The Real Truth about Tobacco – Part 1

Hello World

Do we all know about World No Tobacco Day?
Do we know it has been going since 1988?
Do we know the facts about Tobacco?
Do we know the harm Tobacco is causing?
Do we know how huge the Tobacco industry is?

What does all this mean to us on the street?
Are we ready to learn the real Truth about Tobacco?

The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced. (1)

WHY is tobacco such a huge threat to the public?
What are we campaigning about this year?
How do we go about taking ‘intensified action’?
Is this type of action going to change anything long-term?

Are we coming up with new ways because we have to do something?
Are we fighting but in truth, not really going anywhere?
Are we employing the same old stuff with new agendas?
Are we coming up with strategies and plans but not making much difference?
Are we being honest that we cannot control the threat of tobacco?

Are our current goals going to make any difference to this global epidemic?
Are our contributions globally really changing anything?

One of the goals for the 2017 campaign is to demonstrate how individuals can contribute by making a sustainable, tobacco-free world by committing to never taking up tobacco products or by quitting the habit.

Well is it that easy?

How come many simply cannot kick the habit?
How do we get past our addictive nature and knock out harmfull substances?

Have we bothered to really study those who are addicted to tobacco?

Do we know why they started taking the stuff in the first place?
Do we need to spend our resources and efforts asking valuable questions?

Are we too busy looking for solutions but not getting to the root cause?
Are we aware that most of us replace one addiction with another?

7 million people die from tobacco use every year.
8 million predicted by 2030. (2)

4.3 million hectares of land, used for growing tobacco each year.
2 – 4% global deforestation every year.

Tobacco growing requires large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, which can be toxic and pollute water supplies.

2 million tons – amount solid waste tobacco manufacturing produces. (2)

World No Tobacco Day is celebrated around the world every year on 31 May.
According to the official website, this yearly celebration informs the public on –

Dangers of using tobacco
Business practices of Tobacco companies
What WHO is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic
What people around the world can do to claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations. (3)

How many of us know what true health is?
How many of us are choosing to live healthy?
How many of us have different meanings for the word ‘health’?
How healthy are our younger generations today?
How are we raising our kids when it comes to healthy living?
How responsible are we regarding protecting future generations?

Next

So, what are we actually celebrating after 30 years of campaigning?
What has been going on for the past three decades?

1988 Tobacco or Health: Choose Health
1989 Women and Tobacco: The Female Smoker: at Added Risk
1990 Childhood and Youth without Tobacco: Growing Up Without Tobacco
1991 Public Places and Transport: Better be Tobacco Free
1992 Tobacco Free Workplaces: Safer and Healthier
1993 Health Services: Our Windows to a Tobacco Free World
1994 Media and Tobacco: Get the Message Across
1995 Tobacco Costs More Than You Think
1996 Sport and Art without Tobacco: Play it Tobacco Free
1997 United for a Tobacco Free World
1998 Growing up without Tobacco
1999 Leave the Pack Behind
2000 Tobacco Kills, Don’t be Duped
2001 Second-Hand Smoke Kills
2002 Tobacco Free Sports
2003 Tobacco Free Film, Tobacco Free Fashion
2004 Tobacco and Poverty: A Vicious Circle
2005 Health Professionals against Tobacco
2006 Tobacco: Deadly in any Form or Disguise
2007 Smoke Free Inside
2008 Tobacco-Free Youth
2009 Tobacco Health Warnings
2010 Gender and Tobacco with an Emphasis on Marketing to Women
2011 The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
2012 Tobacco Industry Interference
2013 Ban Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship
2014 Raise Taxes on Tobacco
2015 Stop Illicit Trade of Tobacco Products
2016 Get Ready for Plain Packaging
2017 Tobacco – a Threat to Development (3)

What is Tobacco?

Concise Oxford English Dictionary tells us –

A preparation of the dried and fermented nicotine-rich leaves of an American plant, used for smoking or chewing. (4)

Tobacco-Related Disorders

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fifth edition

Tobacco Use Disorder
Tobacco Withdrawal
Other Tobacco-Induced Disorders
Unspecified Tobacco-Related Disorder

Tobacco Use Disorder

Diagnostic Criteria

A problematic pattern of tobacco use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by at least two of the following, occurring within a 12-month period:

1. Tobacco is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended.
2. There is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control tobacco use.
3. A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain or use tobacco.
4. Craving, or a strong desire or urge to use tobacco.
5. Recurrent tobacco use resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home (e.g., interference at work).
6. Continued tobacco use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of tobacco (e.g., arguments with others about tobacco use).
7. Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of tobacco use.
8. Recurrent tobacco use in situations in which it is physically hazardous (e.g., smoking in bed).
9. Tobacco use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by tobacco.
10. Tolerance, as defined by either of the following:
a. A need for markedly increased amounts of tobacco to achieve the desired effect.
b. A markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of tobacco.
11. Withdrawal, as manifested by either of the following:
a. The characteristic withdrawal syndrome for tobacco (refer to Criteria A and B or the criteria set for tobacco withdrawal).
b. Tobacco (or a closely related substance, such as nicotine) is taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.

Tobacco Withdrawal

Diagnostic Criteria

A. Daily use of tobacco for at least several weeks.
B. Abrupt cessation of tobacco use, or reduction in the amount of tobacco used, followed within 24 hours by four (or more) of the following signs or symptoms:

1. Irritability, frustration, or anger.
2. Anxiety.
3. Difficulty concentrating.
4. Increased appetite.
5. Restlessness.
6. Depressed mood.
7. Insomnia.

C. The signs or symptoms in Criterion B cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
D. The signs or symptoms are not attributed to another medical condition and are not better explained by another mental disorder, including intoxication or withdrawal from another substance.

Diagnostic Features

Withdrawal symptoms impair the ability to stop tobacco use. The symptoms after abstinence from tobacco are in large part due to nicotine deprivation. Symptoms are much more intense among individuals who smoke cigarettes or use smokeless tobacco than among those who use nicotine medications. This difference in symptom intensity is likely due to the more rapid onset and higher levels of nicotine with cigarette smoking. Tobacco withdrawal is common among daily tobacco users who stop or reduce but can also occur among nondaily users. Typically, heart rate decreases by 5-12 beats per minute in the first few days after stopping smoking, and weight increases an average of 2-3 kg over the first year after stopping smoking.
Tobacco withdrawal can produce clinically significant mood changes and functional impairment.

Associated Features Supporting Diagnosis

Craving for sweet or sugary foods and impaired performance on tasks requiring vigilance are associated with tobacco withdrawal. Abstinence can increase constipation, coughing, dizziness, dreaming/nightmares, nausea, and sore throat. Smoking increases the metabolism of many medications used to treat mental disorders; thus, cessation of smoking can increase the blood levels of these medications, and this can produce clinically significant outcomes. This effect appears to be due not to nicotine but rather to other compounds in tobacco.

Other Tobacco-Induced Disorders

Tobacco-induced sleep disorder.

So here we have the kingpins who wrote the book – American Psychiatric Association telling us what the real harm of Tobacco is.

Taken word for word from the manual, we can say that coming off tobacco is not easy.

For those who do, check out the symptoms above that may occur and again it confirms why it is so hard to come off any substance that is addictive.

How many of us then go from one addiction to another?
How many of us give up smoking but need the nicotine in another form?
How many of us are aware that we have become so dependent on this drug?
How many of us can admit that tobacco is a mind-altering substance?

How many of us know someone who gives up fags and moves onto something else?
How many of us are honest enough to say we get the sugar munchies if we stop smoking?
How many of us go from chewing tobacco to constantly wanting to chew non-stop?
How many of us realise that tobacco is seriously affecting our mind and body?

History of Tobacco

Tobacco has been growing wild in the Americas for nearly 8000 years.
2000 years ago, tobacco began to be chewed and smoked during cultural or religious events. (5)

Tobacco was the first crop grown for money in North America.
1612 – 1st American colony settlers in Virginia grew tobacco as a cash crop. (6)

1531 – Tobacco grown first time in Europe.
1600 – Tobacco use spread across England and Europe and used as monetary standard.
1602 – Anonymous English author published essay where smoking was being linked to ill health. (5)

1700’s – Smoking more widespread and a tobacco industry had been developed.

1795 – German physician reported awareness of cancers of the lip in pipe smokers.

1798 – US physician Benjamin Rush wrote on medical dangers of tobacco. (5)

1865 – First commercial hand rolled cigarettes were made and sold to soldiers.

1881 – Invention of the cigarette machine which could make 120,000 cigarettes a day. (6)

1920’s – First medical reports linking smoking to lung cancer began to appear.
Many newspaper editors refused to report these findings as Tobacco companies advertised heavily in the media.

During World Wars, allied troops were provided free cigarettes as a ‘morale boosting’ exercise. (5)

Has it ever crossed our minds WHY on earth would our soldiers be given a toxic substance that alters their natural state?

Could it be possible that we as a race of beings are not designed to be in combat with other fellow humans?

Could it be possible that the increase in cigarette smoking during the war was needed to keep our troops dis-connected from their very essence, so they could carry out an un-natural task of harming or killing other fellow human beings?

Next –

Types of Tobacco

Aromatic Fire-cured
Bright Leaf
Burley
Cavendish
Criollo
Dokham
Oriental
Perique
Shade
White Burley
Wild Tobacco
Y1
Some strains have been specifically crossbred to produce high nicotine levels. (7)

Key Facts

Six trillion – 6,000,000,000,000 cigarettes are smoked every year. (8)

Tobacco kills up to half of its users
Tobacco kills more than 7 million people each year
Over 1 billion smokers in the world
80% of these smokers live in low and middle income countries (1)

Cigarette smoke contains arsenic, cyanide and radioactive isotopes.
Cigarettes are freebased with ammonia to turn them into a kind of crack nicotine.
Cigarettes contain about 66% tobacco; the rest is made up of

  • added sugars
  • burn accelerants
  • freebasing agents
  • bronchial dilators
  • moisteners like glycerine or diethylene glycol
  • some cigarettes contain dirt, mold, worms, wire and insect excrement (8)

Leading Cause of Death, Illness & Impoverishment

We now know, the tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced.

In some countries, children from poor households are frequently employed in tobacco farming to provide family income. These children are especially vulnerable to “green tobacco sickness”, which is caused by the nicotine that is absorbed through the skin from the handling of wet tobacco leaves. (1)

Second Hand Smoke

4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke
250 are known to be harmful
50 known to cause cancer

There is no safe level of exposure to second hand tobacco smoke. (1)

Smoke can stay in the air for up to 2.5 hours even with a window open. (9)

In adults, second hand smoke causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer.
In infants, it causes sudden death.
In pregnant women, it causes low birth weight. (1)

Children who breathe in second hand smoke have an increased risk of asthma and coughs and colds, as well as cot death, meningitis and ear infections. (9)

890,000 non-smokers die due to second hand smoke. (1)

50,000 Americans die from exposure to second hand smoke every year – more than auto accidents. (8)

Second hand smoke exposure remains a major problem.

15 – 50% of the population in most countries estimated to be exposed to second hand smoke.

70% of the population in some countries affected by second hand smoke exposure. (10)

Smoking in Pregnancy

4D Ultra scans have found foetuses of mothers’ who smoke have significantly higher rate of mouth and touch movements than the normal declining rate of movement usually seen in older foetuses. (11)
Researchers at Durham and Lancaster Universities, UK

The abnormal development of the foetal central nervous system in smokers is given as a reason why this has occurred. The central nervous system controls movements in general, including facial movements and it is suggested that this may not develop at the same rate and in the same way as foetuses of non-smokers.

Foetal facial movement patterns differ significantly between foetuses of mothers who smoked compared to those of mothers who did not smoke.

