Rolling papers are small sheets, rolls, or leaves of
paperPaper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
which are sold for
rollingRoll-your-own refers to a cigarette made from loose tobacco and rolling papers. Roll-your-own products are sold as a pouch of tobacco for rolling hand-rolled cigarettes, sometimes with the rolling papers provided in the pouch...
one's own
cigaretteA cigarette is a product consumed through smoking and manufactured out of cured and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other additives, then rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder...
s either by hand or with a
rolling machineA rolling machine is a machine that is designed to roll either tobacco or cannabis into individual cigarettes or joints. To roll a cigarette with cannabis, one must break up the smoking material as well as remove any stems so they won't puncture the paper...
. When rolling a cigarette, one fills the rolling paper with
tobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines. In consumption it most commonly appears in the forms of smoking, chewing, snuffing, or...
,
shagShag or rolling tobacco is fine-cut tobacco used to make self-made cigarettes by hand rolling the tobacco into rolling paper or injecting it into filter tubes. Various types of cut are used; most shag blends use a simple mixture of cutting styles, consisting mostly of loose cut but also crumble...
,
cannabisCannabisalso known as marijuana or marihuana, and ganja , among many other namesrefers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug...
or other
herbA herb is a plant that is valued for flavor, scent, or other qualities. Herbs are used in cooking, as medicines, and for spiritual purposes....
s.
Rolling papers are most commonly made with wood pulp,
hempHemp is the name of the soft, durable fiber that is cultivated from plants of the Cannabis genus, cultivated only for industrial use....
,
flaxFlax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. This is called as Agasi/Akshi in Kannada, Jawas/Javas or Alashi in Marathi...
, or
riceRice is the seed of a monocot plant Oryza sativa, of the grass family . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East, South, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West Indies...
as a base material. Some companies may use
espartoEsparto, or esparto grass, also known as "halfah grass" or "needle grass", Macrochloa tenacissima and Stipa tenacissima, is a perennial grass grown in northwest Africa and southern Spain employed for crafts .-Esparto paper:It is also used for fiber production for paper making...
, which might lead to a slightly higher carcinogen level when burned.
Rolling papers are small sheets, rolls, or leaves of
paperPaper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
which are sold for
rollingRoll-your-own refers to a cigarette made from loose tobacco and rolling papers. Roll-your-own products are sold as a pouch of tobacco for rolling hand-rolled cigarettes, sometimes with the rolling papers provided in the pouch...
one's own
cigaretteA cigarette is a product consumed through smoking and manufactured out of cured and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other additives, then rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder...
s either by hand or with a
rolling machineA rolling machine is a machine that is designed to roll either tobacco or cannabis into individual cigarettes or joints. To roll a cigarette with cannabis, one must break up the smoking material as well as remove any stems so they won't puncture the paper...
. When rolling a cigarette, one fills the rolling paper with
tobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines. In consumption it most commonly appears in the forms of smoking, chewing, snuffing, or...
,
shagShag or rolling tobacco is fine-cut tobacco used to make self-made cigarettes by hand rolling the tobacco into rolling paper or injecting it into filter tubes. Various types of cut are used; most shag blends use a simple mixture of cutting styles, consisting mostly of loose cut but also crumble...
,
cannabisCannabisalso known as marijuana or marihuana, and ganja , among many other namesrefers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug...
or other
herbA herb is a plant that is valued for flavor, scent, or other qualities. Herbs are used in cooking, as medicines, and for spiritual purposes....
s.
Composition
Rolling papers are most commonly made with wood pulp,
hempHemp is the name of the soft, durable fiber that is cultivated from plants of the Cannabis genus, cultivated only for industrial use....
,
flaxFlax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. This is called as Agasi/Akshi in Kannada, Jawas/Javas or Alashi in Marathi...
, or
riceRice is the seed of a monocot plant Oryza sativa, of the grass family . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East, South, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West Indies...
as a base material. Some companies may use
espartoEsparto, or esparto grass, also known as "halfah grass" or "needle grass", Macrochloa tenacissima and Stipa tenacissima, is a perennial grass grown in northwest Africa and southern Spain employed for crafts .-Esparto paper:It is also used for fiber production for paper making...
