--- title: Green Tea Cigarettes Are Now a Thing description: The manufacturer claims they can be used as part of a cessation program. canonical: https://time.com/3991330/green-tea-cigarettes-are-now-a-thing/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-12T17:33:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:05.980Z article:section: Health og:title: Green Tea Cigarettes Are Now a Thing og:description: The manufacturer says they can be used to quit smoking. Experts disagree. og:url: https://time.com/3991330/green-tea-cigarettes-are-now-a-thing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85669d5a87e792a9/69885ee7f887dc86f8e91d4b/billy55green-tea-cigarettes.jpg?branch=production&width=620&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 620 og:image:height: 349 og:image:alt: Billly55 Green Tea Cigarette og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Green Tea Cigarettes Are Now a Thing twitter:description: The manufacturer says they can be used to quit smoking. Experts disagree. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85669d5a87e792a9/69885ee7f887dc86f8e91d4b/billy55green-tea-cigarettes.jpg?branch=production&width=620&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Green Tea Cigarettes Are Now a Thing > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Aug 12, 2015 5:33 PM UTC  Billy55's regular green tea cigarettes Billy55's regular green tea cigarettes Courtesy Billy55  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Aug 12, 2015 5:33 PM UTC _This is_ This Is Now A Thing_, where we check out the science behind new health trends._ **The thing:** [Billy55](http://www.billy55.com/) is a new company that has created a cigarette made purely of green tea—with no nicotine. While new in America, it’s been commonplace in Vietnam for at least a few decades, which is where acupuncturist and Billy55 founder Ranko Tutulugdzija found it. As an acupuncturist, Tutulugdzija said he had lots of patients trying to find a natural way to quit smoking, and he remembered seeing green tea cigarettes—rolled green tea leaves with no nicotine in them. The idea? “Get the smoker to have the same sensation as smoking,” Tutulugdzija told TIME. “They don’t feel as guilty and they have more motivation to stop.” The cigarettes, named after Tutulugdzija’s mother Biljana—referred to as “Billy”—come in regular and menthol varieties and are made out of tea originating from Nanjing and Beijing in China. They cost $2.50 per pack. **The hype:** Green tea cigarettes are part of a three-step, 90-day smoking cessation method developed by Tutulugdzija. It’s an “all-natural” program that includes taping five mustard seeds onto acupressure points that Tutulugdzija says can help you quit. Following the program, Tutulugdzija says, will eventually “downgrade” the addiction to a habit. “Habits are much easier to break than addiction,” he says. “If you smoke green tea, you don’t have a chemical \[nicotine\] working on your neuroreceptors to cause addiction. There’s a big difference between something with nicotine and something without it.” **The research:** The FDA denied TIME’s request for comment, saying it “does not discuss the regulatory status of specific products except with the firms and individuals that are responsible for such products.” CDC spokesperson Joel London said that while research hasn’t been done into green tea cigarettes specifically, a combination of counseling and medication has been proven to be most effective in kicking a smoking habit to the curb. Donna Richardson, a clinical social worker and addictions specialist with Rutgers University’s Tobacco Dependence Program, agrees. She said most addictions experts use one of the seven methods approved by the FDA, five of which include nicotine (the gum, patch, lozenges, nasal spray, an inhaler). “It’s the nicotine people smoke for,” she says. “There’s a dopamine release that happens with each puff. So if they’re smoking tea, they’re not getting dopamine, and they’d still be in withdrawal.” Richardson says the key to quitting smoking doesn’t mean quitting nicotine cold turkey. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Smoking—”no matter if it’s lettuce or tea or rolled-up newspaper”—is the harmful act. That’s because the act of setting something on fire releases carbon monoxide, and breathing that carbon monoxide in, no matter what the source, infiltrates red blood cells, which should be taking in oxygen instead. “Our lungs don’t like polluted air,” she says. For his part, Tutulugdzija says it has been only two months since his company began testing the efficacy of the product for quitters, but that “we’re getting positive feedback.” Regarding the healthfulness of his product, Tutulugdzija says, “There’s no such thing as ‘healthy’ smoking.” **The taste:** Two social smokers at TIME tried the menthol and plain varieties of green-tea cigarettes, which were harder to light than normal cigarettes. The two testers discerned almost no flavor, but the inhaled smoke did make the testers feel lightheaded. The menthol type was slightly minty, but it, too, lacked any expected, discernible green tea or herbal flavor. Tutulugdzija describes the flavor this way: “They don’t taste like a cigarette, but there’s a green tea scent.” **The bottom line:** Dr. Michael Steinberg, who heads the Rutgers Dependence Program, says this: “It’s probably not the safest way to try to quit smoking and there’s no strong scientific evidence it helps to quit.” Steinberg acknowledges that green tea cigarettes may address a behavioral component that makes quitting smoking challenging, but thinks the oral fixation is better off handled with toothpicks, cinnamon sticks, or something else that doesn’t emit smoke. Richardson echoes Steinberg’s skepticism. “I wouldn’t have anyone I care about smoking green tea cigarettes to quit,” she said. _Read Next:_[ _Fat Water Is Now A Thing_](http://time.com/3975092/fat-water-bulletproof/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day_](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ### 5 Horrible Habits You Need to Stop Right Now  Do Not Email First Thing in the Morning or Last Thing at Night “The former scrambles your priorities and all your plans for the day and the latter just gives you insomnia,” says Ferriss, who insists “email can wait until 10am” or after you check off at least one substantive to-do list item. Chris Pecoraro—Getty Images  Do Not Agree to Meetings or Calls With No Clear Agenda or End Time “If the desired outcome is defined clearly… and there’s an agenda listing topics–questions to cover–no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes,” claims Ferriss, so “request them in advance so you can ‘best prepare and make good use of our time together.'” Sam Edwards—Getty Images/Caiaimage  Do Not Check Email Constantly Batch it and check it only periodically at set times (Ferriss goes for twice a day). Your inbox is analogous to a cocaine pellet dispenser, says Ferriss. Don’t be an addict. Tools like strategic use of the auto responder and Boomerang can help. Jetta Productions—Getty Images  Do Not Carry a Digital Leash 24/7 At least one day a week leave you smartphone somewhere where you can’t get easy access to it. If you’re gasping, you’re probably the type of person that most needs to do kick this particular habit. by nacoki ( MEDIA ARC )—Getty Images/Flickr RF  Do Not Let People Ramble Sounds harsh, but it’s necessary, Ferriss believes. “Small talk takes up big time,” he says, so when people start to tell you about their weekends, cut them off politely with something like “I’m in the middle of something, but what’s up?” But be aware, not everyone agrees with this one (and certainly not in every situation), and you may want to pay particularly close attention to norms around chit chat when traveling internationally. Reza Estakhrian—Getty Images **Correction**: An earlier version of this story included a definition of cigarettes misattributed to the FDA. 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