If one (for some reason) decided to eat tobacco leaves, would they become addicted? What sort of health problems would arise?
This was a toughie. I Googled “green tobacco toxicity” which lead me to Green Tobacco Sickness.
A day in a tabacco field without a shirt will give you a wicked, widked sunburn. I’m not sure but I believe tobacco is a skin irritant, even while it is growing in the field.
While this doesn’t answer your question directly, it does touch on health effects of eating tobacco: the US Army Survival Manual suggests that if you are infested with intestinal parasites, you can often rid yourself of them by eating two cigarettes. (Not the filters, of course!) This works on the basis of altering the gastro-intestinal environment with a large dose of nicotine. The manual does offer the proviso that this should not be repeated twice within 48 hours…
And please do bear in mind that this is not medical advice! If you’ve got a tapeworm, go see your doctor, don’t eat a box of Virginia Slims.