by Carl Knight

Created on: May 01, 2008

For the total price of $28.65 I purchased a month's worth of smoking supplies on my last visit to the tobacco store.
In exchange for that sum I walked away with two cigarette rollers, five bags of cigarette filters, six packs of rolling papers and a one pound bag of tobacco.
Rolling my own cigarettes has not only lessened the expense of smoking it has also opened doors to a greater smoking experience.

Gone are the days of brand allegiance. Smoking, like any hobby, has its accessories and collector's paraphernalia. Rummaging through an aromatic tobacco store and finding things like wooden rollers of native-American design, tobacco tins and Turkish pipes can be every bit as much fun as digging through the musty old used book store and finding a first edition "Tom Sawyer!"

Another aspect of this exploration is the many different types of tobacco, both imported and domestic, you may encounter. Many of them come in sample packages, which is a very good idea. You don't want to be stuck with a month's worth of tobacco that chokes you or leaves you unsatisfied.

The money I have saved by dropping my brand allegiance and crafting my own smokes has left me free to explore the tobacco dens and develop a curiosity about the different ways of growing and blending and preparing, even the history of tobacco and its many uses.
I find that I have a taste for certain kinds of tobacco, something that allegiance to a box brand would have never allowed.

Smoking doesn't cost as much as most people think. It is allegiance to a brand name and a manufactured smoke that is so expensive. It doesn't just cost you more money; it deprives you of the whole smoking experience by leaving you with one taste and an empty wallet.

If you smoke and do not enjoy it, but merely follow the urge of an addiction, you are denying yourself. Every hospital is stocked with free literature on a multitude of smoking cessation programs. There are almost as many ways to quit smoking as there are people who smoke. However, if you enjoy your after-dinner smoke but don't like the price, I invite you to drop your allegiance to your overtaxed box brand and explore a whole world of taste and preference by purchasing wholesale tobaccos and smoking accessories.

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