31 May was NO Tobacco day!
I Quit......31 May was NO TOBACCO DAY!
Since its introduction to the world by Native Americans in the 15th century, It has been reported that nearly 1 billion deaths worldwide are directly attributable to tobacco use.
Despite all the warnings produced by the hard evidence of medical science, people still persist in smoking and contaminating their lungs with the noxious byproducts of the cigarette and pipe! It is an indisputable fact that smoking can, in at least two thirds of the cases, lead to lung cancer.
And smoking doesn’t only cause cancer. It also causes tens of thousands of deaths each year in the UK alone from other conditions, including heart and lung problems. Worldwide, tobacco use caused an estimated 5.1 million deaths in 2004 – that’s one every six seconds!
Early historyTobacco was first discovered by the native peoples of North and South America who mainly smoked it only on ceremonial occasions, ie. they weren't what we would describe today as "chain smokers" It was later introduced to Europe and the rest of the world by adventurers such as Sir Walter Raleigh
The importation of tobacco into Europe was not without resistance and controversy in the 17th century. King James I penned an attack on tobacco titled:
A Counterblaste to Tobacco in 1604, in which he denounced tobacco use as "[a] custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, neerest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomelesse." In that same year, an English statute was enacted that placed a heavy protective tariff on every pound of tobacco brought into England. (Wikipedia)
The World Today
Today the war goes on but its main thrust is between "Big Tobacco" and Government (FDA in the US) and it is reported by the Daily Telegraph that Britain is gradually winning the anti-smoking battle in Europe! "Big Tobacco" has largely turned its attention to the Third World countries!
In the meantime a recent report concluded that "vaping" [the use of e-cigarettes] and nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches and chewing gum, were better health options than smoking, but were costly and not free from health hazards.
(The WHO said last year that e-cigarettes emit toxic chemicals which could be harmful to bystanders and should be banned indoors.)
Truth be told, addicted smokers are addicted to the drug of nicotine, which is a form of substance abuse and they lose the ability or will to quit.
Motivation in the Health interests of some of our WA members, If you are a "chain smoker" its time to quit!
Anyway, its time to stop watching all your hard earned money go up in smoke!
Have a good weekend all you virtuous NON-SMOKERS!
Recent Comments
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Arthur, this is a great post noted by me - a life time anti-smoker. By the way I once picked tobacco for a season in New Zealand. And that really confirmed my antithesis for any form of smokeabilia.
Several interesting points to consider;
- if someone grew a tobacco plant, picked and dried some leaves, rolled them, blindfolded you and got you to smoked the resulting cigarette you wouldn't know it was one. Cigarettes have so many additives that the taste is completely different. And the impact on health is enormous.
- the tobacco that the indigenous folks smoked way back when would be the same; totally dissimilar in taste and in fact medical implications, to modern cigarettes
- when tobacco is growing, if aphids attack the plants within hours the nicotine has risen to the affected area and all aphids are dead! And nowadays cigarettes have added nicotine over and above what is in the leaf.
- smoking becomes such a habit that it is almost a motor reflexive action. I had an example of this with my mum. She had Picts Disease which is a dementia but with different traits to Alzheimer's. Over the time before she died she had to be coaxed to do anything; eat, drink etc. However she was like a bloodhound when it came to smokes. Unfortunately she kept forgetting where she left them once lit. So we banned them from the house. She fretted for ages. So in this case there were two detrimental issues - her health and our safety (as the house could have caught fire)!
- unlike 'normal' ciggies e-cigarettes can not be ashed! A friend who is a serious chain smoker, had a suspected heart attack. He fretted in hospital as is is a complete no-smoke area. They gave him one of these and low and behold we caught him tapping the end to get rid of the ashes. Now how ingrained is that.
Hello Helen,
Good to hear from you and thank you so much for your excellent contribution on tobacco coming from your personal encounter with it.
I was particularly intrigued to hear about the way nicotine deals with aphids, and saddened by the news of the unfortunate disease that your mum suffered from!
It is true that we are creatures of habit and sometimes those habits take over in a pernicious way! Good health and blessings to you!
~Arthur
Tobacco.. You roll it up in a piece of paper, put in you mouth, and then you set fire to it!!! .... God bless Bob Newhart for exposing the stupidity.
Bob Newhart was an all time great standup comedian and his skit exposing the absurdity of Tobacco usage was a work of comedic genius! LOl!!!! Thanks David!
https://goo.gl/f6mwNM
~Arthur
Hi John, good to hear that you have made the commitment to give up smoking I wish you strength and persistence in doing this!
~Arthur
Without being rude, a witty country leader once said, cigarette is a piece of dry leaf wrapped in a paper, with fire at one end, and a fool at the other.
Hi Howard,
I like your take on social Darwinism, here in South Africa, smokers are generally banned from restaurants et cetera unless a special smoking room is provided!
~Arthur
Smoking is SO bad! I wish my son would quit. I have 4 children and my youngest is still smoking. I smoked when I was young, but quit 32 years ago :-) Now the smell to me is really disgusting and I cannot be in a room with smokers. It really bothers my allergies. Time for EVERYONE to QUIT!! Great post!!
You are so right Diane...a noxious habit indeed which can also be harmful to non-smokers…… I was a "passive" smoker for many years as my father was a heavy chain-smoker.
Fortunately he gave it up when the doctor discovered a spot on his lung! It seems that most of the younger generation are smokers nowadays.
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I smoked for 40 years, and I quit 14 years ago by reading a book, that changed my perspective of what I was doing.
I didn't quit cold-turkey, I didn't have to give up anything and I didn't go through any withdrawal. It was Easy!
I wonder how many people that didn't smoke on May 31 were wishing every minute that they were. There are people that go years without a cigarette and are miserable every day.
That was me until I found the easy way to stop smoking.
What smoker thinks it's going to be easy to stop?
Hi Phil, thank you for your very inspiring and cheering news! The personal battle with tobacco addiction does not need to be arduous.
You are right, it is a matter of perspective and with the right perspective and motivation we can accomplish just about anything!
~Arthur
Your Attitude + Your Choices will = Your Life
~ Brian Tracy