, which might lead to a slightly higher carcinogen level when burned. The basic design of a single paper is a long rectangle with a narrow strip of
glueThis is a list of various types of glue. Historically, the term "glue" only referred to protein colloids prepared from animal flesh. The meaning has been extended to refer to any fluid adhesive....
or gum all along one of the long edges. Longer, rice-based rolling papers are also often used to make
spliffJoint is slang for a cigarette rolled using cannabis. Rolling papers are the most common rolling medium among industrialized countries, however brown paper, cigarettes with the tobacco removed, and newspaper are commonly used throughout the developing world. Modern papers are now commonly made...
s or used by connoisseurs for cigarettes of the highest quality. Rolling papers are also called skins or rollies (a term which can also mean the hand-rolled cigarettes themselves), but the term
skinning up usually only refers to the act of rolling a
spliffJoint is slang for a cigarette rolled using cannabis. Rolling papers are the most common rolling medium among industrialized countries, however brown paper, cigarettes with the tobacco removed, and newspaper are commonly used throughout the developing world. Modern papers are now commonly made...
. Newer rolling papers are available in various flavors. This is said to enhance the smoking experience.
Rolling papers have experienced a resurgence of popularity because it has become increasingly less expensive to roll cigarettes than to purchase a machine-made one in many countries including the USA . Tax policy is the key reason for the cost differential. In addition, people who roll their own cigarettes can customize the cigarette to any shape, size, and form they choose. Rolling papers are sold in lengths of 70mm - 110mm and a range of widths.
Most manufacturers who sell in the USA use the designations 1 (Single wide), 1¼ (1.25) size, 1½ (1.5) size and “Doublewide” (2 or 2.0) in connection with cigarette rolling papers. However, within the industry, these designations have slightly different meanings, much like the term Corona does not mean a definitive size but moreover a general size.; and, across the various brands of cigarette papers, the actual widths of the papers using these designations vary greatly. For example, the 1¼ designation is used with papers having widths ranging from about 1.7 inches to 2 inches, and the 1½ designation is used with papers having widths ranging from around 2.4 to 3 inches. However the length of these papers is always 78mm (+/- 1mm). 1 1/4 is also known as "Spanish Size" or "French" in parts of the world.
While a 1 1/4 sized paper is not exactly 25% larger than a 1 (single wide) paper, there is meaning to these size names. A better way to describe these accurately is that a 1 1/4 is designed to roll a cigarette that contains about 25% more tobacco then a single wide paper. Similarly a 1 1/2 size paper is designed to roll a cigarette that contains about 50% more than a single wide paper. A 1 1/4 size paper is larger than a 1 (single wide) paper and naturally a 1 1/2 size paper is larger than a 1 1/4 size paper, and a double wide is larger than a 1 1/2 size paper.
King Size is another multi-meaning term. While a King Size cigarette is typically 84mm long, a King Size rolling paper is either 100mm or 110mm in length.
In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Tobacconist Magazine has called roll-your-own (RYO) the tobacco industry's fastest growing segment. It estimates that 2-4% of US cigarette smokers, or approximately 2.6 million people, make their own cigarettes. Many of these smokers have switched in response to increasingly high taxes on manufactured cigarettes. ,
TTB stats
In 2000, a Canadian government survey estimated that 9% of
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's 6 million cigarette smokers smoked hand-rolled cigarettes "sometimes or most of the time" - 7% smoked roll-your-owns "exclusively", and over 90% of rolling papers sold in Canada were for tobacco consumption.. A more recent 2009 study has shown that approximately 925,000 Canadians roll their own cigarettes
ref
According to The Publican, "Low price RYO has seen an astonishing rise of 175 per cent in [2007] as cigarette smokers look for cheaper alternatives and to control the size of their smoke" .
Britain'sThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
National Health ServiceThe National Health Service is the name commonly used to refer to the publicly-funded health care services in Great Britain. In England the name National Health Service is used without further qualification whereas the services in Scotland and Wales are known as NHS Scotland and NHS Wales...
has reported that roll-your-own use has more than doubled since 1990, from 11% to 24%. Many of these smokers apparently believe that hand rolled cigarettes are healthier than manufactured products.
