What to Smoke Instead of Tobacco in a Joint? Herbs for the Mix

What to smoke instead of tobacco in a joint? Mild herbs such as mullein, raspberry leaves, mint, chamomile, or lemon balm are used in mixes. This substitution removes nicotine from the joint but not smoke, because carbon monoxide forms when any plant is burned. In Europe, 77.2 to 90.9% of cannabis smokers mix it with tobacco, according to the Global Drugs Survey covering 33,687 people (Hindocha et al., 2016). This text explains what changes when tobacco is removed and what is known about smoke from herbs. We also describe which plants should not be put in rolling papers and why vaporization changes more than any additive. Sources are given for every figure, and where research is lacking, we state it clearly.

KEY INFORMATION
• In Europe, 77.2-90.9% of cannabis smokers mix it with tobacco (Hindocha et al., 2016).
• A herbal cigarette made from mugwort produced twice as much carbon monoxide as a tobacco cigarette with the same declared tar (Bak et al., 2015).
• EMA monographs describe drinking, rinsing, and baths; none describe smoking.
• Vaporizer users had an odds ratio of 0.40 for respiratory symptoms compared to smokers (152 vaporizer users).

How many people mix cannabis with tobacco and why change it?

Most in Europe. In the 2014 Global Drugs Survey, 65.6% of 33,687 cannabis smokers declared routes involving tobacco. In European countries, the rate ranged from 77.2% in the UK to 90.9% in Switzerland, and in the Americas from 4.4 to 16.0% (Hindocha et al., Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2016).

Poland was not included due to fewer than 500 responses. The European pattern is clear: in every surveyed European country, joints with tobacco predominated. Vaporization was most common in Canada (13.2%) and the USA (11.2%).

The same study shows something more important than the percentage. Among those who also used tobacco, cannabis users without tobacco had 80.6% higher odds of reporting wanting help to reduce tobacco (OR 1.806). The odds of planning to seek such help were 103.9% higher (OR 2.039). This cross-sectional study shows association, not proof that tobacco in joints itself hinders quitting.

Why change it at all? Tobacco adds nicotine, which WHO describes as highly addictive, especially harmful to teenagers and young adults. Tobacco kills over 7 million people annually, including over 1.6 million non-smokers exposed to smoke (WHO, June 26, 2026). In Hindocha’s survey, those mixing cannabis with tobacco used tobacco on average 20.8 days per month, others 13.4 days. This is also only an association.

Tobacco also adds tobacco-specific nitrosamines formed during leaf drying and processing. They were not detected in herbal cigarette smoke (Bak et al., Toxicological Research, 2015). More about combining both substances is in the text on why mixing cannabis and tobacco is a bad idea.

Removing tobacco does not make cannabis neutral for addiction. A meta-analysis of 21 studies found cannabis use disorder in 22% of users and addiction in 13%. Among young weekly or daily users, addiction risk was 33% (Leung et al., Addictive Behaviors, 2020).

What happens to the plant when you light it?

It decomposes, producing compounds not present in dry leaves. In a lab test of a herbal cigarette made from mugwort without tobacco, 12.3 mg of carbon monoxide per unit was measured (Bak et al., 2015). A review of herbal cigarettes lists polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons among toxic combustion products (Abdel Rahman et al., ACS Omega, 2022).

Nicotine causes addiction and, according to WHO, raises cardiovascular risk. It does not cause carbon monoxide. Removing nicotine removes one harm but not the whole list. Carbon monoxide from mint leaf is the same as from tobacco because it is the same gas formed by burning.

Changing joint content can also change smoking behavior. Clove cigarettes contain tobacco and were rated tastier than smokers’ own brands. Machine smoking released more nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tar than regular cigarettes. Ten smokers smoked them longer and took more puffs: 549 seconds and 15.1 puffs vs. 314 seconds and 9.4 puffs for their own brand (Malson et al., Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 2003).

