Abstract Studies were carried out to determine the heavy metal levels and pollution index states of smoke based and smokeless tobacco and cannabis products sold within Enugu metropolis, Enugu State using standard analytical procedures and instrumentation. The samples were ground, digested and analyzed for Pb, Cd and Cu levels using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The range of mean values of Pb, Cd and Cu in the smoke based tobacco (DO, BH, LM, RO, SM and MB) samples were 0.05 – 0.39, 0.05 – 0.18 and 0.14-2.43µg/g respectively. The mean values of Pb, Cd and Cu in the smokeless tobacco (Sf) samples were 0.57, 0.13 and 8.04 µg/g respectively. The range of mean values of Pb, Cd and Cu in the cannabis (CL and CS) samples were 0.34 – 0.61, 0.10 – 0.59 and 7.32 – 12.11µg/g respectively. The mean levels of Pb in the Sf and CL samples and Cd and Cu in the CL samples were above the recommended permissible limits. The levels of the investigated metals in the smoke based and smokeless tobacco and cannabis samples showed significance at p <0.05. The C/P index values showed that Sf and CL samples were slightly polluted with Pb while the CL samples were slightly polluted with Cd and Cu. This study therefore was of the view that as long as government across every level in Nigeria still allow the consumption of smoke based and smokeless tobacco and cannabis products, there should be a strict monitoring and supervision of the sources, cultivation, processing and packaging of especially the locally produced tobacco and cannabis products with a view to minimizing the level of exposure to heavy metals by those smoking these products.
Keywords Smoke based tobacco products, smokeless tobacco product (snuff), cannabis leaves, cannabis seeds, heavy metal levels and pollution.