michaelo@tektronix.UUCP (Michael O'Hair) (03/07/86)
Taken from the Spring 1986 "Healthview", a publication of Good Samaritan Hospital, Portland, Oregon. Clove Cigarettes There's a dangerous new smell in the air - clove cigarettes. Imported from Indonesia, the aromatic cigarettes are increasingly chic among young smokers. Some 150 million clove cigarettes entered the United States in 1984 -- a 12-fold increase over 1980. But the exotic cigarettes may pose an even greater helath hazard then regular cigarettes. Nausea, difficulty breathing, nosebleeds, spitting up blood, and worsening of asthma and bronchitis have been reported after smoking clove cigarettes. Nationwide, at least a dozen cases of severe illness were reported among clove cigarette smokers, including hospitalizations and at least one death. According to the Centers for Disease Control, cloves contain eugenol. This anesthetic may predispose smokers to inhale more deeply, drawing more damaging smoke into the lungs. And the smoke from clove cigarettes is more damaging than that from moderate-tar American cigarettes. The Indonesian cigarettes deliver twice as much tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide to the lungs, leading to the same problems associated with smoking regular cigarettes -- emphysema and lung cancer. - - - - End of quoted article - - - - So much for being organic and avoiding the "Industrial Tobacco" system. Standard disclaimer: Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Michael O'Hair Tektronix, Inc.