Clove cigarettes contained on average 7.4 mg nicotine vs. 13.0 mg in regular cigarettes, yet blood nicotine levels after smoking were nearly the same: 17.4 vs. 17.6 ng/ml. Published data cannot separate how much is due to longer smoking or the cigarette itself, which released more nicotine in machine smoking.

Is it the same with herbal joints? No study has checked. The clove example shows tastier smoke does not mean less exposure.

Is smoke from herbs less harmful than tobacco smoke?

No evidence for that. In Bak et al.’s test, herbal and tobacco cigarettes had the same declared tar content, 5.5 mg. Herbal smoke contained no detectable nicotine but twice as much carbon monoxide, 12.3 vs. 6.1 mg per unit, and more benzo(a)pyrene (Bak et al., Toxicological Research, 2015).

The team smoked both products machine-wise under ISO conditions. A reference cigarette gave similarly high carbon monoxide, 12.5 mg, with a certificate stating 9.5 mg tar. The twofold difference compares to a low-tar cigarette. The herbal cigarette was made from mugwort, with measured tar at 7.45 mg vs. 6.02 mg in tobacco, more than the label declared. Herbal smoke also had more hydroquinone, resorcinol, and catechol, and less cresol.

The picture is not one-sided. Some aromatic amines like 1-aminonaphthalene or 3-aminobiphenyl were lower in herbal smoke. Condensates of both smokes were mutagenic, with similar potential. Herbal smoke is not simply worse or better than tobacco, just different, and no one has proven its safety.

This is one product’s result, not every mix. It is unknown how smoke from mullein or mint in rolling paper would perform. According to Abdel Rahman et al., some herbal smokes may promote metabolic disorders. We discuss this category more in the text on are herbal cigarettes really safe.

Does cannabis flower alone also harm lungs?

Data suggest so. A New Zealand case-control study with 79 lung cancer patients and 324 controls found an 8% increased risk (95% CI 2-15) per joint-year of cannabis smoking. The result accounted for cigarette smoking and involved adults up to 55 years (Aldington et al., European Respiratory Journal, 2008).

A joint-year means one joint daily for a year. In the highest exposure group, relative risk was 5.7, but confidence interval ranged from 1.5 to 21.6, so the sample was too small for precise numbers. Authors compare both measures: each pack-year (20 cigarettes daily for a year) raised risk by 7% (95% CI 5-9), similar to a joint-year.

They also note two points. A large California case-control study found no cannabis-lung cancer link. In New Zealand, cannabis is rarely mixed with tobacco in joints, strengthening the conclusion about cannabis alone but not proving it.

Mechanics are helped by an older study on 15 men who smoked both cannabis and tobacco for years. With similar material mass, cannabis joints caused nearly fivefold higher carboxyhemoglobin increase and about three times more inhaled tar than filtered cigarettes. One-third more tar remained in airways (Wu et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 1988).

Subjects took two-thirds larger puffs and held breath four times longer. Larger puffs and longer breath-holding correlated with more tar in airways. No one measured if herbal joints behave similarly.

Which herbs go into mixes instead of tobacco?

Home mixes include mullein, raspberry leaves, mint, chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, or hops, though no study counts how often smokers use them. A review of herbal cigarettes lists six main plants: damiana, clove, peppermint, coltsfoot, lavender, and mugwort (Abdel Rahman et al., 2022).

Below we list ten plants: cautions from this text’s sources, and for seven also EMA monograph findings. Temperature ranges come from our herb vaporization guide. These are device instructions, not measurements.

Is a mild herb in tea also mild in smoke?

Unknown. The European Medicines Agency recognized traditional use of lemon balm and hops in infusions and oral preparations, and chamomile also for rinsing, skin application, and steam inhalation. The basis was at least 30 years of safe use, including 15 years in the EU, with insufficient clinical studies (EMA, lemon balm summary).

