Clove Cigarettes: Dangerously Smooth

A chemical in cloves is responsible for numbing the throat and giving smokers the impression that these cigarettes are less harsh than others, ABC News reported Oct. 10.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently banned the sale of cloves and other flavored cigarettes, a move cheered by health experts who said cloves are especially dangerous. That’s because burning cloves releases a chemical called eugenol, a topical anesthetic used by dentists to numb the mouth. For smokers, inhaling clove smoke means numbing the throat, which allows them to breathe the smoke in more deeply.

“Most officials agree that when young people smoke cloves, they can get hooked faster because of the anesthetic, eugenol, in the cloves,” said Richard Hurt, director of the Nicotine Dependence Center at the Mayo Clinic. “In many respects, clove cigarettes are more dangerous” than other flavored cigarettes, he said.