Jaipur: A cigarette with a name that barely fits in one breath is being pitched as a way to stop needing the real thing. The National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA) has launched an Ayurveda-based “deaddiction cigarette” — ‘Devdarvyadi dhoomra’ — a tobacco substitute made with herbs, positioned as a step-down aid for nicotine dependence.Meant only for tobacco deaddiction, NIA says it has been giving the herbal cigarettes to indoor patients trying to quit tobacco cigarettes, and claims the switch helped blunt the pull of nicotine. “People addicted to tobacco cigarettes admitted to NIA benefitted from ‘Devdarvyadi dhoomra’ (DD) as cravings for tobacco cigarettes died down, withdrawal symptoms eased, and it became easier to keep off tobacco long enough for dependence to start waning. The institute frames the approach as a way to take on addiction by working along a similar brain-reward track, so users can taper off tobacco with fewer withdrawal problems,” Prof Anita Sharma, head of the ‘Agad tantra’ (deaddiction) department and registrar at NIA, told TOI.NIA’s pitch is that DD can act as a substitute cue — smoke that may take the edge off nicotine withdrawal while a user tapers down. The herbs in the formulation are described as ‘medhya’ in Ayurveda, meaning brain-nourishing, and are presented as supporting cognition and mental steadiness. Developers suggest inhaling the smoke may help even out dopamine secretion patterns and, for some users, may feel nicotine-like, but without tobacco’s harmful constituents.For now, the institute is keeping the recipe under wraps. NIA has refused to disclose the contents of DD, saying it plans to get the product patented before it is made available in the market through companies. The institute has indicated it wants the product to be available not only to people admitted to NIA, but also to others who want to quit tobacco cigarettes. If the goal is to stub out tobacco, NIA is betting this ‘dhoomra’ can help smokers do it—one drag at a time, without the drag.