Our findings concur with others that stress and depression have a significant impact on foetal movements and need to be controlled for, but additionally these results point to the fact that nicotine exposure per se has an effect on foetal development over and above the effects of stress and depression.
A larger study is needed to confirm these results and to investigate specific effects, including the interaction of maternal stress and smoking.
Dr. Nadia Reissland – Department of Psychology, Durham University (11)

Technology means we can now see what was previously hidden, revealing how smoking affects the development of the foetus in ways we did not realise. This is yet further evidence of the negative effects of smoking in pregnancy.
Professor Brian Francis – Lancaster University, UK (11)

The researchers stressed that their research was a pilot study and that larger studies were needed to confirm and further understand the relationship between maternal smoking, stress, depression and foetal development.

Dr. Nadia Reissland speaks about the study in this link –

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1169414/Dr-Reissland-explains-science-ultrasound-scans.html

Hello – can we just stop and press the pause button here?

If we simply apply common sense after reading this bit about smoking during pregnancy – would it be true to say that it has harmfull effects to the tiny baby?

These babies are our future generations and they are showing signs of movement that clearly states their nervous system is being affected. Bit obvious really, as this is going on inside the body of the mother, who of course has her nervous system stimulated because she is smoking.

In other words, it is all inter-connected and there is no getting away from this immutable fact.

How much more further studies and research and research are we demanding to prove more and more of what we already know?

Are we in some way delaying the obvious by saying larger studies are needed for more of this and that and all the time this is going on we are at the mercy of science trying to tell us what we all innately know and that is SMOKING IS HARMFULL?

Would it be more wise and beneficial if we demanded research into WHY those who smoke started smoking in the first place?

Would that eventually get us to the root cause of why our youth are turning to smoking at such a young age?

Quit Smoking

Cigarettes are addictive and so it is very hard to quit.
Nicotine rewires the brain, creating a pharmacologic dependency as strong as that from heroin or opium. The result for most users is a profound inability to quit – which is why some victims end up smoking through holes punched in their throats.

Tobacco is not a recreational drug. (8)

Studies show few people understand the specific health risks of tobacco use.

2009 survey in China
62% smokers did not know smoking causes coronary heart disease.
73% did not know smoking causes stroke.

Only 24 countries, representing 15% of the world’s population have national comprehensive cessation services available, with full or partial cost-coverage to assist tobacco users to quit.

Studies in Brazil, Canada, Singapore and Thailand show that warnings with pictures increase people’s awareness of the harms of tobacco use. (1)

Taxes

Tobacco taxes are reported as the most cost-effective way to reduce tobacco use, especially among young and poor people.

A tax increase that increases tobacco prices by 10% decreases tobacco consumption by about 4% in high-income countries and 5% in low and middle income countries.

Only 33 countries with 10% of the world’s population have introduced taxes on tobacco products so that more than 75% of the retail price is tax. (1)

Illicit (Tax Evasion) Tobacco Trade

The illicit trade in tobacco products poses major health, economic and security concerns around the world.

1 in 10 cigarettes and tobacco products consumed globally, estimated to be illicit.

The illicit market is supported by petty peddlers to organised criminal networks involved in arms and human trafficking. (1)

The illegal trade undermines the effectiveness of efforts to reduce smoking.

The existence of an illicit trade in tobacco products reduces the effectiveness of tobacco control measures because:

  • Illicit tobacco is often available at cheaper prices.
  • Cheap tobacco makes it easier for non-smokers to start and ex-smokers to relapse.
  • Illegal tobacco is available from a range of sources within some local communities, which makes it easier for children to start smoking and enabling them to be hooked at a young age.

The illicit tobacco trade is often part of organised criminal activity and is linked to other illegal trades including alcohol, drug smuggling, people trafficking and DVD production.

There is evidence that illicit tobacco trade funds terrorism (12)

The following is from The Journal of International Security.

To the uninitiated, it is easy to think of illegal tobacco as something harmlessly sold in the back of a neighbourhood convenience store or street corner.
The reality is far more deadly.

The US State Department, Interpol, the United Nations and others view illegal tobacco as a worldwide epidemic that funds criminal and terrorist organisations.

It is estimated that as much as 20 per cent of the financing currently funding global terror groups is derived from the illegal tobacco trade, with 15 of the world’s largest terrorist organisations engaged in trading illicit tobacco.

The relative ease of smuggling cigarettes and the lack of heavy penalties for those caught, is allowing militant groups to easily rake in high profits.

France’s Centre for the Analysis of Terrorism (CAT) have found that many extremist groups are able to trade tobacco illegally using the guise of humanitarian aid.

France is the number one country in Europe for the illicit trade of cigarettes.
9 billion cigarettes being imported illegally in 2014 alone.

Cigarettes sold on the black market are manufactured in unsanitary illegal factories and are made with substances such as sawdust and worse.

Smugglers respect no laws, so their dangerous products can easily make their way into the hands of minors.

2006 – The World Health Organization estimated 600 billion cigarettes were illegally traded. (13)

So, what is the real true figure today – 11 years later?

Smoking and Mental Health

Research from British Heart Foundation

Smoking’s soothing effects are short lived.
Smoking actually contributes to poorer mental health over time.
70% – smokers more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.

Smoking associated with deficits in executive function –

Ability to plan and execute tasks
Focus our attention
Ignore distractions
Organise memory between long term and the here and now

Increased negative mental health effects occur when people drink alcohol and smoke excessively.
Alcohol dependent individuals who smoke cigarettes show greater neuropsychological damage than those who do not smoke.
This includes memory deficits, the ability to think quickly and efficiently and problem solving tasks.
Thomas Heffernan – Professor of Psychology, Northumbria University (14)

Smokers experience irritability, anxiety and depression when they have not smoked for a while and these feelings are reliably relieved by smoking, thus creating the perception that smoking has psychological benefits – while in fact it is smoking that caused these psychological disturbances in the first place.
British Medical Journal Study, 2014

Both quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate that regular smokers report smoking cigarettes to alleviate emotional problems and feelings of depression and anxiety, to stabilise mood and for relaxation as well as relieving stress. (15)

HELLO

Can we stop and join the dots here again?

It is a well known fact that smoking is seriously harmfull and cigarette packets and advertisements display big bold signs saying SMOKING KILLS.

So, what is really going on if regular smokers are saying they get benefits from smoking, as it helps to lighten the severity of their emotional problems and feelings of anxiety and depression?

WHY on earth would they want to give up something that relaxes them and stabilizes their mood?

WHY would anyone give up a substance they think is relieving their stress levels?

Could it be possible that smoking dis-connects us from our body?
Could it be possible that we feel a void and we use smoking to not feel it?
Could it be possible that our deep feelings of emptiness are covered up with smoking?
Could it be possible that smoking gives us a false breath instead of our true breath?
Could it be possible that smoking simply makes us numb?

Could it be possible the nicotine stops us feeling what there is to be felt?
In other words, it does the band aid job, where we do not have to deal with our buried issues that keep wanting to surface?

Could it be possible that we actually prefer to choose a substance to kill us rather than deal with our buried hurts that caused us to smoke in the first place?

Is this too way off and a random statement or could there be some simple truth here?

Smoking usually starts as teenagers.
It is rare for anyone to start smoking after their teen years:
People become smokers as children, when they cannot make ‘an adult choice’.
Whatever choice they do make is then compromised by the grip of addiction. (8)

What exactly is this telling us?
WHY is it rare to start smoking any other time in our lives?

Can we read between the lines or is it plain and obvious?
Researchers are telling us that smoking starts with teenagers.
How scary is it to know this startling truth about our youth?
Have we asked any smoker to get this confirmed?
What on earth is going on for our young generation?
Does it have something to do with the pressures of modern life?

Are our teens a difficult time as we are no longer children?
Are our teenagers feeling the pressures of becoming an adult?
Are they simply feeling lost and empty and cigarettes fill that void?
Are they under stress to be on the ‘in crowd’ and light up a fag?
Are they not so cool if they don’t smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol?
Are they seeking relief from the misery they feel inside themselves?

Are we ready to become role models for our children who will be the future generations in our world?

Are we ready to take Responsibility and truly educate ourselves about the real harm of tobacco and WHY this industry is still booming in the 21st century?

Are we ready to stop blaming the government, the tobacco giants and the world and its brothers for allowing this toxic poison to harm us and our precious planet?

As with everything, we do have a choice and no one puts a gun to our head to start smoking.

The industry is supplying what we are demanding. We buy it without knowing the real harm.

Are we ready to take action by living in a way that brings no harm to the human frame to the best of our ability in everyday life?

Are we ready to take RESPONSIBILITY for all the choices we are making and this in turn will inspire others to do the same?

Do we each hold the answers within us for some of our major global issues facing us today like –

Alcohol
Asthma
Cancer
Chronic Fatigue
Climate Change
Cyber Abuse
Depression
Diabetes
Drugs
Earthquakes
Female Genital Mutilation
Heartburn
High Blood Pressure
Human Trafficking
Kidney Disease
Mental Health
Our Youth
Raynaud’s
Sleep Issues
Suicide

Dear World

Are we ready to wake up to the fact that these statistics and facts below are real and they are all out of date and so the figures are actually higher?

Let’s ADD to that – all the numbers that never make it to a statistic.
In other words, the stuff that stays under the radar.

Are we aware of how BIG the tobacco industry really is and WHY it is booming?

Would it be fair to say that there are people making heaps of money on a product that is killing us, if the annual profit 3 years ago was $16 billion?

Who is really profiting here and are we winning as a race of beings if this is how we view human life?

If human life is not considered then where does this leave our precious planet Earth?

GLOBAL

$1,000,000,000,000 – one trillion US dollars
Tobacco industry’s annual revenues (16)

44% market share – largest cigarette producer
43% amount of tobacco it cultivates on Earth
$91,700,000,000 annual income
$16,000,000,000 annual profit (2014)

$39,100,000,000 – highest net sales from a Tobacco company (2012)

4.5 trillion of the estimated annual 6 trillion cigarettes consumed globally are deposited as butts somewhere into the environment each year.

This material comprises the largest percentage of waste – collected globally during the coastal clean ups each year.
Thomas E. Novotny and Elli Slaughter, San Diego State University, 2014 (16)

80% smokers are men
25,000,000 youth smoke cigarettes (10)

Countries where average smoker smokes more than 30 cigarettes a day

Belarus
Mauritania
Oman
Saudi Arabia
Slovakia
Yemen (16)

2,000 – 3,500 cigarettes smoked per person in one year

Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
China
Czech Republic
Greece
Hong Kong
Kazakhstan
Korea Republic
Russian Federation (16)
2014 figures of people aged 15 and over

CHINA

Chinese market consumes more cigarettes than all other low and middle income countries combined. (16)

350,000,000 smokers
210,000,000 are men
350 million is more than the entire population of USA (17)

2,500,000,000,000 cigarettes smoked per year. (18)

USA

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death. (19)

Deaths

The risk of dying from cigarette smoking has increased over the last 50 years.

1 in 5 estimated deaths caused by smoking cigarettes.
480,000 deaths each year.

Smoking causes more deaths each year than the following causes combined –

HIV
Illegal Drug use
Alcohol use
Motor Vehicle Injuries
Firearm Related Incidents

10 times as many citizens have died prematurely from cigarette smoking than they have died in ALL the wars fought by the USA. (19)

Lung Disease

90% of all lung cancer deaths is caused by smoking.

80% all deaths from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, caused by smoking.

Estimates show smoking increases the risk of men and women developing lung cancer by 25 times.

Cardiovascular Disease

Smoking causes stroke and coronary heart disease, which are among the leading causes of death in the USA.

Even people who smoke less than 5 cigarettes a day can have early signs of cardiovascular disease. (19)

High Blood Pressure

Smoking damages blood vessels and can make them thicken and grow narrower.
Our heart beats faster and our blood pressure goes up.

Cancer

Smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in our body.

1 in 3 deaths in USA would not happen if nobody smoked.

Teeth and Gums

Smoking affects the health of our teeth and gums and can cause tooth loss.

Eyes

Smoking can increase the risk of cataracts. It can also cause age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This is damage to a small spot near the centre of the retina, the part of the eye needed for central vision. (19)

Diabetes

Smoking is a cause of Type 2 Diabetes and can make it harder to control.
30-40% higher risk of developing Diabetes for active smokers than non-smokers.

Other

Smoking causes general adverse effects on our body, including inflammation and decreased immune function.

