Clear rolling papers

Clear rolling papers are a recent trend in rolling papers. These papers are made from natural cellophane and are packed much like normal rolling papers. Each pack has between 20-50 sheets and is available in a multitude of sizes. The first Clear Rolling Papers were made in 1982 by American Dreams Inc (Illinois) and were marketed with limited success in the USA.

There are many new brands of these cellulose papers. Most are currently made in Brazil and would therefore be made from 80% Eucalyptus based cellulose, 14% glycerin and 6% water. The brand Aleda, however printed false statements and claimed to use 100% cellulose (see below). The glycerin (glycerol) in these papers causes them to burn very slowly as the glycerin burns at a low 160 °C (thus it slows the burn rate of the surrounding cellulose - a typical disposable lighter burns at 650 °C). The problem with glycerin is that if it is burned in excess it could produce the possibly toxic gas acrolein. Normal white and brown rolling papers use calcium carbonate instead of glycerin to slow the burn rate. Calcium carbonate produces harmless CO₂ when burned. The inherent properties of this special cellulose film paper cause it to slightly shrivel when heated. Thus it wraps even tighter around tobacco as it is being smoked and therefore provides a tighter draw with less air-pull.

There has been some controversy surrounding clear rolling papers. This is mostly because some brands have incorrectly advertised their clear rolling papers as being more natural than regular 'white' rolling papers and have even gone as far as to claim that regular white papers contain lead and arsenic whereas the 'clear' ones do not. In reality it takes more chlorine to produce the clear papers than it does the white ones. Also since the cellulose is wood-derived it does contain arsenic (wood naturally contains arsenic, as does almost all things grown in soil), and at a higher concentration than a thinner white paper.

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