[gecko (OP)]

i had this thought, that since the smoking of tobacco is only coincedental as opposed to any other plant, if smoking green tea, just the leaf rolled in paper, would have the same benefit of drinking it.

also,i have excercise induced ashtma, and was wondering if smoking is bad even if its not tobacco. i would assume it would be, just because its not inhaling enough oxygen, but green tea also has muscle relaxant properties that help expand the bronchial tube.

im sure this wont be a popular idea, but i like the act of smoking and am trying not to get addicted to nicotine.

[sharkeyandgeorge]

as a smoker myself i feel i should pass on some hard earned wisdom tobbaco  is a dangerous drug because of its high addiction abd high tar levels not to mention all the other crap it makes it makes you smell bad stains your teeth and is a generally unpleasent habit however it does look cool and nicotine improves your memory and nerves. If you really want to smoke dont go for tobacco but try dried nettles instead much less harmful and then you get to roll them as well very cool.

Giggidy Giggidy Goo
The philosopher Q man

[OldMan]

I'm amazed that some people still think it looks cool. Then again that is probably half the reason it's so easy to get young impressionable minds addicted in the first place.

Tim

[l_kryptonite]

Looks cool?  To another smoker, perhaps; it is a sign that you might have a smoker's hope in hell of picking up.
Urgh, nothing worse, in my book.

As for smoking green tea?  Perhaps talk to somebody in eastern medicine.  If anybody's tried it and found it to be harmless, it will be them.

[neilep]

As a firm beliver in empirical study I just stuck some green tea in a rolling machine and smoked it.(well, a couple of puffs)

It tastes disgusting, I did not look cool spewing my guts up and now I have a headache.

Perhaps a smoker can perform the same experiment *cough splutter gasp*

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[l_kryptonite]

Neil, you are a dear.

[chris]

I'm not sure how thermo-stable caffeine is, and whether the drug will withstand the high temperatures of burning. Smoking is bad not because it's tobacco, it's because you are inhaling smoke - tiny particles of partially-burned carbon chains that have the capacity to latch onto DNA and damage it, causing cell injury and cancers. Other chemicals in the smoke dissolve in the blood and then leach out into the walls of blood vessels (arteries) elsewhere around the body. These chemicals injure the delicate arterial wall, making it permeable to fats, and inflammed, triggering the accumulation of lardy deposits called atheroma. As these deposits grow they progressively block arteries, eventually triggering strokes, heart attacks or your legs to fall off. Statistically speaking, smoking is far worse for your heart and blood vessels than it is for your lungs. Most smokers don't live long enough to get lung cancer.

As such, inhaling any smoke, not just cigarettes, on a regular basis is likely to have the same effects. There are very clear links between days when air pollution is very bad and increased numbers of heart attacks, and strokes. Scientists have also shown that after breathing in the tiny smoke particles kicked out by diesel engines, for instance, these particles can be found in every tissue in the body. They pass straight across the lungs and get into the blood where they make blood stickier, which can damage blood vessels, and more likely to clot in the wrong places, which causes heart attacks and strokes.

Sorry, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. Smoking of any kind is harmful. Smoking tobacco is both harmful and addictive.

Chris

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
 - Groucho Marx

[wolfekeeper]

As Chris has said oh-so-very-well-indeed, it's probably a very, very bad idea, but caffeine sublimes at 178C (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine), so in theory you might be able to absorb it in smoke form, if you vapourise it and then it will doubtless recondense in the air. Whether there's a good reason for doing that... nah, what's the point, just drink it, [], but it should work.