Smoking is also a cause of rheumatoid arthritis.

Pregnancy

Smoking can make it harder for a woman to become pregnant.

It can also affect the baby’s health before and after birth. (19)

400,000 babies born every year to mothers who smoke during pregnancy.
20,000 spontaneous abortions estimated caused by smoking. (8)

Fires

700 killed by cigarette fires every year. (8)

BRAZIL

It takes 6 years for a Tobacco farmer to earn what a Tobacco company director earns in one day.

A Tobacco farmer would need to work 2,140 years to earn the equivalent of a Tobacco company director’s annual salary. (17)

AUSTRALIA

2012

First country to introduce mandatory plain packaging for tobacco products. (20)

2014 – 2015

2,600,000 people smoked daily
16.9% males
12.1% women (21)

1,800,000 smokers will die from smoking. (22)

2020 – pack cigarettes will cost AUS $40 / US $30. (23)

JAPAN

In preparation for 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Japan due to pass strictest ever smoking laws.

Government officials have questioned link between smoking cigarettes and lung cancer.

2015

World Health Organization gave Japan’s efforts to eradicate second-hand smoke its lowest rating, calling into question whether the country would be considered a responsible one according to the Tobacco-Free Olympics body, in time for the 2020 Games. (24)

UK

2017

From 20th May all cigarettes now come in plain packaging.
No misleading information such as ‘low tar’ or ‘organic’ to be allowed.
Ban now in operation on flavoured cigarettes and flavoured rolling tobacco.

Smoking is still the single largest preventable cause of death in the UK and kills around 96,000 people every year – this cannot continue.
Alison Cox – Director of Prevention, Cancer Research UK (25)

2012 – 2014

136,500 children aged 11 – 15 started smoking
That’s more than 370 per day

EUROPE

Many low – middle income countries have a high smoking prevalence and heavy burdens of disease due to tobacco use. (10)

1994 – an unsolicited box containing several thousand pages of documents from a Tobacco Corporation arrived at Professor Stanton Glantz’s office. The documents revealed the private view of the Tobacco Industry’s thoughts and actions, which differed to the public image presented by the industry over the previous 30 years.

The Tobacco industry used 3 primary arguments to prevent government regulation of its products and to defend itself in products liability lawsuits.

  1. Tobacco companies claimed consistently ‘no conclusive proof that smoking causes diseases such as cancer and heart disease’.
  2. Smoking is not addictive and that anyone that smokes makes a ‘free choice to do so’.
  3. Companies claimed they are ‘committed to determining the scientific truth’ about the health effects of tobacco by internal research and funding external research.

By not admitting tobacco is addictive and that it causes disease, the Tobacco industry have been able to resist efforts to regulate its products.

By arguing that cigarette smoking is from ‘individual choice’ – they blame the consumer.

The Tobacco companies involved recognised nicotine as an addictive drug and that people smoke to maintain a target level of nicotine in their bodies. They actively worked to identify and remove the specific toxins in tobacco smoke that cause a number of diseases.
‘Privately’ they recognised smoking causes disease.

When U.S. Surgeon General Advisory Committee were preparing the first Surgeon General’s report on smoking, the Tobacco companies withheld the above information.

When it became clear that a “safe” cigarette could not be developed, Tobacco industry lawyers took more control of scientific research as a way to protect the companies from product liability lawsuits.
This took precedence over public health.  (26)

There is no question that the Tobacco companies regarded nicotine’s pharmalogical (drug) effects as key to the intended smoking experience.

One Tobacco company sought to avoid generating any new research results confirming smoking causes disease or that nicotine is addictive. Furthermore, they sought to avoid affiliation with or even knowledge of such results.
They also sought to prevent the distribution/disclosure of such results.

When the University of California was sued by a company demanding that the documents Professor Glantz received be returned, the judge refused stating this was in the Public Interest. They were placed into a library for public reading.

As a result of subsequent papers written by Dr. Glantz and his team, Bill Clinton used them as part of his decision making process to ask the Federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to propose regulations of nicotine as an addictive drug and cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. (26)

For decades tobacco companies have killed more Americans than all the armies, terrorists and criminals combined.
Ronald L. Numbers – Professor of the History of Science and Medicine, University of Wisconsin

100 million people died of smoking related diseases in the 20th century; in the next 100 years, we expect 1 billion deaths worldwide.
Allan M. Brandt – Professor of the History of Medicine & Science – Harvard University

One of the most important discoveries of the last century was to demonstrate scientifically that cigarette smoking causes serious disease and death. Simple logic suggests that the dramatic rise in cigarette smoking must be correlated with the finding in 1946 that lung cancer cases had tripled over the previous three decades. But this seemingly obvious epidemiological conclusion was delayed by decades of medical and public debate, largely fuelled by the tobacco industry.
As a result, this knowledge – this fact– was not easily accepted. (27)

Medical concern about the health effects of tobacco dates back to its earliest use, long before the rise of the cigarette.
The first research, conducted in the 18th century, centred on nicotine and its impact. The longstanding knowledge that, in its purified form, a drop of nicotine could kill helped sustain the antagonisms of the 19th century anti-tobacco movement.

Early researchers explored the chemical composition of tobacco smoke. Their studies typically found carbonic acid and “a series of elements, which with almost no exception, are poisonous”:
Nicotine, hydronic acid, carbon monoxide and pyridine.
R. Kissling, “The Chemistry of Tobacco,” Scientific American Supplement, November 25, 1905, 24999 and Johannes Wilbert, “Tobacco and Shamanism in South America,” Psychoactive Plants of the World, eds. Richard Evans Schultes and Robert F. Raffauf
(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1987). (27)

There are biologically active materials present in cigarette tobacco. These are

a) cancer causing
b) cancer promoting
c) poisonous
d) stimulating, pleasurable and flavourful 
Arthur D. Little, “L & M – A Perspective Review,” March 15, 1961, Bates No. 2021382496/2498; Cipollone, http:/legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ffn23e00. (27)

Nicotine is a toxic poison and is highly addictive. (28)

Nicotine is the addictive agent in cigarettes.

Nicotine affects the nervous system and the heart. (29)

Nicotine is used in pesticides.

Nicotine causes blood vessels to constrict.

Nicotine slows down production of osteoblasts (bone producing cells).

Nicotine hinders the release of insulin from the pancreas leaving smokers in a state of hyperglycaemia.

Nicotine easily crosses the placental barrier and can be detected in both foetal circulation and amniotic fluid.

Nicotine accumulates in breast milk and seems to affect sleep patterns in nursing infants.

Nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke hinder spinal disc cells from absorbing vital nutrients in the blood. This leads to premature dehydration and degeneration of spinal discs.

Nicotine stops apoptosis, a process that removes unwanted cells in the body. Since some of the cells targeted by apoptosis are mutations that might become cancerous, inhibiting this important function may contribute to life threatening diseases. (28)

Nicotine and the Blood Brain Barrier

The blood brain barrier is a physiological barrier between the circulatory system and the central nervous system that establishes a privileged blood supply, restricting the flow of substances into the central nervous system. (30)

However, some substances can get through the Blood Brain Barrier –

Passive diffusion:
Fat-soluble substances dissolve in the cell membrane and cross the barrier –
Alcohol, Nicotine and Caffeine.

Water-soluble substances such as penicillin have difficulty in getting through.

Active transport:
Substances that the brain needs such as glucose and amino acids are carried across by special transport proteins.

Receptor-mediated transport:
Molecules link up to receptors on the surface of the brain and are escorted through for example insulin. (31)

In both pre-clinical and clinical studies, psycho-stimulants including

Methamphetamine
MDMA
Cocaine
Nicotine

produce Blood Brain Barrier dysfunction through alterations in tight junction protein expression and conformation, increased glial activation, increased enzyme activation related to Blood Brain Barrier cytoskeleton remodelling and induction of neuroinflammatory pathways.

These detrimental changes lead to increased permeability of the Blood Brain Barrier and subsequent vulnerability of the brain to peripheral toxins. (32)

Nicotine is a toxic substance which because of its lipid solubility can cross the Blood Brain Barrier.
It has several different actions in the Central Nervous System, one of which is neuroexcitation where it can result in seizure activity. (33)

Nicotine is a soluble small molecule that rapidly diffuses through the Blood Brain Barrier and can interact directly with nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) on brain endothelial cells. (32)

Effects of Nicotine on the Body

Decreased appetite
Mood elevation
Increased heart rate
Increased blood pressure
Nausea
Diarrhoea

Symptoms of Nicotine Withdrawal

Intense cravings
Anxiety
Depression
Headaches
Increased appetite
Difficulty concentrating (29)

Acute exposure to nicotine through the skin or ingestion can also be harmful.
If ingested, nicotine is rapidly absorbed by the small intestine and typically produces symptoms between 15 minutes and 4 hours AFTER exposure.

Death may occur within one hour of severe exposure.

Numerous cases of nicotine poisoning have been documented since the early 20th century when nicotine was used as a pesticide.

Exposure to liquid nicotine was relatively rare until the newfound popularity of e-cigarettes.

There are a variety of ways to consume nicotine.
Some methods are currently regulated such as cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and nicotine replacement therapy.

Other methods such as e-cigarettes and nicotine candy are currently unregulated in most countries, yet the products are growing in popularity. Because of its addictiveness and the other known harms of nicotine, a framework is needed to regulate all nicotine delivery systems in a manner consistent with the harm that they cause. (29)

Here is a list of Tobacco products –

Bidis

Chew (smokeless tobacco)
Chewing tobacco is associated with a high risk of cancers in the mouth and throat. (34)

Cigarettes

Cigars, Cigarillos and Little Cigars

Dip (smokeless tobacco)

Dissolvable Tobacco

Electronic Cigarettes or E-Cigarette (Nicotine Delivery System)

Hookah – pipe used to smoke Shisha

Kreteks

Pipe

Smokeless Tobacco

Snuff (smokeless tobacco)

Snus (smokeless tobacco)

Spit Tobacco (smokeless tobacco)

So here are some tobacco products and we all know people who use them.
Have we bothered to stop and ask –

WHY are there so many more shisha bars opening up everywhere?
WHY are there e-cigarette shops popping up on the local high street?
WHY are our people doing long hours in the restaurant trade smoking?
WHY is the Tobacco industry booming after smoking bans in public places?
WHY is the Tobacco business in Truth not concerned about public health?

WHY are we so complacent that we just accept things as they are and let the researchers keep researching and let the billion dollar corporations do what they want to make profits?

346,000,000 adults in the world use smokeless tobacco products.
13,000,000 youth worldwide use smokeless tobacco products.
Smokeless tobacco use may be undercounted globally due to scarcity of data. (10)

There is NO safe form of Tobacco use.
All forms of Tobacco contain nicotine. (35)

HELLO

Is this a warning or a sign that we need to pay attention to?
Is it too late to do anything for those who are addicted and see no way out?
Is it going to change anything if we swap cigarettes for another form of nicotine?
Is it time to go back a few steps and start educating our young children?
Is it high time we put this on our teaching curriculum for kids?
Is it wise to inform and educate our youth so they are aware of the real harm?
Is it sensible to share real life videos of those suffering because of smoking?

Is this the Intelligence that we need that would turn the tides once and for all?

Dear World

Anyone in their right mind, even a young child knows that smoking is not good for us and yet it continues.

We have come up with more and more ways to deal with this huge global issue that has been around for a very long time.

If we simply join the dots and put our common sense hat on – would it be true to say that we have not got to the root cause of WHY people choose to take tobacco in the first place?

Is this “free will’ business, do what you like, when you like cutting it when you read articles like this?

Are we ready to take any RESPONSIBILITY for what is going on in our world?

Do we need to start with our teenagers and find out what leads them to get hooked on nicotine?

Do we need to go one step before that and ask what is actually going on for our young children that some are seeking tobacco in their teens?

Do we need to unite and stop this deeply harmfull substance, which is literally killing us?

Nothing is really working, so is it time to get back to the people and ask them what on earth is going on in their lives that makes them want to take a substance called tobacco that contains nicotine, which goes directly into the brain and harms us?