We reviewed EMA summaries for seven herbs from the table. Six list forms of use: drinking infusions, oral preparations, mouth rinses, baths, skin application, and for chamomile also steam inhalation. The mullein flower summary lists no forms. None mention smoke, so mildness in a cup does not transfer to rolling paper.

Even where clinical studies exist, EMA approaches them cautiously. For lavender oil, it recognized possible effects on anxiety and insomnia but studies were too small to confirm (EMA, lavender oil summary).

This issue is clear with mullein. Its mucilages and saponins, credited with soothing effects, are large polar molecules. The herbal cigarette review states their transfer to smoke is unlikely, so what forms when burning leaves comes from other components (Abdel Rahman et al., 2022).

With mint it may be different. The same review suggests menthol masks smoke harshness and improves taste, though this is a hypothesis, not measurement. It also cites a menthol cigarette study linking menthol to larger or deeper puffs, but no one checked this for mint in joints. Does this mean herbs in the table are dangerous in smoke? Unknown. Only mildness in infusion does not prove mildness in smoke.

What is known about damiana and poison lettuce?

Little, and what is known comes from lab studies. A flavone isolated from damiana inhibited MAO-B enzyme in vitro at IC50 of 198 nM (Chaurasiya et al., Molecules, 2019). This is an isolated enzyme result; the same flavone occurs in many plants and vegetables.

This result does not say what happens in a smoker’s body but justifies caution in people taking nervous system drugs. Seven cyanogenic glycosides were described in the genus Turnera, though the review covers the whole genus, not only damiana (Szewczyk and Zidorn, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2014).

Poison lettuce (Lactuca virosa), also called bitter lettuce, is reputed as a sedative but evidence comes from a mouse study. Lactucine and lactucopicrin had analgesic effects at 15 and 30 mg/kg and sedative effects in a motor activity test (Wesołowska et al., Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2006).

Animals received isolated compounds, not smoke. No study checked how much of these lactones survive leaf burning. The same compounds occur in chicory, showing the problem scale: presence in plant does not indicate dose reaching the body from smoke.

Which herbs should not be put in rolling papers?

Primarily plants from the Polish narcotics list. In group I-N, Salvia divinorum is item 174, Calea zacatechichi item 42, and Leonotis leonurus item 114, always as “live plants or dried herbs, seeds, extracts, and concentrates” (Minister of Health regulation, consolidated text Dz.U. 2024 item 1139 as amended).

Salvinorin A from Salvia divinorum is separately listed in group II-P item 35 and acts on kappa-opioid receptors (Chavkin et al., 2004). The regulation was amended in 2025 and 2026 but these items were unchanged. Naming any of these plants in a mix is reason enough not to buy it.

The second group includes plants with pyrrolizidine alkaloids, such as coltsfoot and comfrey. These alkaloids damage the liver and some are genotoxic (Moreira et al., International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2018). The CONTAM panel of EFSA considered their presence in food a possible risk, especially for frequent herbal tea drinkers (EFSA, 2017). Data concern ingestion; how much passes into smoke is unknown.

Coltsfoot was used for years in herbal smoking mixes. Its protective components are non-volatile and unlikely to transfer to smoke. However, tussilagone is volatile and described as a strong respiratory and cardiac stimulant in the herbal cigarette review (Abdel Rahman et al., 2022).

Lobelia inflata was used in anti-nicotine mixes because lobeline partially stimulates nicotine receptors. The same review describes lobeline as a respiratory stimulant and states lobelia is no longer used (Abdel Rahman et al., 2022). A Cochrane review found no studies with at least six months follow-up, and one large study showed no benefit even short-term (Stead and Hughes, Cochrane, 2012).

Do herbs in ready mixes interact with medications?

St. John’s wort does, at oral hyperforin doses above 1 mg daily. The EU monograph contraindicates combining it with coumarin anticoagulants, cyclosporine, tacrolimus, and protease inhibitors. It also warns it may reduce hormonal contraceptive levels (EMA, St. John’s wort monograph EMA/HMPC/7695/2021, revision 1).

