Frank

I have a ritual that many would consider masochistic. I roll my own cigarettes. Rolling cigarettes has become a kinetic meditation in anticipation of the self reflection I engage in while smoking.

A smoker has hundreds of options to satisfy their addiction, but rolling cigarettes with Natural American Spirit organic tobacco is the most satisfying and cost effective option out there. Please don't get me wrong; I am not advocating that anyone pick up this dangerous habit. If you don't smoke, then don't [do not] smoke. It is a dangerous and costly addiction. But if you smoke or know someone who smokes, then you should read further because I can show you how to make smoking less addictive, less costly and maybe even less dangerous.

I think that hand rolling cigarettes with American Spirit organic tobacco is less dangerous because I know it is less addictive than buying pre-rolled cigarettes made by major manufacturers such as Marlboro or Camel. I know this because I used to smoke cigarettes like that (it's been years but I think my brand was Camel) and when I switched to rolling, I went through withdrawal. I was addicted to the additives in pre-rolled cigarettes. The process employed to infuse the 600 chemical additives into the tobacco has been compared to the free-basing of cocaine into crack. American Spirit doesn't have any of the additives that I attribute to a major portion of my addiction to pre-rolled cigarettes.

It might only be wishful thinking but by being less addicted, I think I smoke fewer cigarettes. Since they are not full of additives, each cigarette lasts longer and I can actually spread one cigarette over numerous smoke breaks.

By itself, smoking fewer cigarettes is less dangerous, but also I believe the less chemicals being ingested the better. The addictive nature of the chemicals added to cigarettes was further impressed upon me when I switched to organic tobacco and went through another, less extreme withdrawal from the pesticides sprayed on plants while they're growing.

Smokers could enjoy these possible health benefits without having to roll their own cigarettes, but pre-rolled packs of organic American Spirit cigarettes (at around seven dollars) cost about twice as much as many other packs. A way around the high cost is to hand roll cigarettes.

One pack of pre-rolled American Spirit organic cigarettes costs more than a pouch of the same organic tobacco. A pouch can make around three packs of hand-rolled cigarettes. I spend a little bit more for filters but I figure I spend around nine dollars a week toward my addiction. That's a far cry from a three dollar per pack-a-day smoker of Marlboros or Camels (which is what I was when I switched to rolling my own). I save over 500 dollars a year when compared to the average brand of pre-rolled cigarette and I save it by using a higher quality, possibly safer product.

But here's the best part of it: As I take the minute to roll the filter and pinch of tobacco around in the roller before I wrap it up inside a paper that I lick close, I get to reflect on the paradigm that there is a best of something that is no good at all.