Do we as a race of beings have ALL the answers?
Are we looking in the wrong places?
Are the answers that we are asking our researchers for already inside ALL of us?

Could it be that simple?
Could there be another way to end the use of Tobacco in our world?

There is much more to read and research about this subject and it would be a dis-service to present one article in the form of a blog and leave it at that.
There is more to report and present on the Real Truth about Tobacco – Part 2
31 May 2018.

AND Finally, let us all ponder on this quote from a wise man who seems to know what he is on about –

If your mind is able to allow you to smoke cigarettes, take drugs and drink alcohol, whom does the mind really belong to if you then consider that the body has to suffer the consequences of those ill choices?
Serge Benhayon, Esoteric Teachings & Revelations, p.573

References

(1) (2017, May). Tobacco – Fact Sheet. World Health Organization. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs339/en/

(2) World No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2017. World Health Organization. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.who.int/campaigns/no-tobacco-day/2017/event/en/

(3) (n.d). World No Tobacco Day. World Health Organization. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.who.int/tobacco/wntd/previous/en/

(4) Concise Oxford English Dictionary – Twelfth Edition. Oxford University Press. 2011

(5) (n.d). A Brief History of Smoking. Cancer Council NSW. Retrieved May 24, 2017 from
https://www.cancercouncil.com.au/31899/uncategorized/a-brief-history-of-smoking/

(6) Dhokiya, M. (2016, June 2). Why Were Cigarettes Invented? Quora. Retrieved May 24, 2017 from
https://www.quora.com/Why-were-cigarettes-invented-1

(7) (n.d). Types of Tobacco. Tobacco Facts. Retrieved May 24, 2017 from
http://www.tobacco-facts.net/tobacco-production/types-of-tobacco

(8) Proctor, R.N. (2011). Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition. California, CA: University of California Press. (pp. 2-3, pp. 5-6)

(9) (2017, May 8). Smoking May Be Banned in New Council Homes, Says Health Expert. BBC News. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39842792

(10) US National Cancer Institute and World Health Organization. The Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Control. National Cancer Institute Tobacco Control Monograph 21. NIH Publication No. 16-CA-8029A. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute; and Geneva, CH: World Health Organization; 2016 (p.9 – 10, p.88) Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/brp/tcrb/monographs/21/docs/m21_complete.pdf

(11) (2015, March 23). High-Definition Scans Suggest Effects of Smoking May Be Seen in Unborn Babies. Durham University. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=24163

(12) (2017). Undermining Efforts to Cut Smoking. Illicit Tobacco Partnership. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.illicit-tobacco.co.uk/problem/undermining-tobacco-control/

(13) Lesnak, T. (2016, July 22). How Illegal Tobacco Funds Terror. Intersec. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.intersecmag.co.uk/how-illegal-tobacco-funds-terror/

(14) Rosenfeld, J. E. (2017, January 26). Now There’s Really No Excuse Not to Quit Smoking. Good Health. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
https://health.good.is/articles/smoking-is-bad-for-your-mental-health

(15) BMJ 2014; 348:g1151 Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g1151

(16) Eriksen, M., Mackay, J., Islami Gomeshtapeh, F., & Drope, J. (2015). The Tobacco Atlas, 5th Edition (p.7, p.22, p.31) Retrieved May 25, 2017 from http://3pk43x313ggr4cy0lh3tctjh.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/TA5_2015_WEB.pdf

(17) (n.d). The Top 5 Largest International Tobacco Companies. Top 5 of Anything. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
https://top5ofanything.com/index.php?h=fb59add3

(18) (2015, August 20). Over 2.5 Trillion Cigarettes Are Smoked in China Annually. Tobacco Facts. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.tobacco-facts.net/2015/08/over-2-5-trillion-cigarettes-are-smoked-in-china-annually

(19) (2017, May 15). Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Retrieved May 25, 2017 from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/

(20) McDermott, S. (2017, January 30). How Australia is Stubbing Out Smoking. BBC News. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38733502

(21) (2016, June 29). Tobacco Control Key Facts and Figures. Australian Government Department of Health. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/tobacco-kff

(22) (2015, February 25). Smoking ‘Epidemic’ Likely to Kill Two Out of Three Australian Smokers: Mortality Study. ABC. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-25/two-out-of-three-smokers-likely-to-die-from-habit-study-says/6260224

(23) Bulman, M. (2016, September 15). Australians Will Soon Have to Pay $40 for a Packet of Cigarettes. Independent. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-cigarettes-price-pack-smoking-tax-hike-how-much-do-they-cost-a7308381.html

(24) Kaur, S. (2017, March 22). Japan’s Bid to Go Smoke-Free for 2020 Olympics Faces Strong Resistance. Asian Correspondent. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/03/japans-bid-go-smoke-free-2020-olympics-faces-strong-resistance/#9pbTIYIc8C5fG9ik.97

(25) (2017, May 20). Smokers Will Spend Around £2,000 a Year on Cigarettes as Plain, Standardised Packs Come Into Full Force. Cancer Research UK. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/press-release/2017-05-20-smokers-will-spend-around-ps2000-a-year-on-cigarettes-as-plain-standardised-packs-come-into-full?_ga=2.70002192.1461206527.1495297783-626242721.1495297681

(26) Glantz, S.A., Slade, J., Bero, L.A., Hanauer, P., & Barnes, D.E. (1996). The Cigarette Papers. California, CA: University of California Press. (p. xviii, p.2, p.10)

(27) Brandt, A.M. (2007). The Cigarette Century. New York, NY: Basic Books (pp. 106-107, p.331)

(28) Martin, T. (2016, December 29). Important Facts About Nicotine You Should Know. VeryWell. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
https://www.verywell.com/nicotine-facts-you-should-know-2825019

(29) (n.d). Nicotine Delivery Systems. The Tobacco Atlas. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.tobaccoatlas.org/topic/nicotine-delivery-systems/

(30) (2014). Blood Brain Barrier. theVisualMD. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from http://www.thevisualmd.com/searchimg/?idu=1083612083&q=blood&p=10

(31) Jain, K. K. (2012). Nanobiotechnology-Based Strategies for Crossing the Blood-Brain Barrier. Medscape. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/770396

(32) Kousik, S.M., Napier, T.C., & Carvey, P.M. (2012). The Effects of Psychostimulant Drugs on Blood Brain Barrier Function and Neuroinflammation. Front. Pharmacol. 3:121. doi:10.3389/fphar.2012.00121

(33) Diler, A.S., Üzüm, G., Lefauconnier, J.M., & Ziylan, Y.Z. The Effect of Nicotine Pretreatment on the Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability in Nicotine-Induced Seizures. Biology and Physiology of the Blood-Brain Barrier. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-4757-9489-2_54

(34) Takematsu, M. (n.d). American College of Medical Toxicology. ACMT. Retrieved May 25, 2017 from
http://www.acmt.net/_Library/Public_Affairs/ACMT_FAQ_Nicotine_.pdf

(35) (n.d). Types of Tobacco Products. Ct.gov. Retrieved May 24, 2017 from
http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/hems/tobacco/tobacco_products.pdf

 

 

 

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Comments 76

  1. I remember when there were individuals suing tobacco companies and winning huge sums of money.
    I was relieved that finally the tobacco companies were being held responsible for their actions. I assumed that this would bankrupt them and finally we could get rid of tobacco.

    It basically changed nothing. Even though it was obvious that the tobacco company’s were creating a product that hurt people they continued to flourish.

    So how can this happen?
    Maybe going after the tobacco companies is the wrong approach?
    It is so easy to blame them, but they are just producing a product that our world is demanding.

    It is time to take responsibility for what we have created. A world were we need a product like tobacco to live in.
    Maybe it is time to do something really different.

    Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine is presenting a way of life that makes sense to me and has turned my life around.
    Just by making simple, obvious changes in how I live and doing them consistently.

    It is all about living in a way that honours myself and the world around me.

    Reply

  2. I overheard two men discussing their addiction to cigarettes with each other:

    They expressed and agreed that no matter what was going on, no matter how stressed or unhappy they may be… when they light up and take a puff of a cigarette “..everything is fine…”.
    They were laughing in an ironic way, saying that they know cigarettes can’t ‘fix’ anything, they know it is killing them, they want to quit but the illusion of ‘everything being OK’ is so alluring.

    In the opposite way, when I do exercises to support body awareness I always discover if I am tired even if I had been buzzing around feeling full of energy and when I give a tender and present massage session to somone they often comment afterward that they feel more tired than when they got on the table…

    So is it possible that smoking numbs or blocks our awareness of what is going on (the condition in which we are in as understood through our body) and that there are some things we can do instead that can support us to be more aware of where we are at and of what we are, in truth, feeling?

    Can we address any issue, problem or unhappiness while we are working not to be aware of it?

    Reply

  3. I’m kind of stunned. There is so much here to consider.

    The thing that is has smacked me in the face the most about this blog is the realisation about our teens. I can absolutely believe that most people start smoking in their teens and not otherwise.

    Surely we start here.

    Reply

  4. “Cigarettes are addictive and so it is very hard to quit…
    …which is why some victims end up smoking through holes punched in their throats.”

    I found this really hard to believe so I looked it up.

    It is true – people are so addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes that even after having large sections of their throat cut away due to throat cancer, they will keep smoking by putting the lit cigarettes into the breathing hole that has been cut in their throat.

    One lady who does this describes smoking as having a ‘Siamese twin’ embracing you so ‘everything’s going to be alright’.

    What is it about human life that has us turning to known poisons day after day, to give us some relief?

    Where are we at if we are so desperate we will smoke through a hole in our throats?

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/411218.stm

    Reply

    1. Wow .. I just read your link JS. Surely it is time we started to ask why?

      Why are we taking this poison into our bodies at such an expense to our health ?

      Why the dependency?

      What are we trying to get away from.. cover?

      Reply

  5. One of your points is that second hand smoking kills. This happened to a relative of mine, they never smoked but lived with someone who did.. they died from lung cancer.

    I remember the first time I tried a cigarette, I was in my teens and my friends smoked when we went out so I tried it, I felt like I was never going to be able to breath again, like I had been punched in the chest and winded, it was awful. I didn’t have another cigarette until my twenties when I encouraged by a boyfriend. I started and got hooked. Being an asthmatic anyway it really aggravated my condition, the stimulation on my nervous system would give me a tremor. 5 years on I was then n roll ups, my asthma worse, using my inhaler more and now developing a cough. Enough was enough and I stopped. I am so glad I did, the cough went, my asthma improved a lot, my nervous system calmed.. to name just a few benefits. Why did I start? … I smoked to fit in and be accepted but my body so clearly was saying No from day one.

    I was shocked to read the ingredients you have listed that are in cigarettes and to know that I was taking that into my body everyday for 5 years. This gives me a greater understanding of the ongoing problems smoking causes, and why so many people die from tobacco use.

    Reply

  6. Do people really understand the consequences of smoking cigarettes?

    It amazes me that people take up smoking even with all the decades of research and experiences all around us.

    So we have created a world were we feel in order to survive we have to do things that deep down we know will create a life of misery for ourselves and our family.

    It is time to wake up and do something different.

    Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine has been presenting a way of living for over 15 years that has allowed me and many others to get back to a place were we would not even consider doing anything to harm ourselves.

    It is worth checking it out.

    Reply

  7. Absolutely stunning blog.
    I have never read a blog or article about tobacco that has so much information, and that is delivered with truth and authority.

    It is interesting that tobacco use grew in the 50’s onwards and at the same time in the UK the NHS was born.
    The NHS uses a staggering amount of resources to support those affected by tobacco. How different would the world be if we did not and had not ever touched tobacco? How different would the NHS be if it was not picking up the back end of the issues that tobacco causes? and how different would our health and wellbeing be around the world if tobacco had never been used.

    Why is it that we have substances like tobacco, and sugar where their use is promoted – promoted as healthy, studies are undertaken that show these substances are not healthy or fit for any human consumption, these studies are not transparently offered to the world because of vested interested from companies and industries and yet somewhere deep inside we all know they aren’t good for us.

