Tobacco is the only thing I can thing of that a person would want to
throw in a drying kiln, and then only if it was going to be used for
cigarettes. Most forms of tobacco are still moist when consumed. The
only other types of plant matter that a person might want to dry are
cooking herbs.
Back about 50 years ago, I remember my Dad and Uncle having a flimsy metal
device sold by Bugle Boy Tobacco company that rolled cigarettes some what
close to un-filtered cigarettes. Bugle Boy sold tins of loose tobacco,
which did not have the "cigarette" tax. The user loaded up the tobacco,
placed a cigarette paper on the top and rotated the handle, and out popped
an un-filtered cigarette.
Those are still around at any given tobacco shop. I haven't smoked in
a couple of years, but I used to roll my own when I did. Zig-zag and
Drum make rollers that are a piece of clear plastic with two bends in
it, with two plastic rollers. There is a small (perhaps vinyl?) mat
that goes over the two rollers that you use to roll the smoke. To
operate the little gadget, you put the tobacco in between the rollers
on the mat and give it a spin with your finger tips, then place the
ungummed side of the paper between the rollers, dampen the gum, and
roll it up. Easiest thing there is. There are a bunch of loose
tobacco brands that are still around- my favorite was American Spirit,
but Drum, Bugle Boy, Velvet, Top, Borkum Riff and Caloise are all over
the place. You only pay the tax for one pack of tobacco for an entire
can, so a carton and a half of hand-rolled cigarettes (used to, who
knows what it is now) came out to about $11- and that was for the
premium stuff in the metal cans. The crap like Top and Velvet was
only a couple of bucks.
They also make machines at that work on the same principle, but use
empty cigarette paper tubes with fiters pre-attached that are pulled
over the rolled tobacco.
Now, if someone were to come up with a woodworking design for a cigarette
roller.
Not worth the effort, really. The plastic ones only cost a couple of
bucks. While it might be kind of neat to make your own, the problem
with all of them is that the rolling mat has a tendancy to split in
the middle of the seam after a while, so it really kind of makes more
sense to simply have a disposable one.
- Pipe tobacco I think can be shipped across state lines.
Any tobacco can be shipped across state lines. I knew some folks who
used to buy American Spirit in 50lb. bales and keep it in thier chest
freezer. It was shipped from Arizona to Wisconsin and not a single
eyebrow was raised. You can also order most tobacco products online,
including the really hard-to-find stuff like hard snuff (spit-less
chewing tobacco that tastes and smells like breath mints) as well as
cigarettes and cigars. Camel also used to ship entire free cartons to
people on their mailing lists when they introduced new products.
FWIW, don't roll pipe tobacco into cigarettes and expect a good
result. It is way too moist, and has a rather high sulfur content.
The only stuff that works when it's rolled is Borkum Riff.
- In my state, I think the law is you cannot sell cigarettes without paying
the taxes. You can roll your own legally.
I doubt you can resell any of it anywhere in the US without a proper
license. Buying it is a whole different thing, though.
- I keep hearing the rumor that the material to make cigarettes and cost of
manufacturing, transportation, and retail store profit is less than 40 or 50
cents.
- The rest is taxes. Sin Taxes.
Yep. And this is the country that fought the British over a minor tax
on tea. But what are you going to do about it?
Just to stir the kettle.
I don't know if you succeeded or not, but I'd figure I'd fill in the
details for any of the smokers on the list. I don't smoke anymore
because my wife had to quit (asthma), but I still think that the taxes
the health nuts put on it are criminal. Rolling your own really is
the way to go if a guy wants to save money. Some of the hand-rolleds
are additive free as well- which doesn't make them good for you, but
it may well make them less bad for you.
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
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