[ Post a Response | The Sublime Desire of Cigarette Smoking ]
Posted by Nat on February 5, 2011, 11:23 am
I posted this somewhere else, but since the 'addiction' thing was so well received (har), thought we'd continue along the same lines but in a slightly different vein.
I've been doing "no-additive" cigarettes for years. There seems to be a difference - a noticeable one at that.
I don't wake up coughing; my throat and lungs don't get scratchy; and they just downright taste better without the goop and junk and stuff. Do you know that most domestic cigarettes are only 50% 'new' tobacco? 25% is recon - old cigarettes that didn't sell and went past their date. And 25% is the Mother Liqueur: a batch of the additives mentioned above: flavorants, moisturizers, and the nasty little secret ingredients that in this day and age, make particular cigarette brands special. Better living through chemistry, sorta.
Two of these little goodies are of particular note: boosters and sustainers. These wonder-substances a) increase the amount of free-nicotine available in the inhaled smoke stream, and b) inhibit the breakdown of nicotine into cotinine and other metabolites. In short, today's cigarettes are designed, engineered, and formulated to deliver very high and longer-lasting doses of nicotine.
Not to mention FSC's which we won't go there now. Bad. Wrong. Evil.
Once in while, I'll pick up a pack of domestics for whatever reason, and am always surprised at the nic hit these brands provide. There is a distinct and unmistakable difference, in the intensity, quality, and duration of the buzz - much different than the American Spirit rollies I usually enjoy, even though mine are ostensibly higher in T&N.
Less tar, less nicotine (in name only), better buzz. That's why Newports and Marlboros and Camels are what they are.
But there's a price: you're inhaling substances above and beyond nature.
So yeah. Additive-free. Here's what you might expect:
1) A different but more natural taste
2) Slight inconsistencies from one cigarette to another - some a little better, some not quite as good
3) Less of a nic buzz but again, more 'natural' I guess I'd say
4) No chemical taste
5) Less physical effects - throat scratch, congestion, coughing, etc. This takes a while to manifest as your body clears out the old stuff; perhaps a week or two to really notice it, and a month or two to get to completely gone
6) Possibly - although no strong evidence as yet exists - less likelihood of the usual medical issues associated with smoking.
OK, and I WILL get on my FSC soapbox for ever-so-brief a time: If you're going additive-free, might as well hop off the FSC bandwagon and roll your own. Much cheaper. Works out to $40/carton where I'm at. Used to be $20 before the stupid tax.
Additive Free: Three thumbs up!
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