    We all know the impact tobacco has, and we all know how we feel when we have sugar.

    Thank you for shining a full blown light on this topic.

    Reply

  8. I was struck this last week at the lengths to which people will go to smoke.

    I was away on business in a cold country and it certainly was cold. During an evening out, folks were choosing to stand outside shivering against the freezing wind for extended periods, to smoke.

    What is happening when we smoke if we are able to disconnect so completely from our bodies?

    Reply

    1. It’s interesting what you say here JS.

      Today in the UK it is National No Smoking Day.

      I have observed people that smoke together and it is also very interesting to watch.

      One person will light up and then if it is a group of people that know each other, they will all gravitate together even if they are standing apart, to light up their respective cigarettes. There’s something almost pack like about it – like “We’re a gang and together we are united by this common action of smoking.”

      I have seen people in their early 20’s look much older due to the ill effects of taking this poison into their body, as well as drugs and alcohol and whatever else might be going on.

      Smoking is seen as a ‘fun’ thing to do and something that is sociable, but at what cost to our body, our health and our quality of life.

      I have heard people say “Well we have to die of something” so it’s like “what the heck I can do anything that I want”, but why do we have to create a disease, but not naturally die as it is the end of that life cycle and we have lived a full and purposefull life that has been of benefit to others?

      Would that not be a harmonious way to live for all?

      Reply

  9. Thank you for this eye opening blog Simple Living Global.

    This is a great and in depth expose of the harm that tobacco use can cause.

    The statistics in this blog are simply mind boggling especially the facts that 6 trillion cigarettes are smoked every year, 7 million people die from tobacco use every year and most shockingly, 890,000 non smokers die from second hand smoke every year.

    The tobacco companies are going a long way to convince everyone that using tobacco doesn’t have any adverse affects.

    With so many non-smokers dying every year from second hand smoke, it makes you wonder how the tobacco companies can justify their rhetoric on tobacco NOT being harmful to those that DO use tobacco when people that DON’T use tobacco are dying simply because of being around those people that DO use tobacco.

    Reply

  10. I was talking with a colleague about the photograph of a tumour on the front of her cigarette packet.

    She said the photo made no difference to her smoking – it didn’t cause her to stop or think twice. She said those sort of cases are extreme and rare and she didn’t smoke enough for it to be a problem for her.

    She said she likes smoking.

    She said she could cut down easily, but the one cigarette that would be hardest to give up would be the one releasing the pressure after a long day at work.

    Reply

  11. I was watching some people sitting outside a cafe the other day and they were talking and flicking the ash from their cigarettes down next to their legs, onto the floor.

    As someone who would have done exactly this, it made me question:

    Would we flick ash on the floor in our homes?

    Where do we think all the ash goes from all the cigarettes smoked on our streets and flicked away every day?

    Reply

  12. Mail Online – 19 June 2017
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4619114/Vaping-causes-occasional-smokers-smoke-cigarettes.html?ITO=applenews

    So here we have some recent hot news that Vaping causes occasional smokers “to smoke MORE cigarettes”.

    18% increase in cigarettes smoked when a person vaped.

    Vaping is an electronic device introduced in 2007 as an alternative to smoking tobacco.
    However, the long term effects of e-cigarettes are still largely unknown.

    If we simply join the dots and re-read this blog again, so we get exactly what nicotine is and what harm it does to the human body – would it be true to say vaping is another substitute for the cigarette and the fact some smokers are smoking MORE speaks volumes?

    E-cigarettes are propping up and reinforcing the conventional cigarette market.
    Stanton Glantz – Director of The Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education – University of California, San Francisco.

    WHY is our United States Surgeon General saying in his 2016 report that e-cigarettes are “unsafe” for youth and young adults?

    900% growth in e-cigarette use among high school students form 2011 to 2015.

    “They are not using e-cigarettes to try to stop smoking”
    Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology – University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

    Sales of vaping products are expected to reach $4.4 billion this year according to Wells Fargo Securities analysts.

    Packaged in flavours like bubble gum and chocolate peanut butter cup they are designed to appeal to our youth who experts believe are more vulnerable to becoming dependent on nicotine.

    Whether we accept what we read or choose to jump on the bandwagon about some news that suits us – this is not the point.

    What we all need to at least consider is the harmfull effects of tobacco, whichever way we want to look at it.

    Tobacco is a toxic poison and there is no getting away from that fact.
    It plays havoc inside our mind and body and yet we seem to find new names and new ways to continue smoking or inhaling this substance.

    We are all quick to blame the industry that keeps supplying us with everything that we demand but never once look at us, who are the ones asking for this. If the demand stops, then the supply chain will not be making big bucks. Maybe this is at least worth pondering on if we are to ever see the tides turn once and for ALL.

    Reply

    1. Thank you for this awareness raising comment Simple Living Global.

      I have come across another article on e-cigarettes with research studies linking some ‘benefits’ compared to smoking cigarettes.

      In The Week – Issue 1112 – 18th February 2017 it is reported that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than tobacco cigarettes due to the lower levels of carcinogens in smokers’ bodies.

      However the article reiterates that vaping (e-cigarettes) have not been given the all clear. One clear concerns is it’s impact on the body’s cardiovascular system.

      It’s quite clear to me that whilst there may be lower levels of carcinogens, carcinogens ARE carcinogens – a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissues (English Oxford Living Dictionaries).

      Anything of that nature cannot be harmless, regardless of the levels.

      Reply

      1. If we read your comment Shevon and apply a dose of common sense, we could all agree that e-cigarettes contain tobacco. Then if we read or re-read this blog we get the message loud and clear that this substance is very harmfull.

        I noticed on the local high street all these vaping shops opened up and there are all these different types of e-cigarette containers and some looking like a bling accessory.

        Who comes up with stuff like this and are we just fooling ourselves?

        So now there is this big no no for smoking and so many are going for a substitute but is it actually changing anything at the root?
        In other words are we evolving or are we just finding another solution to keep going with a bad habit that let’s face it is killing us.

        What is it about us humans that keep searching and searching for ways to fix the problem but not once stop and see if we can change the behaviour that is harmfull to our body? It is like something is missing and we just cannot join the dots.

        Vaping is way too new for us to have studies and research dedicated to seeing how harmful it is, so whilst we wait around for the rats and rabbits to be tested in a lab, let’s just put on our common sense hat and work it out for ourselves. E-Cigarettes are designed to give us the same effect as smoking so let’s not kid ourselves – nothing has truly changed.

        Reply

  13. This map from The Economist – 31st May 2017 shows the countries that are hit hardest by death and ill health due to smoking

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/05/daily-chart-22?fsrc=gnews

    High income countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, UK, France and Spain are top – however the article predicts that poorer countries are not far behind.

    Smoking clearly affects people everywhere and I am still surprised at how popular it is given that we have known about the harms for nearly 100 years!

    Reply

  14. http://www.medicaldaily.com/american-adults-have-no-clue-whats-cigarettes-better-labeling-may-be-solution-420263

    Medical Daily news on 18 July 2017 is saying that very few adults in the U.S. are aware of what goes into cigarettes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration are reporting the following –

    Cigarette smoke contains more than 9,000 chemicals.
    60+ carcinogens.
    93 harmful and potentially harmful chemicals.

    So now the solution may be better labelling, so consumers become aware.

    Do we honestly think that more pictorial warnings are going to really change this killer that has been around for a long long time?
    Are we changing anything by giving smokers more knowledge?
    Is it really stopping them from puffing behaviour?

    Are the warnings about related health risks making any difference?
    Are our strategies one step behind what is actually going on?

    Is improving cigarette packet warnings the real answer or is there more?

    Are we finding solutions but not asking the deeper real questions as to WHY one needs to smoke in the first place?

    Are we ready to fund research into WHY our teenagers go to smoking at such a young age?

    Are we ready to admit and accept that we have a global crisis that is allowed to continue because most of us are not saying much or doing anything?

    Is it time to stick our common sense hat on and admit that the reality we have created about smoking is way off and is literally killing us?

    Would it be true to say that no matter what we come up with, the fact is Smoking Kills and there is no getting away from that?

    Would it be true to say that man has known for well over a century about the harm of smoking yet the Tobacco industry continues to grow?

    Dressing it up or down or finding ways to allow others to continue with this deadly drug does not evolve us as a race of beings on earth and yet we call ourselves the Intelligent species.
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/what-is-intelligence-part-1/

    It may be worth considering what on earth we think Intelligence is and WHY this Intelligence allows us to continue harming our human frame.
    Is this form of Intelligence taking true Responsibility?
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/what-is-intelligence-part-2/

    Reply

  15. I was listening to some healthcare professionals talking this week about smoking. There have in recent years been some big awareness raising campaigns and initiatives by the government/NHS in the UK to eradicate smoking. But, more recently the initiatives have gone quiet – as though the problem is dealt with – yet tobacco is still one of the top reasons why people get illnesses or die in the UK.

    Tobacco and smoking (e-cigarettes included) really needs to stay at the top of the agenda, and, as this blog says – there is far more to smoking than meets the eye – we still need to get to the root of the problem.

    Reply

  16. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318922.php
    Medical News Daily – 14 August 2017

    Researchers from West Virginia University are saying that E-cigarettes should not be seen as safe.

    Not sure how mice respond to e-cigs that were cappuccino-flavoured and contained 18 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter as they can’t give us their take.
    The study found that within an hour of being exposed to 5 minutes of e-cig vapor, the arteries narrowed by 31%.

    Hello, do we really need to study mice to give us another study to confirm that smoking or vaping is damaging our arteries and a lot more.

    A related article – see link http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314190.php?iacp
    is about a study published in the journal Oncotarget, researchers found that the chemicals present in electronic cigarette vapor were equally as damaging and in some cases, more damaging – to mouth cells as tobacco smoke.

    As e-cigarette devices are relatively new to the market, little is known about the long-term effects of vaping on health.

    What if we just simply read this blog, put our common sense hat on and ask any young child and I bet we would all say that cigarettes are harmfull and there is no substitute for this killer.

    We have know for centuries but it suits us to continue and champion or find a solution to keep up the what most of us call ‘a bad habit’.

    Imagine if research was not on mice but real life people and finding out when they first started smoking, what happened to them, what was going on and then get into the WHY questions.

    Surely this would have a real valid response that holds a quality of evidence that may just guide and point us in the right direction as to WHY anyone would want to take a substance that is deeply harmful to their mind and body.

    Our world is great at coming up with new ways like in this one, no smoke to be seen, but not getting to the root as to WHY we do cigarettes in the first instance.

    Reply

    1. I was talking to a smoker who rolls his own. He was sharing his experience of trying e-cigarettes.

      He spent a bunch of money on all the paraphernalia thinking it would be more healthy for him. Over the course of a few weeks he realised it was worse than his roll ups.

      He went to his usual football practice where he said he can normally run around fine, and he just didn’t have the lung capacity he usually had. He believes e-cigarettes filled his lungs with more ‘crap’ than his roll ups and that degraded his fitness with a startlingly quick effect. So startling that he threw is investment in the bin and speaks passionately about his experience whenever he can.

      He believes there is loads of stuff in e-cigarettes we don’t know about and that he experienced what that did to his body.

      It amazes me he can be a smoker and a football player at all, but isn’t it interesting that he couldn’t be a footballer and an e-cigarette smoker?

      What is in e-cigarettes that is clogging up the lungs so he couldn’t breathe? What is in there that in a matter of a couple of weeks someone previously able to sprint around for 90 minutes was no longer able to take in enough oxygen to do that?

      More than 2.3 million people smoke e-cigarettes in the UK. With numbers on the rise, isn’t this type of anecdotal evidence something we should be looking into?

      https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/07/smoking-numbers-hit-new-low-as-britons-turn-to-vaping-to-help-quit-cigarettes

      Reply

      1. I saw a new article on the World Health Organisation website today about ‘tobacco-free generations:emerging threats for children in the Region’ – where they talk about ENDs (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems) – and kids like them as they do not resemble cigarettes but they resemble other things like pens. Some ‘have been found to contain poisonous chemicals such as formaldehyde at a level similar to that of cigarettes. Moreover, ENDS reinforce nicotine addiction and normalise smoking. Since ENDS are relatively new to the market, they are still largely unregulated’.