How much hyperforin reaches the body from smoke is unknown. If a ready mix lists St. John’s wort and you take any of these drugs, avoid it or consult a doctor first.

Other herbs in the table have short risk lists in EMA summaries. No adverse effects were reported for lemon balm, hops, or raspberry leaves with oral use. Mint may worsen reflux and heartburn, and chamomile is contraindicated for those allergic to Asteraceae (EMA, chamomile summary). No such lists exist for smoke.

Damiana requires caution due to MAO-B inhibition described above. A full list of herbs not to combine with each other or medications is in our table which herbs not to combine.

How to choose proportions of herb and cannabis flower?

No safer proportions have been measured. Active substance content changes little: in a study on 15 men, inhaled tar amount depended only slightly on THC content, which was 0.004% or 1.24% (Wu et al., 1988).

Less flower in a joint does not mean less smoke in lungs if the joint weighs the same and is smoked the same way. How proportions change smoke composition is unstudied, but Bak et al.’s test shows smoke from different plants differs in composition.

Composition is easiest to control when simple. One base with a mild taste and at most one or two additives lets you identify which ingredient irritates the throat or causes allergy. With five herbs at once, you won’t get such an answer, and an Asteraceae-allergic person won’t know if reaction was to chamomile or something else.

Do not add anything to the mix whose origin and composition you do not know, and do not buy herbs without a full ingredient list. This is a caution rule, not a study result: none of the cited works compared herb and flower proportions.

Is vaporization better than a joint with herbs?

Available data suggest so. In a survey of 6,883 people, those mainly vaporizing cannabis had an odds ratio of 0.40 for respiratory symptoms such as cough, phlegm, and chest tightness compared to smokers. The result accounted for age, sex, number of cigarettes, and cannabis amount (Earleywine and Barnwell, Harm Reduction Journal, 2007).

In a simpler comparison, 65.8% of vaporizer users and 56.0% of others reported no respiratory symptoms. Numbers have limitations. Only 152 people (2.2%) indicated vaporization as main method. Data are self-reported, and the survey was distributed by organizations advocating drug law reform.

Therefore, a second source is important. In a hospital study of 18 volunteers, with comparable blood active substance levels, exhaled carbon monoxide was lower after vaporization than smoking (Abrams et al., Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 2007). Authors did not specify percentage reduction, so claims of tar reduction by several tens of percent in product descriptions do not come from this work.

Both studies concerned cannabis, not aromatic herbs, and we found no similar human comparison for mint or lemon balm. Temperature ranges for herbs are in the table above. Devices with temperature control are in the vaporizers category, and herb grinders in the grinders category.

Vaporization is not neutral for lungs. It is still inhaling hot aerosol, and both cited studies were short or survey-based. It performs better than smoke but not as well as not smoking.

Does an herbal mix help quit nicotine?

No, because it contains no nicotine and does not relieve cravings. Nicotine replacement therapy helps. A Cochrane review of 133 studies with 64,640 people increased chances of permanent quitting by 50-60%, relative risk 1.55 (95% CI 1.49-1.61), with high-quality evidence (Hartmann-Boyce et al., Cochrane, 2018).

Nicotine products are not neutral. The same review found odds ratio for chest pain or palpitations of 1.88 (95% CI 1.37-2.57), though these symptoms were rare and serious events extremely rare. WHO adds counseling with medication may more than double quitting chances (WHO, 2026).

Most used forms performed similarly. Relative risk of quitting was 1.49 for gum, 1.64 for patches, and 1.52 for tablets or lozenges. For inhalers it was 1.90, and for nasal sprays 2.02, but these two forms were tested in only four studies each, so superiority is less certain.

The table below orders four routes by two questions: whether nicotine is involved and whether combustion occurs.

If you smoke spliffs daily, tobacco-free days may bring nicotine cravings. This is a good time to talk to a doctor or pharmacist about nicotine therapy instead of seeking an herb to replace nicotine. None of the herbs in this text do that.

