# Herbal "Cigarette" to Help Quit

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbal-cigarette-to-help-quit/214372>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 20, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbal-cigarette-to-help-quit/214372 "2003-11-20T21:19:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gypsymoth3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbal-cigarette-to-help-quit/214372/1 "2003-11-20T21:19:26Z")

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my sister said her boyfriend had told her about some herbal “cigarette” sold in healthfood stores that helped on of his friends quit. i was wondering, what exactly is in it and what side effects (if any) can it produce (because i don’t think smoiking anything can be perfectly healthy)?

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbal-cigarette-to-help-quit/214372/2 "2003-11-20T22:29:26Z")

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There are a number of brands of “herbal” cigarettes out there; they all have different sorts of (legal) dried plant material in them. What does it say on the package?

They still have carbon monoxide in them, which makes them hazardous to your health.

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/background\_briefings/smoking/272145.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/background_briefings/smoking/272145.stm)

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**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbal-cigarette-to-help-quit/214372/3 "2003-11-20T23:12:38Z")

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er… isn’t _tobacco_ a herb? According to [most definitions](http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Aherb) a herb is a plant without a woody stem, and what pictures of _nicotiana tabacum_ I have seem look like a nonwoody plant.

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**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbal-cigarette-to-help-quit/214372/4 "2003-11-21T00:58:58Z")

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According to [the FTC](http://www.quackwatch.org/02ConsumerProtection/FTCActions/herbalcigarettes.html), there’s nothing safe about herbal cigarettes. Other than the fact that most of them don’t contain nicotine, they’re just as bad as the tobacco variety.

It’s sort like quitting your crack habit by taking up heroin. Not a good trade-off.