        What WHO are looking at is the several Member States in WHO European Region that are moving towards becoming “tobacco-free”. Which means having a smoking prevalence of 5% or less. But countries not only need to address the smoking issues, they need to address ENDS too.

        http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/tobacco/news/news/2017/09/towards-tobacco-free-generations-emerging-threats-for-children-in-the-region

        Reply

        1. So interesting Jane.

          This got me wondering why on earth manufacturers would include formaldehyde if it is a poisonous chemical – one I had only heard about in the context of preserving biological specimens.

          It turns out formaldehyde is produced/released when certain substances are burnt so it is actually a by-product of smoking.

          Lab studies show exposure causes various types of cancer and in 2004 formaldehyde was classified as a known human carcinogen.

          The American Journal of Public Health says formaldehyde in the smoke released from the end of a lit cigarette is present in concentrations of up to 3 times occupational limits. The type in e-cigarette vapour is a ‘masked’ type, which means it is more likely to be deposited in the lung tissue, once inhaled.

          I’m sure I’m not alone in trying to avoid being in the vicinity of cigarette or ENDS vapour – my body makes that decision for me.
          This information simply confirms that physical reaction and makes me wonder: with formeldahyde being only 1 of 7,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, why on earth does smoking still exist at all?

          https://www.verywell.com/the-scary-facts-about-formaldehyde-in-cigarette-smoke-2824724

          Reply

    2. In this article by the Telegraph dated 18. July 2017 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/18/let-workers-vape-office-government-plan-suggests/ it reports that the government says vaping ‘should be allowed in enclosed public spaces and offices as safer alternatives to smoking. With the information this blog and it’s comments share is this just a band aid for our smoking problem rather than looking at the deeper reason as to why we smoke?

      I can smell the flavour of the different Vape’s when on the street so in the office or enclosed public spaces I question would this produce second hand vaping health problems for people who don’t vape as there is still nicotine and chemicals in them?

      Reply

  17. The latest research is that nicotine in e-cigarettes increases the risk of heart disease and strokes.

    15 healthy testers were found to have increased blood pressure, heart rate and ‘arterial stiffness’ in the 30 minutes after smoking e-cigarettes containing nicotine. This effect was not found in those smoking e-cigarettes without nicotine.

    Dr Magnus Lundback who did the research in Sweden, has pointed out that most people think e-cigarettes are harmless, but that is not true – the tests show the opposite.

    He has said: “The industry markets their product as a way to reduce harm and to help people to stop smoking tobacco cigarettes. However, the safety of e-cigarettes is debated, and a growing body of evidence is suggesting several adverse health effects.”

    Will we listen to this science?

    Will it be enough to turn around already entrenched perceptions or will we need more?

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/11/e-cigarettes-containing-nicotine-linked-to-raised-heart-attack-risk

    Reply

  18. More on e-cigarettes.

    An upcoming UK government ad campaign to encourage people to stop smoking in October (‘Stoptober’) will recommend e-cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco.

    This despite the fact that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has issued guidance cautioning about the risks of ‘vaping’, which is not recommended as an aid to stop smoking.

    Are we breaking a cycle or simply replacing one harm with another?

    Do we know?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41339790

    Reply

  19. Talking to a gardener in the community today, he was saying how he gave up smoking last year because he had a cough for 3 months which forced him to stop and that time served him as he questioned if smoking was making him feel so sick.

    He said he was certain it was killing him inside and that almost everyone he knows is smoking which makes it harder. However, his body was telling him enough and now he feels no congestion and much healthier than he was. As with every smoker I have asked, he started smoking as a teenager.

    Would it be wise to research and direct our studies into WHY our teenagers go for their first cigarette?
    What on earth is going on for them that makes them take this poison which is addictive?
    Without going to the root cause are we really as a world any better off when it comes to smoking?

    Reply

  20. Australia Plus news today – calls for bans on ecigarettes in public places, the same as for cigarettes.

    The point was made that we don’t have 20 years of research on e-cigarettes as we do with cigarettes, so why are we believing/accepting the claims that they are safer than cigarettes?

    They contain the same compounds so it would make more sense to summize the health risks will be the same.

    The call was for us to ‘catch up’ with these new forms of smoking, from the point of view of the law, public safety, our research and our common sense.

    Reply

  21. I was in the supermarket today and they were stocking up the cigarette cupboard behind the counter.

    It was a wall of ugly pictures of harm caused by cigarette smoking. Every packet had a picture of a tumour or similar and there were hundreds of packets.

    It was hideous to see and feel.

    I wonder how people feel when they ask for cigarettes and the shopkeeper opens that cupboard.

    Reply

  22. Reading a news story this weekend about a famous celebrity after the gym workout ‘rewarding’ with an e-cigarette.

    So the media tell us about their huge salary and designer gear and the trendy gym they go to. They add prices to the footwear and coat worn as if this is what we all want to know.

    Is it really the news we need to know?

    Should we be asking WHY does something like this make news headlines and is this something we need to be asking more questions about?

    WHY is vaping seen as a trendy thing in our world today?
    Do we think if celebs are doing it then it must be ok?
    Is this something that has become fashionable now?
    What sort of role models are we advertising in the news?

    What if we interviewed our body after a gym workout followed by an e-cigarette?
    What is the physiological changes that are taking place and is this worth studying?

    Our world seems great at creating the next thing like vaping but are we any closer to the real TRUTH about the harm it is causing the human body?

    Reply

  23. I was talking to the lady on the cigarette counter yesterday. She was saying she is not allowed to talk about cigarettes to customers or show anyone the display.

    She says the pictures on the packets are so bad one of them looks like it shows a dead person.

    The whole set up now is like cigarettes are contraband.

    We know how much harm they cause. That is shown now in how you have to purchase them.

    Advertising them is illegal. Buying them fees illicit.

    Why are they still legal?

    Reply

  24. ****NEWS FLASH****

    Tobacco companies ordered to provide corrective statements.

    World Health Organization reports – 29th November 2017 that 4 US tobacco companies have been court ordered to provide public corrective statements on the harms of tobacco.

    “The tobacco control community has been saying for decades that tobacco kills, is addictive and that its manufacturers have known this, while profiting from the suffering of millions of their consumers, but by being ordered by the courts to issue these corrective statements in American newspapers and on TV stations, the industry itself has been forced to come clean and acknowledge once and for all that its tobacco products kill.”
    Dr Douglas Bettcher – Director of WHO’s Prevention on Noncommunicable Diseases department.

    Publication of the corrective statements, which began on 26th November 2017 came after a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department in 1999! Under the Federal Rackeeter Influenced and Corrupt Organization Law. The Federal Court’s first ordered the tobacco companies to implement these corrective statement adverts in 2006, however due to various appeals tobacco companies have been able to block their publication.

    The corrective statements are to reveal the health effects of –

    Tobacco use and second-hand smoke.

    The false sale and advertising of low tar and light cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes.

    State that smoking and nicotine are highly addictive.

    That they have designed cigarettes to enhance the delivery of nicotine.

    The statements will appear in adverts paid for by the tobacco industry and the statements are to appear in more than 50 U.S. newspapers as well as on American TV.

    So why has it taken so long and why has it happened now?

    Perhaps we are waking up to the dangers of smoking.

    Could there also be a public cry to know the Truth?

    We are in an age where there is more and more transparency, that is things being out in the open and not hidden. Therefore, there is no surprise that this has come to light right now. All secrets and lies in the end are always exposed.

    Simultaneously on 24th November, the French Bank BNP Paribas declared that it will stop its financing and investment activities related to tobacco companies, including producers, wholesalers and traders.

    Could It be possible that companies are starting to become more responsible with their actions?

    A successful business cannot be one that invests in tobacco companies as this is not for the good of everyone as it is a very harming product and so, how can we reap any truly good benefits from putting profits before people?

    Investments of this kind will always come with a price.

    http://www.who.int/tobacco/communications/statements/tobacco-industry-corrective-statements/en/

    Reply

  25. I was talking to a colleague about her ‘e-cig habit’ this week, as she calls it. It was a fascinating conversation.

    She was sharing in great detail the ‘hit’ and the ‘second hit’ you get from cigarettes and how the nicotine inhalers you can get from the doctor to help you stop smoking do not replicate that ‘hit’, but e-cigarettes do.

    She talked about this hit happening at the back of the throat and how you can feel the nicotine enter your blood stream. How it is like ‘having a really good coffee’ within 10 seconds. This is what she said she was addicted to.

    She shared how e-cigarettes help her quit cigarettes and nicotine over the course of about a year, as she can start them on the same level as nicotine in cigarettes and then reduce the nicotine at intervals through the year, until she is smoking only flavoured vapour, with zero nicotine content.

    She said she felt this was a pretty safe habit as the burning of tobacco is the carcinogenic aspect of smoking that e-cigarettes avoid. She said she avoids the sweeter flavours of e-cigarette vapour as there is some worrying research emerging about the chemicals they use. Her current favourite vaping flavour was ‘rhubarb and custard’.

    She said she will sometimes ‘fall off the wagon’ when she has a weak moment out with friends and she doesn’t have her e-cigarette with her so she will have a cigarette and they are so addictive she is back to buying them before she knows it and has to build up to quitting again over the course of another year.

    She was very clear about the cycle she is in with this and was honest and informed about the details.

    She started smoking when she was 11 and said she knows those who start later in life ‘bounce out of it’ much easier than those who start as young as her.

    It was clear talking to her that smoking is part of her identity – she likes the process, the ‘gadgetry’, the contact with other smokers, the cycles and the hit.

    Reply

    1. Thank you for sharing this JS. This real-life experience most definitely lets us know that e-cigarettes are harming and are not a sure cut way to stop smoking. It is great that you have put this real-life comment on as I have noticed more and more shops having e-cigarettes’ vape stands near their tills. One sign I saw just yesterday advertised that e-cigarettes are the way to quit smoking, however from your comment about your colleague who has returned to smoking cigarettes in a ‘weak moment’, this just exposes that it is not.

      How about we share the truth of this blog and start asking ourselves and others questions like those posed by Simple Living Global –

      ‘…is it time to get back to the people and ask them what on earth is going on in their lives that makes them want to take a substance called tobacco that contains nicotine, which goes directly into the brain and harms us?’

      Perhaps it’s the answers to this questions that would enable people to successfully stop smoking.

      Reply

      1. That is a great question, Shevon. In fact, it feels like it’s THE question to ask.

        Another I have been reflecting on is around the ‘gadgetry’ of e-cigarettes.

        The lady I was talking to shared how there is status to your gadget and it is a discussion point in smoking circles. There are ranges all the way up to high end luxury and the device you buy ‘says something about you’.

        So we now have a collector’s item in the gadget and a myriad choices of flavour and nicotine levels.

        The depth to which you can go is mind-boggling.

        Isn’t it interesting that this alternative came out just at the point people were finally waking up to the harm of cigarettes? And that the alternative has such a modern dimension – gadgetry – to further hook you in?

        So my question is – do we see this manipulation and where the demand is coming from to which it is supplied?

        Reply

  26. Interesting what these two comments from JS and Shevon are saying.

    I wanted to share that I keep seeing more and more new shops popping up everywhere, which are selling this vaping stuff.
    It makes me wonder if people are in it for the ‘new business’ that it is and because they know they are going to make good profit as it’s the latest thing telling us it’s better than a cigarette.

    What is interesting is it’s winter here in London and the owners of the vaping shops are outside the shop doing their thing and it is a huge smog that looks so artificial, I keep doing a double take. Its like they have a machine bellowing out thick white grey smog that is so huge, you lose sight of their face and surroundings. Weird but true.

    Have we really got to the bottom of all of this or are we being fooled?

    Is this vaping stuff in 20 years going to confirm after countless research studies, that it is having the same or even worse harm on the human body than cigarettes?

    Can we join the dots and keep it super simple – anything that we inhale or ingest that alters our natural state is not Truth.