In
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
, roll-your-own smokers have long exceeded those for manufactured brands.
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
reported in 2005 that:
The ratio of roll-your-own to manufactured or tailor-made cigarettes consumed by New Zealanders has risen over (at least) the past decade, perhaps reflecting price differences between these products, and currently approaching 50 percent overall.
Consumers switching to roll-your-own has led to a response among certain tax authorities. In the United States,
IndianaIndiana is a U.S. state, the 19
th admitted to the Union. It is located in the Great Lakes region, and with approximately 6.3 million residents, is ranked 16
th in population and 17
th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38
th in land area, and is the...
and
KentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. Kentucky is a Southern state situated in the Upland South, although the state is infrequently placed, geographically and culturally, in the Midwest. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a...
tax rolling papers. Kentucky set its tax at $0.25 per pack (for up to 32 leaves, larger packs are taxed at $0.0078 per leaf) in 2006 despite complaints from manufacturers. .
Developments
The Spanish manufacturer of Bambu and
SmokingSmoking is a brand of cigarette rolling papers. Smoking is manufactured by: in Barcelona, Spain. According to their website they were one of the earlier factories to produce rolling papers. Smoking offers different color packages which relate to the weight or material of the paper inside.-...
was accused of using illegal carcinogenic materials, namely esparto, in their cigarette papers to cut costs but was never convicted .
Fire-resistant applications
Fire-resistant cigarettesFire safe cigarettes are special cigarettes designed to extinguish quickly, if ignored, with the intention of preventing unintended fires....
, which reduce the risk of fire from unattended cigarettes, are made with special paper that includes "speed-bumps" If a cigarette made with this type of paper is left unattended, the thicker paper in the speed bump will help the cigarette self-extinguish.
Other uses
Rolling paper can be used for more than just rolling cigarettes:
- After soaking in potassium nitrate
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula KNO3. A naturally occurring mineral source of nitrogen, KNO3 constitutes a critical oxidizing component of black powder/gunpowder. In the past it was also used for several kinds of burning fuses, including slow...
, rolling paper can be fitted to a base bulletA bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. A bullet does not contain explosives, but damages the intended target by its impact or penetration...
to make a combustible paper cartridgePaper cartridge refers to one of various types of small arms ammunition used before the advent of the metallic cartridge. These cartridges consisted of a paper cylinder or cone containing the bullet, gunpowder, and, in some cases, a primer or a lubricating and anti-fouling agent...
.
- Cigarette papers are often used while playing the electric guitar to carry out notes and make a unique sound.
- As an inexpensive bandage
A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to the body...
to stop bleeding.
- Players of wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
s, particularly fluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, use rolling paper as a blotterBlotting paper is a type of paper or other material which is used to absorb an excess of substance from the surface of an object....
to remove moisture that accumulates in keypads or joints. Some clarinet players use a folded piece of rolling paper over their two front bottom teeth to protect the bottom lip from being cut, due to the pressure from the weight of the clarinet on the lip.
- In computer-aided manufacture for setting the right level for drills. The paper is placed on the object to be machined and the drill is lowered until it catches the paper. Because the paper is so thin, this is the easiest way to get an exact start point for the drill.
- By DJs to tighten a loose centre hole of a record
A gramophone record, commonly known as phonograph record, vinyl record, or simply record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc...
. The paper is placed over the spindle and the record pushed down on top. This prevents the needle skipping from lateral movement due to a large centre hole.
Noted brands
- Abadie
Abadie is a brand of rolling papers originating from Bollore in France. There were also Spanish-made Abadie papers which are produced by Miguel Y Costas, as well as an Abadie factory in Vienna...
- French brand in a pink pack (FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
1840)
- aLeda - The Original One - The original transparent cigarette rolling papers (Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
2006)
- Bambu rolling papers - Brand of rolling papers made in Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
& SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
. (Spain 1922, moved to Argentina 1990.)
- Bugler - Popular in US prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Other terms are penitentiary, correctional facility, and jail , although in the United States "jail" and "prison" refer to different subtypes of correctional facility...
system and among low end rollers.
