Tobacco has been grossly misunderstood, unfairly maligned, and improperly utilized. For over a decade, I have had tremendous and shocking success using medicinal tobacco in treating people with serious mental health symptoms and grave substance misuse disorders.

I’m sure that some of you are incredulous. You know about the incredibly strong link between cigarettes and cancer, and you may be aware of vaping and popcorn lung. There is a decent chance that you know someone who has had some serious health problems caused or exacerbated by smoking. I am not denying any of those problems. But to be clear, those problems are caused by cigarettes and vaping devices.

For over a hundred years, cigarette companies have been loading their products with over 7000 different chemicals; and we know that over 250 of them are dangerous, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia. There can be no denying that cigarettes are still one of the top health problems in the United States.

Vaping devices sprung upon us a decade ago, with sweet flavors (for the kids) and the false promise of the safe ingestion of nicotine. While vaping devices avoid some of the harms caused by cigarette smoking, it is pretty clear that they cause a variety of serious lung and brain problems that we are still just beginning to understand.

Naturally grown, 100% pure tobacco has been unfairly lumped in with cigarettes and vaping devices. American Indians and the indigenous people of Central America and Cuba have been using organic tobacco for thousands of years. It has been used in a variety of shamanic ceremonies, celebrations, community events, and at the sacred moments of birth, marriage and death.

The colonial big cigarette companies snatched up this wonderful, all-natural product from the indigenous people, added poisons, commercialized it, mass produced it, glamorized it, and lied about its negative side effects. And native discovered, organic tobacco is paying the price. It is grossly unfair.

I have a Panamanian friend whose grandmother uses fresh tobacco leaves to make a medicinal tea. Her friends and customers claim that it helps with low energy, constipation, anxiety, and shyness (additionally, fresh tobacco leaves also keep bats and rats out of houses when strategically placed near the entrances of a house). She was so confident about the benefits and the lack of negative side effects that she gave medicinal tobacco tea to her children and grandchildren.

I have used medicinal tobacco to treat Soldiers, Marines, and Veterans with complex and severe PTSD. I have used medicinal tobacco to help people deal with the tragic grief that accompanies suicide. I have used medicinal tobacco to assist people with getting over the end of a marriage. I also have found it wonderful in treating social anxiety.

I combine medicinal tobacco with my patented radical truth therapy. Now that I have had well over 500 smashingly successful cases, I am confidently telling the world. The long drawn out smoke that comes from organic medicinal tobacco eases anxiety and calms nerves. Stunningly, it raises perception and energy levels at the same time. A wonder! Only something so natural and from fresh soil can do this.

There are no unnatural pauses or silences in my radical truth sessions when medicinal tobacco is used. Clients will draw their cigar slowly and blow out the smoke even slower (those that are really trying to make a significant change will hold it awhile before releasing it). A bond forms in our individual and group sessions; the kind of bond that sustained Native American cultures for thousands of years before colonial conquerors brought lies, diseases, guns, and death.

I have had such success with my military clients using medicinal tobacco that it is unethical for me not to offer it to them. Those that smoke cigars with me do far better than those that don’t. It is uncanny. A majority of my cigar smoking clients who are in recovery from substance misuse have abstinence rates that are far higher than the non-smoking clients. No rehab in America can compete with my numbers.

But it isn’t me. It’s organic, medicinal tobacco. And I’m happy to inform you about it. Those that rail against my radical share may be in the pockets of Big Cigarettes, Big Pharma (why use horrific and addictive drugs when there is a much cheaper and more natural alternative), or Big Marijuana (don’t get me started). Or you may just be horrifically racist and anti-Native American and/or anti-Cuban. Or you may be anti-military. Shame on you if this be so. You have no right to let your misconceived notions interfere with the freedom and health of the people that can benefit from medicinal tobacco. Check yourself.

* I have found Cuban medicinal tobacco to be the very best, though Native American medicinal tobacco can be decent in a pinch. I do not recommend the Dominican and Nicaraguan strains, as they have still not refined their process, nor do they have proper regulations.

** I owe much to the groundbreaking work of Jonathan Swift for this article