    Is it because we as a world do not have a one unified Truth about Tobacco that we have the harm escalating out of control on a global scale?

    Reply

  27. Metro – 3rd November 2017

    A Japanese company have given non-smokers six extra days holiday a year to make up for the time off other staff take for cigarette breaks. This gesture is said to ‘benefit’ 67% of the company’s staff.

    Is this really the way to go?

    Is this part of a ‘If you can’t beat ’em join ’em attitude’?

    Is this a way to placate those workers who do not smoke from complaining?

    Is this gesture truly evolving?

    Does this gesture go anywhere towards us understanding why anyone would choose to put a harmfull substance in their body. One that is a huge contributory factor to many deadly illnesses.

    Is there more here for us to consider?

    Reply

  28. In Estonia you are not allowed to smoke inside. You are also not allowed to smoke outside the front of building eg hotels.

    It is super cold outside in winter so people do not want to go down the road to smoke. So hotels have smoking rooms.

    The hotel I was staying in has a small room with a small window, like a box room. People go and stand inside there to smoke rather than going outside.

    So smokers stand inside a small room, light up their cigarette, smoke it standing up, then leave.

    I feel this brings addiction into stark focus. That you will willingly stand in a smoke-filled pen to get the cigarette hit.

    It also brings into focus the way addiction is accepted and even fed. If the hotels didn’t have these rooms then people would have nowhere inside to smoke. So maybe they would think twice about lighting up.

    Reply

  29. I can see from the company I work in that the smokers have a community.

    If you are in with the smokers, you are in with the gossip from across the organisation.

    At any time of the day you fancy a cigarette, there will be other smokers wanting to go outside too. You will then stand together there and shoot the breeze – share information.

    One of my colleagues was sharing how going outside for cigarettes with people helps her build connections and relationships, which helps her be better at her job.

    This made me reflect – is there something about connection we crave?
    When we smoke, is that what we are looking for with ourselves?

    Reply

  30. I have just seen a young man rolling a cigarette. The care, attention to detail and focus that he was putting into this made me stop and look.

    If we put that amount of attention to detail on taking care of ourselves and focusing on things that support that like, going to bed at a time that our body says and eating foods that leave us feeling light, nourished and vital (as 2 examples), would we start to really evolve?

    Reply

    1. Shevon, I have seen this too. And the ritual around it. How the tobacco packet is folded. Where it is kept. When the time for smoking arrives.

      For any smoker who feels they don’t have the dedication to quit – what if the necessary attention to detail, ceremony and care are all actually very well honed inside and are available to be directed at other, more nurturing activities at any time, with just a little application?

      Reply

  31. In Paris the streets are full of smoke. Much more so than I have noticed in London.

    There are plumes of smoke from people smoking while walking. The cafes that line the streets have heaters along their length and blankets so you can sit outside. But outside is really for smokers – if you don’t smoke, you get smoked out either side if you sit there.

    If you spend time in Paris, you will not avoid inhaling smoke and being covered in it head to foot.

    Reply

  32. The Week – 12 August 2017 reporting from The Daily Telegraph have said :

    ‘Smoking costs the state £4.6 billion, most of it on medical treatments, tidying up dropped cigarette butts and putting out house fires. But it is worth almost £15 billion to the public purse, because of the tax revenue and the savings caused by early deaths.’

    Is this why smoking continues in it’s various shapes and forms as the money it brings in and the financial ‘savings’ outweigh the money we have to pay out?

    Are early deaths really something to celebrate?

    Reply

  33. There are now many news stories reporting that whilst it is increasingly common to see people puffing on an e-cigarete rather than a cigarette, are we aware of who is who in the vaping industry?

    Sales are increasing as more smokers going for vaping to quit. This has turned into a valuable and lucrative market that many companies are keen to crack. With a myriad of brands on offer, it is clear that competition is rife.

    We would all assume that vaping brands are in direct competition with tobacco companies and they are slowly and steadily defeating these giants as smokers supposedly turn to ‘healthier alternatives’.

    But if we do our homework and look closely at what is out there, some of the best selling vaping brands actually belong to tobacco firms.

    We only have to google who is dominating the vaping industry and we will come to our own conclusions.

    The point is are we really offering the same or is this for the benefit of humanity as a whole?

    Are the shareholders of these giant corporations interested in what happens to the lungs and lives of smokers in the short or long term?

    Are they interested in getting the younger generations, as it seems they are not into the old fashion smelly cigarette?

    Are our younger generations being fooled because this vaping stuff is addictive?

    Are we going to wait for another 50 years to see long term damage to the human body before scientific research tells us to stop?

    Do we need to get smart and savvy now and read blogs like this, which spell out the Truth so that we end this life with purpose and a body that has vitality?

    Reply

  34. I just saw someone sucking on an e-cigarette. It reminded me of a baby sucking its thumb.

    If we saw it in that way I wonder how long it would be considered cool.

    Reply

  35. An article in the Daily Mail, 30th January 2018, says that E-Cigarettes ‘DO raise cancer and heart disease risk’.

    Electronic cigarettes do raise the risk of lung and bladder cancer and may cause heart disease in just a decade, scientists have warned.

    Public Health England has insisted that using e-cigarettes or vaping is 95% safer than smoking cigarettes.

    But although e-cigarettes do not contain the dozens of cancer-causing toxins in tobacco, they do contain nicotine and other dangerous chemicals.

    Now a study by New York University researchers show human lung and bladder cells exposed to nicotine show clear signs of turning cancerous.

    The US study warns that e-cigarette users, while safer than smokers from lung cancer, remain at a higher risk of contracting the deadly disease than non-smokers.

    The lead doctor on the study said: “We exposed human cells to the equivalent nicotine to a few days puffs of an e-cigarette. We found this damaged DNA and suppressed DNA repair, which raises the risk of cancer.”

    Scientists in the UK seem to be saying lately that e-cigarettes are harmless, but this evidence shows they are not safe. This is an urgent public health issue.

    The research exposed human cells to both nicotine and nitrosamine, which evidence suggests cause cancer.

    Around 2.9 million people in Britain use e-cigarettes, despite evidence linking them to bronchitis and increased occurrences of stillbirths.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO), has called on Britain to consider banning the devices from public places because of the dangers of ‘passive vaping’.

    A doctor from the University of Salford has found similar effects to the US study in lung cells subjected to e-cigarette flavourings.

    She said: “While e-cigarettes are healthier than tobacco cigarettes, they do contain toxins and several laboratories have seen evidence of DNA damage and inflammation.

    Although the first documented reference to an electronic cigarette is a patent granted in 1930, it wasn’t until 2003 that the first commercially successful electronic cigarette was created in Beijing, China, by Hon Lik, a 52 year old pharmacist , inventor and smoker who reportedly created the device after his father, also a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer.

    Scientists have known since the 1950’s that smoking was harmful to humans but yet it has taken over 60 years to get where we are at today.

    Vaping may not be as harmful as standard tobacco cigarettes, but the fact is, e-cigarettes are still very harmful in themselves, so why are they being championed at all?

    Is it possible that we have just swapped one harmful activity for another harmful activity, just because it is slightly less harmful than the first activity?

    Why is Public Health England saying vaping is 95% less harmful than tobacco while we have an organisation like the WHO saying that we should consider banning these devices in public places because of ‘passive vaping’.

    Diacetyl, used in e-cigarette flavouring, is linked to a condition called ‘popcorn lung, in which the lungs become so scarred, a transplant is required.

    A US study found vapers have a 71% higher risk of bronchitis than non-vapers.

    E-cigarette flavourings have been found to contain formaldehyde. Cinnamon and bubble-gum flavours may also cause damage to sperm.

    Metals, including lead and nickel, have been found in e-cigarettes at higher levels than standard cigarettes.

    We seem to be a race of people that doesn’t actually learn from our past mistakes.

    Is it possible that we have gone from a very harmful way of killing ourselves to a slightly less harmful way of killing ourselves?

    E-cigarettes have been championed as being less harmful than standard cigarettes.

    It took decades for tobacco manufacturers and governments to be exposed on their lies that tobacco wasn’t harmful to humans.

    E-cigarettes have only been around for about 10 years now but already there is a lot of evidence that shows that they are already very harmful.

    Let’s hope it doesn’t take several decades for those in authority to decide that e-cigarettes should be treated exactly the same way as standard tobacco cigarettes.

    Reply

  36. Walking to the train station this week I could smell a strong smell of butterscotch all the way down the street. It was very odd.

    In the station it was even stronger. Then I got to platform level to see down the platform clouds of vapour billowing from someone’s e-cigarette. I have never seen such volume of smoke before – it was huge. The people around were covered in the fog as they got on the train. The butterscotch smell abounded.

    The fact that I could smell the e-cigarette all the way up the street tells me the chemicals were sitting in the air. Sitting there way after the smoker had gone. There for us all to breathe in.

    And it was amazing to me that with all the people around, this person was oblivious to or didn’t care about the impact their smoke and smell was having. And as far as I could see from a way away, noone said anything about it.

    Cigarettes are illegal in train stations, I wonder when this will be enforced for e-cigarettes and why we would see them as different.

    And with all the chemicals and scents/flavours, I wonder how long it will be before non-smokers start to say no to smoke in the street that we have to walk through.

    Reply

  37. Daily Mail – 22nd February 2018

    Drivers could be fined if they vape whilst driving.

    Police officers have said that the clouds of vapour produced by the devices can be just as distracting as using a mobile phone.

    Whilst vaping whilst driving is not a specific offence , drivers could be found guilty of driving without due care and attention. This could lead to disqualification, three to nine points on a driving licence or a fine of up to £2,500.

    Senior officers said ‘vaping could cause fatal crashes if excessive amounts of smoke momentarily blind drivers’.

    So not only do we have the concerns about the internal harm that vaping is doing, it is now being brought to our attention the harm that this creation could have on wider society through reckless driving.

    We only need to watch someone vaping to see the huge clouds of vapour that it produces, to understand the seriousness of what is being said here.

    Reply

  38. Talking to someone yesterday who has quit smoking. They said they didn’t find it hard once they had made the decision.

    They started using smoke-free tobacco sticks for a few weeks as part of the transition and then simply stopped.

    They said they just didn’t want to smoke any more – they realised there was absolutely nothing good about it for them and once they had tuned in to that, the commitment was there to change.

    This feels like a great reminder of how powerful we are and how everything we do is simply a choice.

    Reply

  39. https://scienmag.com/certain-popular-cigars-deliver-more-nicotine-than-cigarettes/

    Science Magazine
    A study was published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

    Researchers have found that the level of nicotine found in a small cigar smoke is similar to or greater than cigarette smoke.

    Cigars have a reputation for being safer than cigarettes but they may be just as addictive and harmful according to Penn State College of Medicine.

    We do have a general perception that cigars are not as harmful and this study shows that future regulation that affects cigarettes should also affect these cigars.

    John Richie – Professor of Public Health Sciences and Pharmacology said the confusion surrounding the safety of cigars may stem from Tobacco companies using clever tricks to get around current regulations.
    “There are many misconceptions about cigars. The truth is, cigar smoke is inhaled and is just as harmful to the lungs.
    Tobacco companies use loopholes in the way these products are taxed to allow these small cigars to be substantially cheaper than cigarettes. They can also get around the regulation that says cigarettes cannot be flavored to avoid making them appealing to children. These small cigars come in all kinds of flavors.”

    So are we being fooled on some level?

    This professor is warning us at the end of the article that it is important for consumers to understand that these are not products that are less harmful and regulations do need to include these small cigars in with cigarettes.

    What is important is that we all understand that blaming the industry is not going to change anything. What can and will help is if we all start conversations and discussions and one thing we could all agree on is these four words – SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT.

    This alone opens up for more of us to express and whether we smoke or not we are all in some way responsible for what goes on in this world.

    Just because a toxic poison called Tobacco is wrapped in leaf and not paper does not make the contents less harmful.

    What is it about us humans that think we are Intelligent but somehow our common sense is not used or we do not join the dots to think clearly what the obvious is?

    As this stupendous blog is spelling out to us, no matter which way we choose to look at this topic it is serious and it is dangerous and it is not for human consumption.

