Hey Nexus!

Recently I bought some mint leave, because I want to give enhanced leaf a try. Beforehand I thought I'll try how mint leafes taste, when they are smoked. I was positivly surprised. It tasted much bettter than expected and the idea arised, that one could make a nice smoking blend as tobacco alternative.

One thing is, I don't want a substitute cause I want to quit smoking, I want a tasty alternative cause smoking tobacco is expensive as f***. (Sorry, but where I live a pack of 20 cigarettes costs nearly 6€.)
I'm sure, there are smokable herbs/plants which contain enouch ammounts of nicotine to replace tobacco in this manner. One could also add other herbs for taste enhancedment.

The other thing is I don't really have an idea, which plants would suite my needs Espescially in regard of the desired nicotine content. The only thing I read somewhere till now (without really searching) was that people smoked typha as tobacco substiture but I'm not sure if this would be a good choice.

Which herbs would the nexus chose? Does anyone have his favourited blend nailed down? Is there even a plant which may work as tobacco substitute on a dayly base?

To me your two best bets are lobelia and Nicotiana Glauca. Both of which contain nicotine substitues that give a buzz very much like that of nicotine containing tobacco. They have both also been used to help smokes to kick the habit. If you like the menthol taste then I would mix in a few mint leaves.

The initial investment might be a bit high because I would recommend you buy in bulk of whichever you pick. You may also need a cigarette roller, cigarette papers, and filters to make yourself cigarettes. But after a short period of time you will get that money back in savings as the foliage for both plants is very cheap where i'm from.

Hope this helps

Quitting tobacco to keep smoking some leaf with nicotine does not sound like a very good deal, if you want to break the habit.

DamiasOfEgypt mentioned lobelia, and that's worth a try. Lobeline binds to nicotinic receptors and shows reuptake inhibition properties for dopamine and serotonin. I did not find it particularly tasty, but combining lobelia inflata (indian tobacco) with other herbs you enjoy can result in a mix that works for you.

Get small amounts of different herbs, experiment, and when you find something you like then you can buy more bulk of each.

Some flavors I like for blending are mullein, calea, damiana and peppermint. You can get some rolling tobacco and add a bit to the mix, slowly decreasing the proportion until you're not smoking nicotine.

I'm rolling my cigarettes myself yet. Without a ciagarette roller...by hand. So, yeah, I basically have everything I'd need.



It does indeed! I'll do some research in this direction. Thank you very much!




I guess my syntax might have been a little bit confusing here. I don't want to break the habbit, as I really enjoy smoking. I just would like to quit smoking tobacco, just for the reason that it's expensive. The price you pay here is ridiculous. Then there are also the taxes on tobacco. And I don't see, why I should pay so much, if I could go much cheaper, by just don't using espescially this plant.

Thank you for your answer also. I'll have a look at lobelia!

I also ordered 8 living tobacco plants today. Just for the fun of it.

That's great! Growing your own plants is a very spirit awakening thing. I wish your little plants the best. What kind did you get?

I ordered

4 x Nicotiana rustica
4 x Nicotiana sylvestris

looking forward to grow them

Good luck with your new babies

Hey, how is the growing going?

In response to the question about other herbs for smoking, I've found many. One of my favourites is Californian poppy. I grow my own from seed I've saved, then collect petals and stamens just before they drop. The foliage is also smokeable but I prefer the flowers, apart from the small amount of frost-killed herb that can be obtained in the winter. That always seems stronger, perhaps because the plant cells have been burst, thereby increasing the availability of the alkaloids.

Nepeta sibirica is also interesting.

My girlfriend smoked tea for a while to help get off cigarettes, and claimed that that was helpful.

It took a while to find a tea that tasted good and worked, but when did did, she was pretty happy.

Blessings
~ND

I just saw, that this thread popped up again.



I'd say...uhm... not too well...all plants are dead.

It was a stupid idea to buy those plants in Winter. But thanks for the reminder. I guess NOW would be a good time to give it another try! Guess I'll order some new ones.