This is a Tobacco Plant.. It looks very similar to the Lettuce Plant. According to the Dictionary found at dictionary. com, the definition of cigarette is: :a cylindrical roll of finely cut tobacco cured for smoking, considerably smaller than most cigars and usually wrapped in thin white paper. And also the definition of 'cured' meat is : :meat which has been treated with salt and nitrate or nitrite And the 'curing of tobacco' is: It is necessary to cure tobacco after harvesting and before it can be consumed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curing_of_tobacco And 'curing' also means: Curing (food preservation) Curing is any of various food preservation and flavoring processes of foods such as meat, fish and vegetables, by the addition of combinations of salt, nitrates, nitrites, or sugar, with the aim of drawing moisture out of the food by the process of osmosis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curing_(food_preservation) Nitrates are: Nitrates are mainly produced for use as fertilizers in agriculture because of their high solubility and biodegradability. The main nitrate fertilizers are ammonium, sodium, potassium, and calcium salts. Several million kilograms are produced annually for this purpose https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrate Nitrites are: Nitrate or nitrite (ingested) under conditions that result in endogenous nitrosation has been classified as "Probably carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2A) by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrite So basically what I think might be carcinogenic in 'tobacco' smoking is NOT the tobacco or cigarette itself but the Nitrates and Nitrites which might be used in curing the tobacco before it can be smoked.
Top US academics discover fresh tobacco leaves can fight cancer Sarah Eddington thenewstar.com Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:19 UTC Tobacco plants Researchers at the University of Louisiana at Monroe have discovered anticancer compounds in the most unlikely of places - tobacco leaves. Khalid El Sayed, an associate professor of medicinal chemistry at the ULM College of Pharmacy, and ULM colleagues Paul Sylvester and Girish Shah received a patent for their discovery of anti-cancer compounds in fresh tobacco leaves earlier this week from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. "The leaf and flower of the tobacco plant contain high amounts of the key flavor ingredient called cembranoids, which shows promise as an anti-cancer agent," El Sayed said. "It was very exciting to discover the anti-cancer activities." But this doesn't mean people will reap the same benefits by using commercial tobacco, he warned, adding that much of the anti-cancer compound is lost in the processing of commercial tobacco. "This compound is not commonly found in commercial tobacco because commercial tobacco is largely degraded into smaller compounds for about a year to give it flavor during the processing and fermentation," he said. The cembranoids are found in the waxy substance on fresh tobacco leaves and show potential for controlling metastic breast and prostate cancers. The plant produces them as a chemical defense to protect itself against insects and harmful microbial infections, El Sayed said. El Sayed said the idea originated after examining soft-bodied corals, which also produce cembranoids to guard themselves against predators. "We were collecting soft-bodied corals and found that it was using something to deter predators away, and these marine cembranoids are known for their anti-cancer activity," he said. "So then we became interested in isolating the same compound in tobacco leaves." And sure enough, that's just what they did. "This is a remarkable discovery," said Karen Briski, head of the department of basic pharmaceutical sciences. "It demonstrates that there is a helpful, healthy application for tobacco." Shah, professor of pharmacology, said the discovery came as quite a shock. "I was tremendously surprised considering tobacco is a well-known carcinogen," he said. "This goes against the current dogma." El Sayed said he hopes to sell the rights to the patent to a company that can support more pre-clinical and clinical testing of the compound so it can be used to develop beneficial applications. El Sayed said his team also is working with other researchers to explore how the compounds can be used to protect neurological activity in addition to how they can be used to control tobacco addiction. "Fresh tobacco is an important and relevant agricultural crop for many states in the U.S.," he said. "With this discovery, growers can now start producing tobacco for pharmaceutical use." Comment: Apart from cembranoids, tobacco also contains nicotine and solanesol, which have proved as medicinal in many conditions that cause death and suffering. Just have a look at the following studies: Tobacco used as medicine Using tobacco plants to fight cancer Tobacco plant-made therapeutic thwarts West Nile virus Health Benefits of Smoking Tobacco Tobacco-derived compound prevents memory loss in Alzheimer's disease mice Does Smoking Help Protect the Joints? Nicotine helps Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Patients Study supports new theory for nicotine's protective effect against neurodegenerative disorders Longtime Smokers Less Likely to Develop Parkinson's Disease Study: Quitting smoking increases risk of developing type 2 diabetes Smoking Helps Protect Against Lung Cancer Smoking does NOT cause lung cancer, in fact it just might protect you from nuclear fallout And note that here at SOTT, we agree with the above article's advice. When we say, "Let's All Light Up!", we mean natural, organically grown tobacco, not commercial cigarettes. https://sott.net/en231909
The smell of fresh tobacco is pretty pleasant actually. If they had a variety without any nicotine I think I would grow some as a garden plant. (It's not believed to be healthy to handle large amounts of the leaves with bare hands because the nicotine can leach into the skin)
You don’t need to guess. There has been massive amounts of research in to this area to identify the carcinogens in cigarettes and other tobacco products. Nitrates are indeed one of them but they’re far from the only ones.
Those links don’t mean that smoking tobacco is overall healthy or the best way to access any of the beneficial components (or even that there is a good way to do so at all). After all, cancer can also be effectively treated using radiation therapy or surgery but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy to cut yourself open with a plutonium knife.
YES But, nicotine is the "constant". Chewed in leaf. Snorted as snuff Smoked in any form. Chewing gum is known to cause precancerous lesions. Nicotine is the carcinogen. Thus Spaketh Moi
No, nicotine is specifically not carcinogenic. It could play a role in how cancer develops but it is not a direct cause in itself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#Cancer It isn't the only constant in all of those things and it isn't necessarily any one factor alone in all those things that leads to cancer. After all, you can get cancer from both sunbeds and cigarettes but that doesn't mean heat is carcinogenic.
related thread: Smoking without cancer The connection between the curing process and formation of carcinogens is discussed, along with alternate possibilities to prepare tobacco that would not have these cancer-causing substances.