I’ve never been a cigarette smoker—and truthfully, I can’t tolerate the smell—but I’ve worked with enough people over the years to understand how powerful nicotine addiction can be. My only personal experience with smoke came from intentionally burning dried mullein leaf to test its traditional use as a lung-clearing herb (spoiler alert: it works). Beyond that, I’ve created herbal smoking blends for friends and clients for many years, giving me firsthand experience with plant-based alternatives and their effects.
That said, I understand very well that there are millions of people in this world who do like to smoke. If you are of a mind to cut down on your tobacco use and instead feed your habit with herbs, I’m going to show you how.
The parts of an herbal smoking blend are the Base herbs, Supportive herbs, and the Flavoring herbs.
You can also add some herbs at the end to add body to the blend, making it have the same heaviness and smoothness as tobacco.
You can, of course, grow your own tobacco. But I’ll warn you now, if you’re looking for something less strong than cigarettes, you’ll be in for a surprise. Indian Tobacco is insanely strong and should only be smoked in small amounts (hence why it was ceremonial!). The Native tribes would sometimes dry both tobacco and wild lettuce and combine the two to give a very strong buzz.
Basic Ratios for Herbal Smoking Blends
The ratios of each herb you use is up to you, but below are guidelines to get you started. Don’t be afraid to experiment in smaller quantities (like tsp instead of tbsp) to find ratios that work best for you!
- Base: 2 tbsp.
- Supportive: 1 tbsp.
- Flavor: 1/2 tbsp.
- Body: 1-2 tsp
Body herbs are extra flavors or sensations you want in your blend to bulk it up, perhaps something like mugwort or damiana.
Best Herbs to Use in Smoking Blends
When I’m formulating an herbal smoking blend, I always fall back on the easy standby: Mullein. Mullein can also be considered a supportive herb, so you could either double up on it or play with other supportive herbs like marshmallow leaf or horehound. It’s interesting to note that so many supportive smoking herbs are there to help you stop coughing!
You can also look for nervine herbs such as rose, lavender, catnip, or mugwort that can help calm down your nervous system to use as your Supportive herbs. Hawthorn leaves also support well-being and give a boost of energy.
Flavoring herbs tend to be highly aromatic. The good old standby for me is peppermint or spearmint, but you can also try anise, monarda, or anjelica.
Additional Body herbs are things like blackberry leaf or uva ursi.
THIS article by Herbal Academy and THIS article by Hempsley can give you some other ideas.
The last blend I made for a friend of mine consisted of Mullein leaf, Damiana leaf, Blackberry leaf, Spearmint leaf, and rose petals. He said the blackberry leaf added a fullness to the blend that was very pleasant.
Now here’s where you learn how to quit cigarettes and instead make the switch to herbal smoking.
First, decide whether you want to smoke from a pipe or continue with cigarettes. You’ll have to buy your own rolling papers and roll your own, but they might be a more convenient option.
Start by buying a package of loose tobacco from your local shop. Whatever brand you think looks good will do. Roll your cigarettes or stuff your pipe with ONLY that tobacco for a couple weeks so you can get yourself used to that flavor. Try not to choose something that’s stronger than what you’re used to smoking. I suggest doing this method in 2 week increments, but you choose whatever schedule is more comfortable for you.
The next time you roll a batch of cigarettes, use 80% tobacco and 20% of your Herbal Smoking Blend. Smoke this for two weeks solid so you get used to the flavor.
The following 2 weeks, roll your cigs with 60% tobacco and 40% herbal smoking blend. I think you see where this is going…
Continue decreasing the amount of tobacco in your hand rolled cigarettes and replacing them with the herbs. Eventually, you’ll get to the point where you are only smoking the herbs and no longer have need of the tobacco.
A Realistic Note About Smoking Herbs
Now please understand, this is still smoke. Smoke is smoke, and no amount is actually good for your lungs to be breathing in on a regular basis. However, if your main reason for smoking is more of a habit for you or a social habit, this can be a healthier alternative to smoking a pack of Marlboro’s every day. It will also help ease your nicotine addiction into a more manageable smoking habit.
Want Help Quitting for Good?
If you want help quitting smoking (even herbs!) for good, check out my Complete Stop Smoking System, which is guaranteed to work! Please note that this is the exact same system that I used to stop drinking alcohol back when I was an alcoholic, and I give you instructions on how to do that in this system as well.
(Please note that several of the links in this blog post are affiliate links.)