On Thu, 01 Mar 2007 08:21:57 -0500, Todd Moody <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Susan Carmack wrote:
>> The chemicals contained in chew or snuff are what make you high.
>> Tobacco picked from a plant would probably taste like any green leafy  
>> vegetable. (not that great)

I had an intimate acquaintance with the taste of raw tobacco many years  
ago. (Picked it for $).
The sap gets on the arms, unavoidable, and it tastes & smells horrible.

>>
>>> I bet that eating it
>>> can make you really sick.

Those who believe that medicine must taste bad might eat it; nobody else.

>>
>> Probably no sicker than brussels sprouts or broccoli.
>
> Um, no.  It's not the chemicals added to the tobacco; it's the tobacco.   
> When tobacco is prepared for smoking or chewing, it is first aged and  
> dried, so in that form it is much more concentrated.

I was told that it's fermented too.


   But the raw stuff
> will still make you sick.  Like potatoes, tobacco is a member of the  
> Solanaceae (nightshade) family.  Nicotine is an alkalloid poison that is  
> lethal to humans and other animals in sufficient quantities, and it is  
> present in the raw plant.
>

Smoking a cigarette would get the taste out of one's mouth.

I think that smoking tobacco is paleo, but not sure if it qualifies as  
food. More likely it's medicine, in the sense in which native American  
aboriginals used the word.


William
Puff Puff Puff