What to look for in ready herbal smoking mixes?

Labels, because law states what must be on them. An herbal smoking product is, under Polish law, a product based on plants, herbs, or fruits, without tobacco, consumed by burning. Its packaging must carry the warning “Smoking this product harms your health” on 30% of the surface (Art. 2 point 50 and Art. 9e of the Tobacco Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2024 item 1162 as amended).

From regulations, a simple checklist can be made. The warning must be on front and back packaging surfaces. Packaging cannot suggest the product is less harmful or has natural, organic, or medicinal properties, nor resemble food or medicine. It cannot state the product contains no additives or flavorings (Art. 9e para. 5 in connection with Art. 8 para. 4 points 1, 2, and 4). The producer or importer must notify the President of the Chemical Substances Office at least 6 months before marketing, listing ingredients with quantities; this info goes to the Public Information Bulletin with trade secret protection (Art. 11h).

A smoking mix whose packaging praises naturalness or lack of additives breaks these rules or is sold as something other than a smoking product, e.g., tea. Both are warning signs. Another sign is promised effects: the Anti-Drug Act prohibits advertising products by suggesting they act like narcotics or psychotropic substances (Art. 20 para. 3, consolidated text Dz.U. 2023 item 1939 as amended).

Promises on mix packaging can signal something worse than a bad label. Synthetic cannabinoids were sold in herbal products under names like Spice and K2. Lab and animal studies showed effects 2 to 100 times stronger than THC, and in humans tachycardia and psychoses were reported (Castaneto et al., Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2014). The review authors also note long-term effects remain unknown.

Who should avoid smoking herbal mixes?

Primarily people with weakened immunity. US insurance data from 2016 showed fungal infection in 0.08% of cannabis users vs. 0.03% of others. Adjusted for age and immunity, odds were 3.5 times higher (Benedict et al., Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2020).

Authors remind cannabis may contain pathogenic fungi, dangerous especially for immunocompromised. Data come from diagnosis codes, showing association not infection source, and concern cannabis. No similar measurement was found for herbs. Do not smoke or vaporize visibly moldy material.

Second group is people allergic to Asteraceae plants. EMA chamomile summary excludes use in such people and describes allergic reactions, sometimes severe, after contact of liquid preparations with oral mucosa.

Caution also applies to people on regular medication, as described above for St. John’s wort and damiana. Pregnant, breastfeeding, or asthmatic people are advised against smoking anything. No study shows safety of herbal smoke, and lack of data is not proof of safety.

Youth is a separate caution reason. Addiction risk was clearly higher in young regular users in the cited meta-analysis, so replacing tobacco with herbs does not solve frequent smoking.

What does Polish law say about cannabis and smoking herbs?

Cannabis other than fiber hemp, i.e., plants with delta-9-THC plus THCA above 0.3%, is a narcotic in Poland. Possession contrary to law risks up to 3 years imprisonment (Art. 4 point 37 and Art. 62 para. 1, consolidated text Dz.U. 2023 item 1939 as amended). Changing joint additives does not alter this.

Penalty depends on circumstances. For significant amounts, 1 to 10 years; for lesser amounts, fine, restriction of liberty, or up to 1 year imprisonment (Art. 62 para. 2 and 3). For small amounts for personal use, proceedings may be discontinued if punishment is pointless due to circumstances and social harm (Art. 62a). This is a possibility, not a rule.

The threshold counts delta-9-THC plus THCA rounded to one decimal place (Art. 4 point 37). Lab results giving only delta-9-THC answer a different question than the law. Cannabis may also be legally raw material for pharmacy compounding (Art. 33a).

Fiber hemp with sum not exceeding 0.3% and herbs outside the list are not narcotics under this law. However, mixes sold for smoking fall under the Tobacco Act, which classifies herbal smoking products as related to tobacco products (Art. 2 point 21 as amended by Dz.U. 2025 item 799). Market approval does not assess smoke safety.