- JOB
JOB rolling papers are a popular brand of cigarette paper produced by Republic Tobacco in Perpignan, France. In 1838, a French craftsman named Jean Bardou came up with the idea for a booklet of rolling papers made of thin, pure rice paper. The booklets were a success and Bardou's trademark...
(France) 1834. First rolling paper in booklet form. Famous for iconic art nouveauArt Nouveau is an international movement and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century . The name 'Art nouveau' is French for 'new art'...
advertising posters
- Juicy Jay's
Juicy Jay's is a brand of flavored cigarette rolling paper, Cigar Tobaccos and Cigar Wraps. It is the #1 selling brand of flavored roll-your-own products in the world . It is part of the Rolling Supreme family of rolling papers...
- Flavored paper brand, notably featured as part of the plot line in Grandma's BoyGrandma's Boy is an American comedy film produced by Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison in 2006. The film stars Allen Covert, who also co-wrote and co-produced, and Linda Cardellini....
movie
- OCB
Odet-Cascadec-Bolloré is a French manufacturer of smoking papers. It was founded in 1918 by René Bolloré, after he purchased a paper mill on the shore of the Odet river in Cascadec, France....
- French brand in a white pack (FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
1918)
- RAW
RAW is a brand of cigarette rolling paper used in the process of RYO . It contains a "proprietary" blend of vegan unbleached fibers, resulting in a thin, brown translucent paper...
- Unbleached vegan rolling papers, notable for their brown see-through properties (Spain 2005)
- Rizla
RizLa+ is a brand of rolling papers in which tobacco or cannabis is rolled to form cigarettes or joints, respectively....
- (France): 18th century origins. Now 75% of the UK rolling paper market.
- Pay-Pay
Pay-Pay is the oldest brand of cigarette rolling paper in the world. Pay-Pay rolling papers were originally traded by Spanish sailors for cotton and tobacco in North America; this is the earliest record of a paper entering the North American market ]...
- Oldest brand of rolling papers in the world (From 1703 Spain)
- Smoking
Smoking is a brand of cigarette rolling papers. Smoking is manufactured by: in Barcelona, Spain. According to their website they were one of the earlier factories to produce rolling papers. Smoking offers different color packages which relate to the weight or material of the paper inside.-...
- (Spain) - popular in parts of Europe and the Middle East.
- Zig-Zag
Zig-Zag is a brand of rolling papers that originated in France. It is marketed in the USA by National Tobacco and in Europe by Republic Technologies. The Zig-Zag brand produces primarily hand-rolled tobacco related products such as cigarette rolling papers, cigarette tubes and rolling accessories...
- (France) First interleaved brand (hence the name). Gold medalA gold medal is typically the highest medal awarded for achievement in a non-military field. The concept comes from the military, initially with a simple recognition of military rank, and later decorations for admission to military orders dating back to medieval times.Since the eighteenth century,...
at 1900 Universal Exposition in ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
- Tally-Ho
Tally Ho is an Australian brand of cigarette rolling paper distributed by Imperial Tobacco Australia. The packaging of the product aims to appeal to Australian patriotism, with many assertions such as 'Australia's Finest' and 'Australia's No.1 paper for over 60 years'...
- (Australia): Known for its patriotism, despite being made in Belgium.
See also
- Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines. In consumption it most commonly appears in the forms of smoking, chewing, snuffing, or...
- Tobacco smoking
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the vapors either tasted or inhaled. The practice began as early as 5000–3000 BC. Many civilizations burnt incense during religious rituals, which was later adopted for pleasure or as a social tool. Tobacco was introduced to the old world...
- Shag
Shag or rolling tobacco is fine-cut tobacco used to make self-made cigarettes by hand rolling the tobacco into rolling paper or injecting it into filter tubes. Various types of cut are used; most shag blends use a simple mixture of cutting styles, consisting mostly of loose cut but also crumble...
- Blunt
- Kretek
Kretek are cigarettes made with a complex blend of tobacco, cloves and a flavoring 'sauce'. The word "kretek" itself is an onomatopoetic term for the crackling sound of burning cloves....
External links