Alkalizing commercial tobacco

[johnny108]

I use Al Capone cigarillos as chewing tobacco, and it can be pretty strong (chew it after having it in for an hour and it can make you sweat, and still has its flavor).
I was however, wondering, if a half or quarter of a cigarillo would work, if the nicotine was more available….
I removed the filter, dried the cigarillo in silica gel, weighed it, then measured out 5% of its weight in sodium carbonate, diluted that with a half ml of distilled water, which I then dropped into the filler, half the liquid at each end, plus residual moisture onto the length of the wrapper. It is now drying at room temp/humidity. There was a slight whiff of ammonia as the liquid was added.
No idea how long I should wait to try it.

 

[GreenDragon]

During a laboratory for my Organic Chemistry class in college we ran an experiment to extract the Nicotine from a drugstore cigar. We made the Nicotine more soluble by adding a base to the solution. I was able to extract enough Nicotine from one cigar to kill 3 adult males (using LD50 dosage). I really would not mess around with adjusting the pH.

 

[johnny108]

Snus makers use these chemicals all the time, at these percentages.

 

[deluxestogie]

Smokeless tobacco preparations nearly always utilize the addition of alkali. Too little, and you get little nicotine. Too much, and the alkalinity excoriates your gums and buccal mucosa, or your nose. Since the careful measurement of alkali vs tobacco assumes a consistent distribution, I would guess that some of that dripped-upon Al Capone may scar your face, while other parts are silent spectators.

Regardless, keep in mind that alkali solutions can rapidly destroy your eye tissue. So be careful.

Bob

 

[johnny108]

Eye protection was worn- just not pictured.
The backs of my hands are nothing but scar tissue thanks to exposure to a novichok-type blister agent (which mustard gas detectors didn’t see, and thankfully, was not an arsenical agent).
I’m more careful than my post may have made me look.
Homogenizing the cigarillo before sampling is a good idea, and it looks like grinding before Alkalizing on future attempts is needed. I was hoping to keep a compact form for easy transport, but distribution of alkali can’t be guaranteed to be uniform….
Perhaps treating and carrying as cigarillos, but wet grinding before use is convenient enough for me.

 

[Bottenslam]

I would think distribution of sodium carbonate could be fixed by weighing the cigarillo, dry and wet, calkulate how much liquid is absorbed and with thoes Numbers calkulate how much sodium carbonate to add to solution, make an exess of sodium carbonate solution, then dipp the whole cigarillo in?
Perhaps for even distribution when drying add a step where a certain amount of liquid is pressed out of the cigarillos, tho that mighty affect nicotin and taste.... perhaps just rolling it around once in an while is sufficient. Mabey giving it a squeeze.

Id say to wait untill you notice no ammina smell what so ever, ammonia in your bloodstream is not as plesant feeling

 

[johnny108]

The cigarillo was pulverized by hand, then treated like American chewing tobacco.
Result: nicotine came on much faster, but no stronger, overall. For those needing a “wake up” flood of nicotine, adding alkali would help.
Verdict: lots of mucking about for no real improvement: I’m sticking with untreated tobacco.

 

[Huffen'Snuff]

During a laboratory for my Organic Chemistry class in college we ran an experiment to extract the Nicotine from a drugstore cigar. We made the Nicotine more soluble by adding a base to the solution. I was able to extract enough Nicotine from one cigar to kill 3 adult males (using LD50 dosage). I really would not mess around with adjusting the pH.

A third of a cigar would produce a couple days worth of nasal snuff, and I'm fairly certain the nicotine isn't 100% available by nasal insufflation even when alkalized.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum, @Huffen'Snuff. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum. You may wish to scan the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads, linked in the menu bar.

Bob