-03-18T06:10:14Z")
Neither. None. > [@](#): > > In a few susceptible individuals, clove cigarettes have even caused coma and life-threatening lung injury, including pulmonary edema, a condition in which the lungs fill up with fluid. From [this site.](http://www.buildingbetterhealth.com/topic/herbalcig) ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/3 "2002-03-18T07:04:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by the\_duke\_69 \* > \*\*Wich is better? and what is the point behind somoking either one of them? \*\* –The way you word it sounds like an either/or affair. A clove cigarette (the thing was invented in and most still come from Indonesia) is still approx. 60% tobacco. What is the point behind smoking either one depends on whether you’re the seller or the buyer. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/4 "2002-03-18T07:08:27Z")
I guess this is an IMHO, so I’ll move this thread over there. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/5 "2002-03-18T09:18:59Z")
I smoke regular cigarettes. At one point for about a year in the late 80’s I started smoking cloves… about half cloves, half regular cigarette. During that year I had pneumonia 3 times. The last doctor I went to see during that year asked of I smoked… and what. When I told him I smoked cloves he said “Well, stop it”. he explained to me that the cloves numb the coughing reflex. If there is something down there which needs to be coughed up, your body never knows so it just sits there and festers. I’m not sure just how true that is,. but I stopped smoking cloves and I stopped getting pneumonia. I’m still smoking regular cigarettes. I know it’s a stupid habit and I need to quit. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/6 "2002-03-18T10:53:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by the\_duke\_69 \* > \*\*Wich is better? and what is the point behind somoking either one of them? \*\* Cloves have a better taste and smell. But of course, they make your lungs bleed if you actually inhale. And what’s the point behind smoking either? Well, duh… It makes you look sooooo cooool. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/7 "2002-03-18T13:21:17Z")
You get a small buzz off of regular cigarettes when you first start smoking. Then you become addicted, and you get annoyed, jittery, etc without them. Cloves will give you an even bigger buzz. I dont know anyone who smokes them regularly, just 19 year old girls going out for the night. And here’s Unca Cece’s take. [Are clove cigarettes 10 times worse than the regular kind?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_106.html) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/8 "2002-03-18T14:40:36Z")
Are you not supposed to inhale cloves? Damn, maybe that’s why I hate them so much. Zheesh, I’ve had cloves maybe two or three times in my life and each time, I’ve almost wanted to puke. I smoked half of one once and when I got up to run upstairs, I felt all the blood rushing out of my head and my vision began to tunnel. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Perhaps because of these incidents, I can’t stand the way they smell. ---
**Author:** ![Novus\_Opiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/858c86/32.png) [@Novus\_Opiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novus_Opiate)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/9 "2002-03-18T17:07:56Z")
> [@](#): > > I dont know anyone who smokes them regularly… I’ve had two friends who both smoked over a pack a day of djarum brand cloves for a couple of years at a time. I’m also fairly certain they inhaled. While I used to be a menthol smoker (quit for 6 moths, yay), I found the stench of cloves gave me an almost instantaneous and unbearable headache. How anyone could smoke these things like a regular cigarettes is beyond me. One word: YUCK! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![trishdish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d2c977/32.png) [@trishdish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trishdish)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/10 "2002-03-18T22:47:53Z")
Cloves! Man, do they still make those? I used to smoke cloves in the 80s, when I was a teenager. I thought I was like, totally bitchin, but in reality, I was just a :wally I don’t smoke at all anymore. But every once in awhile, I do miss the flavor of a clove cigarette. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/11 "2002-03-18T23:26:22Z")
I do occasionally smoke cloves. When I say “occasionally,” I mean that a pack usually lasts better than a month. I’ll smoke them at clubs or with friends at times. I like the taste a whole lot better than regular cigs for some reason. I also inhale them. The buzz is definitly a lot stronger than traditional tobacco. I’ve never had any health problems, tobacco-related or otherwise. I guess I’m just one of the lucky ones who is not vulnerable to the horrible things that tobacco does to some. I think it helps that I am very carefully **not** addicted! –==the sax man==– ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/12 "2002-03-18T23:47:59Z")
I’m a cigar smoker, not a cigarette smoker, but I’ve tried clove stogies. Tasted all right, but they messed up my lungs for days. I mean, I was hacking. ---
**Author:** ![Houlihan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Houlihan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Houlihan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/13 "2002-03-19T01:53:37Z")
I have smoked more than a pack per day of clove cigarettes for more than 13 years. Here are my observations: It is not true that clove cigarettes causes every person’s lungs to bleed if one chooses to inhale, but there is increased of pulminary diseases as compared to regular cigarettes. (I have never had pneumonia, but I do tend to get pleural inflamation). For a typical 50%-50% clove/tobacco blend cigarette, it deposits about three times the tar as an all-tobacco cigarette. There are two reasons - first, there is more junk in the cigarette, and second, clove contains eugenol, a chemical similar to novacaine (sp?) which numbs the cough reflex, allowing a smoother, deeper, longer draw. It is suspected, but unknown, that there are other addictive substances (beyond nicotine) in clove cigarettes. I can tell you from my experience that I have made several attempts to quit, and once made it for as long as 4 months. However, I noticed that the patch controlled some of the cravings, but did nothing to help the need for the clove taste that I love. Which is better? Better tasting or better for you? Cloves taste way to good, but are much worse for you. ---
**Author:** ![lorinada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5e925/32.png) [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cloves-vs-cigarettes/98843/14 "2002-03-19T02:21:30Z")
I used to smoke clove cigarettes in the late '70’s. I loved the taste and smell. I now have asthma.