Ways to quit smoking

Herbal cigarettes sold at many stores and over the Internet.

They are easy to find and easy to buy, even for kids who aren’t old enough to buy tobacco. Some herbal brands of herbal cigarettes appeal to young smokers because they have candy-like flavors like vanilla, chocolate and fruit.

Among the most popular brands of alternative cigarettes are bidi, herbal, and clove cigarettes. All of them are especially popular among young people. But their biggest selling point is that they’re supposed to be a healthy alternative to "real" cigarettes. Are they really safe? Smoke isn’t safe to take into the lungs, no matter what it is.

It may not have nicotine in it that then creates a second problem, which is an addiction in the brain.

But, it still contains numerous carcinogens and toxins, including carbon monoxide and the increased risk of cancer.

It’s not nicotine itself that causes all of the cancer going through. It’s all of the other products from the burnt ash, the particulate matter, and all of the sixty-three forms of cancer-producing agents you can find when you start burning up leaves of anything, herbal or tobacco.

The pleasant-tasting herbal cigarettes are more dangerous than tobacco cigarettes. According to the March 2000 issue of Public Health smokers inhale about 2 to 3 times more tar and nicotine than they would if they smoked regular cigarettes.

And since tendu leaves don’t burn as easily as paper, bidi smokers have to inhale deeply and often just to keep the things lit. As a result, toxins and cancer-causing compounds found in the smoke may end up deep in their lungs. So herbal cigarettes are not safe and can’t be used as alternative cigarettes without health harms.

Marketers of the smokeless cigarette typically describe is as alternatives to cigarettes and other tobacco products. Moreover they say that smokeless (e-cigarettes) to help smokers break their addictions to tobacco. Some have even gone so far as to imply that WHO views it as a legitimate nicotine replacement therapy like nicotine gum, lozenges and patches.

Smokeless cigarettes are usually battery-powered devices that use a vapor to deliver nicotine to the smoker. When the smoker inhales through the device, air flow is detected by a sensor, which activates a heating element that vaporizes a nicotine solution stored in the mouthpiece.

This vapor may also be flavored and provide a physical sensation similar to that of inhaling tobacco smoke. Manufacturers and retailers of these products claim that smokeless are safe and site e-cigarettes positive sides:

• They do not emit second-hand, or even first-hand, smoke.

• You can smoke e-cigarettes virtually anywhere cigarettes are banned.
•  Because smokeless allow you to enjoy your nicotine fix without the thousands of chemicals and cancer-causing carcinogens found in regular cigarettes.
• Regain your health and your freedom to smoke anywhere, help clean the environment, and save your hard-earned cash all at the same time.

However, there have been no clinical studies to prove these products are not effective at helping smokers quit, nor have any studies verified the safety of these products or their long-term health effects. The World Health Organization (WHO), in a release dated September 19, 2008, stated that, "WHO has no scientific evidence to confirm the product’s safety and efficacy."

Smoking a joint is equivalent to 20 cigarettes in terms of lung cancer risk, scientists in New Zealand have found, as they warned of an "epidemic" of lung cancers linked to cannabis. Studies in the past have demonstrated that cannabis can cause cancer, but few have established a strong link between cannabis use and the actual incidence of lung cancer.

  In an article published in the European Respiratory Journal, the scientists said cannabis could be expected to harm the airways more than tobacco as its smoke contained twice the level of carcinogens, such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons, compared with tobacco cigarettes.

  In an article published in the European Respiratory Journal, the scientists said cannabis could be expected to harm the airways more than tobacco as its smoke contained twice the level of carcinogens, such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons, compared with tobacco cigarettes.

The method of smoking also increases the risk, since joints are typically smoked without a proper filter and almost to the very tip, which increases the amount of smoke inhaled. The cannabis smoker inhales more deeply and for longer, facilitating the deposition of carcinogens in the airways.

"Cannabis smokers end up with five times more carbon monoxide in their bloodstream (than tobacco smokers)," team leader Richard Beasley, at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand said.

"There are higher concentrations of carcinogens in cannabis smoke … what is intriguing to us is there is so little work done on cannabis when there is so much done on tobacco."

The researchers interviewed 79 lung cancer patients and sought to identify the main risk factors for the disease, such as smoking, family history and occupation. The patients were questioned about alcohol and cannabis consumption.

In this high-exposure group, lung cancer risk rose by 5.7 times for patients who smoked more than a joint a day for 10 years, or two joints a day for 5 years, after adjusting for other variables, including cigarette smoking.

"While our study covers a relatively small group, it shows clearly that long-term cannabis smoking increases lung cancer risk," wrote Beaseley.

"Cannabis use could already be responsible for one in 20 lung cancers diagnosed in New Zealand," he added.

"In the near future we may see an ‘epidemic’ of lung cancers connected with this new carcinogen. And the future risk probably applies to many other countries, where increasing use of cannabis among young adults and adolescents is becoming a major public health problem."