The Anti-Drug Act also prohibits advertising and promotion of narcotics and psychotropic substances, with up to one year imprisonment for violation (Art. 20 para. 1 and Art. 68). Therefore, this text describes risks and evidence, not how to enhance joint effects or where to get flower.

What does this mean in practice?

Removing tobacco from a joint removes nicotine and tobacco-specific nitrosamines but not smoke. In a herbal cigarette test, smoke had twice as much carbon monoxide as tobacco with the same declared tar (Bak et al., 2015), and cannabis flower alone was linked to an 8% increased lung cancer risk per joint-year (Aldington et al., 2008).

If you stick to joints, choose simple herb mixes you know do not cause allergies, and avoid plants from the narcotics list and those with pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Check for St. John’s wort or damiana if on regular medication. Vaporization changes more than any additive, and nicotine addiction is helped by nicotine therapy, not herbs.

Every combustion session adds carbon monoxide regardless of composition. Less frequent sessions mean less smoke, and Aldington et al.’s study showed risk rose with joint-years. If you notice increasing frequency, talk to a doctor: cannabis use disorder affects over one in five users according to Leung et al.’s meta-analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can be smoked instead of tobacco in a joint?

Mild herbs such as mullein, raspberry leaves, mint, chamomile, or lemon balm are used in mixes. This substitution removes nicotine but not smoke. In a lab test, a herbal cigarette made from mugwort produced more benzo(a)pyrene and twice as much carbon monoxide as a tobacco cigarette with the same declared tar (Bak et al., 2015).

Is smoking herbs instead of tobacco healthier?

Only partially. Nicotine, described by WHO as highly addictive, and tobacco-specific nitrosamines disappear. Smoke remains, and cannabis alone was associated in a case-control study with an 8% increased lung cancer risk per joint-year (Aldington et al., 2008).

Which herbs should not be put in a joint?

Plants listed as narcotics, such as Salvia divinorum (item 174), Calea zacatechichi (item 42), or Leonotis leonurus (item 114). Also excluded are plants with pyrrolizidine alkaloids like coltsfoot and comfrey, and lobelia, whose lobeline acts as a respiratory stimulant. Avoid St. John’s wort if taking regular medication.

Is a vaporizer better than a joint with herbs?

Available data suggest so. In a survey of 6,883 people, vaporizer users had an odds ratio of 0.40 for respiratory symptoms compared to smokers, though only 152 vaporized. In a study of 18 volunteers, vaporization resulted in lower exhaled carbon monoxide levels than smoking (Abrams et al., 2007).

Do cannabis without tobacco also cause addiction?

Yes. A meta-analysis of 21 studies found cannabis use disorder in 22% of users and addiction in 13%. Among young people using weekly or daily, addiction risk reached 33% (Leung et al., 2020). These data refer to cannabis use in general, not only joints with tobacco.

Will an herbal mix help quit smoking?

No, because it contains no nicotine and does not relieve nicotine cravings. Nicotine replacement therapy is effective: a Cochrane review of 133 studies with 64,640 people increased the chance of permanent quitting by 50-60%, relative risk 1.55. Counseling combined with medication may more than double the chance according to WHO.

What warning must an herbal smoking mix have?

The packaging of an herbal smoking product must carry the warning “Smoking this product harms your health” on 30% of the surface. It cannot suggest lower harm or natural or medicinal properties and cannot state that the product contains no additives (Art. 9e of the Tobacco Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2024 item 1162 as amended).

Is damiana safe in a mix?

There is no evidence for that. A flavone from damiana inhibited MAO-B enzyme in vitro at IC50 of 198 nM (Chaurasiya et al., 2019), and seven cyanogenic glycosides were described in the genus Turnera. These are lab results, but caution is advised with medications affecting the nervous system.

This article is for informational and educational purposes and does not replace consultation with a doctor. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medications, or have chronic conditions, consult a specialist before using supplements or herbs.

Author: Michał Waluk · Published: 2026-05-11 · Updated: 2026-09-17