    We can wait another 100 years for more research to confirm the evidence we already know and have, or we can make informed choices and learn through understanding.

    Simple Living Global is presenting another way and it is for those who are ready and are asking questions about everything going on in society today, not just cigar and cigarette smoking.

    Reply

  40. The Salt Lake Tribune – 1st March 2018

    https://www.sltrib.com/news/health/2018/02/28/more-than-half-of-utah-teens-who-say-they-drink-alcohol-also-use-e-cigarettes-survey-finds/

    More than half of Utah teens who say they drink alcohol also use e-cigarettes, survey finds.

    ‘Nearly 60% of teenagers who said they drank in the previous month also said they used e-cigarettes or other vaping products, according to the poll conducted by the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) and the Utah Department of Human Services (DHS).’

    State health officials have expressed concern as both alcohol and nicotine are known to damage the developing brain. The percentage of teenagers using both substances together has increased since the last survey in 2015.

    Susannah Burt, a prevention programme manager at Utah Department of Human Services (DHS) is quoted as saying –

    “When we start changing the way our brains develop by adding different chemicals to it, it can set us up differently as adults.”

    The prevalence of youth using e-cigarettes in the last 5 years is said to have increased dramatically.

    Why are we seeing a link between e-cigarettes and young people who use alcohol?
    Is this correlation the same for cigarettes?

    Are our planned solutions helping us to get to the root cause of why we have this issue?

    Is limiting where alcohol and tobacco products can be sold, the answer?

    Will we see the numbers decrease in official statistics if we go this way, but that just means that people have gone underground to buy and sell alcohol and tobacco?

    Will increasing the price of e-cigarettes really put people off buying them, or will we find a way to get what we want, when we want it regardless of the cost?

    Banning adults from giving children alcohol – how would we police this and if we are honest practically every family would have to have this ban enforced, as most adults drink alcohol.

    What if the adults are banned, but the children still observe the adults drinking alcohol?

    What message does that give them? Will it be one where they look forward to being an adult and being allowed to drink alcohol and take a nicotine containing substance into their lungs?

    Will this be what children choose to aspire to, as they see their role models drinking alcohol and harming themselves through smoking?

    What is the answer?

    Is it worth considering the very wise questions in this blog by Simple Living Global which sensibly asks us to consider the ill effects of tobacco and nicotine on our bodies? As adults we have a responsibility to educate our children on the ill affects of substances like nicotine, tobacco and alcohol, as even though they are licit drugs they are all deeply, deeply harming to the human body.

    Reply

  41. By mid 2018 – Ghana intends to ban Shisha and electronic cigarettes, according to the Principal Research Officer at the Ghana Health Service.

    https://www.myjoyonline.com/lifestyle/2018/march-12th/ghana-to-ban-shisha-electronic-cigarette-by-june.php

    Dr. Divine Darlington Logo is quoted as saying “First time we did a study to cover electronic cigarettes and shisha we were surprised to hear that the youth are now moving away from traditional cigarettes to shisha and the electronic cigarettes which we were not aware of.”

    Prevalence was highest among youth aged 13 – 15.

    The call to ban the use of shisha and electronic cigarettes in Ghana, has come from the concerns expressed by the World Health Organization about the harmfull effects of shisha on human health.

    The World Health Organization are quoted as saying shisha is “Damaging, dangerous and addictive to human lives.”

    Dr. Logo is also quoted as saying: “Shisha use is more harmful than the cigarette, when you have one puff it is like you have smoked one full cigarette.”

    The World Health Organization Advisory are also quoted as saying that, the smoke from one water pipe smoking session is almost equivalent to puffing 100 cigarettes.

    So here we have it – one country planning to take drastic measures to prevent people from being harmed by shisha and electronic cigarettes.

    Is banning enough or even the most effective way to deal with harmful substances?

    Would an approach where we are collectively willing to do whatever is needed, to get to the root cause of why we are drawn to these harmfull substances, especially our youth,be more effective?

    Would educational programs that educate about the harms, but also support people to understand WHY they are harming their bodies through addictive substances, be a more powerful way to deal with this than law enforcement?

    Are the questions in this blog by Simple Living Global, questions that we all need to be asking for true change to occur?

    Reply

  42. I saw someone on the train platform yesterday inhaling their e-cigarette.

    It looked like their first of the day.

    The inhilation was long. Much longer than an average breath. You could see the desire was to fill the lungs to the max – to get as much of a draw as possible from the single breath.

    You could see from the sense of relief as they breathed it out – an impossibly large amount of vape.

    It made me wonder why we don’t value our own, natural breath this way.

    We fill our lungs with air countless times every day. It gives us the breath we need to be full and vital.

    As I am writing this I can feel the space in my lungs. The warmth that is there. The way the body allows the breath.

    Why would we pollute this natural breath? Why would we want anything other than its purity and connection?

    It occurs to me we may not want to feel that purity. We may want to stay disconnected.

    Putting up an actual smoke screen would be a good way to do that – avoidance.

    I wonder what this dimension would bring to the quit smoking campaigns. It we talked about the power and purity of our natural breath and how smoking disconnects us from that.

    Reply

  43. I was just talking to a salesman today and in conversation I mentioned that I know he smokes. He looked surprised and then I said that I know he had been doing it since a teenager. Yep he was a bit stunned and said “How did I know?”.

    As the author of this blog one think I recall is that smoking starts usually when we are in our teenage years. I have put this to the test by asking smokers consistently if this was true and so far all have said yes.

    The other thing they all say is they have ‘tried’ to give it up but go back to it.

    I would say it is impossible to give up unless we are willing to look at another way and start with answering some of the questions presented in this blog.

    What I feel is missing is the lack of understanding and it is high time our kids get serious education with presentations covering what this blog is saying.

    ADD to that the latest thing – E-cigarettes and another blog on Tobacco, out end of this month, will present what we all need to know.

    Our solutions are not working and we all know that our governments and policymakers are not on the front foot when it comes to the smoking epidemic, which is one of our biggest modern day plagues.

    Add to that the global Tobacco industry and very few if any would truly challenge this because of the backlash.

    So what do we do?
    How can we help?
    How can we change things?

    I feel a wise choice would be to get Absolutely Honest about what smoking is doing to our body and start conversations online and offline about this. By talking and expressing the deep harm that we have created we will one day get to the answer.

    Humanity needs the Truth and it is high time we all started with a dose of honesty everyday so we can get to the Truth.

    I know this website is most certainly dedicated to TRUTH.

    Reply

  44. My friend was sharing about our town and a new shisha bar that has just opened. Work colleagues were talking about the other bar a mile down the road.
    One guy who is into fancy cars mentioned how he noticed at night the expensive cars like Lamborghini parked outside this place which he called ‘dodgy’.

    Luxury expensive sports cars cost money and we have to question what state is someone in after their shisha session and where is the responsibility if we have a high powered motor vehicle designed deliberately for high speed driving.

    What I do know is the police station is closed down due to lack of funding and I have never ever seen police patrolling the streets, so this is a licence to get away with whatever, because there is no one around who can do anything.

    With so much crime, we could just dismiss this as boys having fun but when these places are staying open on a weekday until the early hours – 3am we do need to question how this affects those in the community and beyond.

    As this blog confirms facts which most of us know – shisha contains Tobacco and this tells us how addictive and harmfull this is to our natural state of being.

    Do we as a world wait for more scientific research or do we consider that for over a century we have known that Tobacco is killing us. Finding another ‘form’ to take the same substance is clearly not the answer.

    Just because it is in a liquid form and a pipe and not a roll up paper cigarette does not change the immutable fact – Tobacco kills the human.

    Reply

  45. I was observing on the plane today a woman in front buying lots of duty-free cigarettes.

    What caught my eye was the big fat dark bold writing about how smoking kills and causes cancer.

    She and her partner really did not feel like smokers, so we got talking.

    Her reply was that she was a nurse and realises these are poison, but the friend who picks them up from the airport insists he gets his stock of duty-free cigarettes.

    Her body looked uncomfortable sharing this and she felt there was no way out.

    But is that true or does it on some level actually suit us – in other words there is some gain/benefit in this for us too or else we would not do it?

    It reminded me of many years ago, when a dear member of my family asked me for duty free cigarettes and my moral compass inside was not settled.

    I tossed and turned as this guy is really lovely and I did not want him to think I was not a nice person.
    My battle was with the Truth, so really there was nothing to battle.

    I know what Truth is now and I knew what it was back then.
    So, tell them straight or skirt around, conjure up excuses and squirm in your own skin?

    I chose to just say No and explained that I no longer want to be a part of something that would contribute to his ill health.

    What if in that moment I was offering another way, a reflection that we do not have to harm ourselves with toxic poison from a cigarette?

    What is very interesting is that he had a heart attack soon after and was told to stop smoking.

    Me continuing to support a cycle of abuse, because that is what cigarettes do, was simply not going to happen.

    Saying No to me meant that I for one, was not adding to his choices of self-harm.

    He can continue and that’s ok, my job is to observe and not judge.

    Reply

  46. Today is the start of Stoptober.

    A month where the focus is on supporting people to stop smoking.

    I spoke with a lady today who is one of the promoters of this NHS campaign.
    She was by a stand that had a shisha pipe and some information about shisha.

    She was explaining how bad it is for people, as it still has tobacco.

    We talked about e-cigarettes and although she started to say that they were not as bad as shisha, she quickly retracted this by talking about the nicotine content.

    I mentioned that I used to smoke and she asked me more questions about this, in particular how I stopped.

    I shared that the last time I was smoking I was dating a guy who wasn’t really into me and when that relationship ended, I found that I no longer wanted to smoke and that I have never touched one since and that was at least 15 years ago.

    We discussed how people relapse, having not smoked for 20 years+ and the possible causes of this.

    I shared that I have noticed that for some of us, we take up smoking after a traumatic event, like one lady who told me that she started smoking after the breakup of her marriage.

    She agreed that if the underlying issues are not dealt with, then it is easy to relapse no matter the amount of years since we last smoked.

    However, I was able to claim very strongly that I know, that no part of me will ever pick up a cigarette again.
    There is nothing in me that desires this and I no longer have the underlying emotional issues of looking for another to love me, as I have a much deeper connection with myself and feel fulfilled.

    At the end of our conversation she concluded that it was best to not smoke at all.

    Reply

  47. On the 1st July 2007 a new law was introduced that banned smoking in all enclosed public places.

    It was justified on the basis that smokers were putting others at risk by exposing them to second hand smoke.

    Of course, the smoking ban in enclosed public places is a great step forward, but has it created another issue for those that don’t smoke?

    With the ban, people that smoke, do so outside, which invariably means that they loiter outside the main doors of the premises of the public place and subject those who walk through the doors to a cloud of smoke.

    I see this a lot where I work and have never understood why this is allowed but find even more incredible that, on a recent visit to my local hospital, the same thing was allowed.

    To enter the main entrance of the hospital, right before the entrance door, I had to pass through the many puffs of smoke from all the patients and visitors.

    I found this to be, for want of better words, incredibly ridiculous.

    Of all places, a hospital should be the one place where we shouldn’t be concerned about going into because it may harm our health. We are going there to get better.

    People are free to smoke and harm themselves if they so choose so this is not about people being allowed to smoke or not, but is it possible that, if their choices start to affect others, then should something be done about it?

    Is there any difference between someone in our office smoking a few cigarettes throughout the day or walking through a haze of smoke with increased concentration twice a day?

    Reply

  48. Talking to a local cabbie recently, he was sharing how his dad died last year. He had lung cancer.

    He shared how his dad was bed ridden at home for many months and how his wife (the cabbie’s mum) would bring him cigarettes to smoke in bed.

    His dad apparently ’emotionally blackmailed’ her into doing this, even though she said she didn’t want to and knew it was killing him faster.

    The cabbie said he even bought his dad a packet once, because his dad threatened to kill himself if they stopped him from smoking.

    This brought into sharp focus for me a few things:

    – Sometimes, even death will not shake us from our addictions. We want what we want.

    – Many people are complicit in and enable the behaviour of others.

    – We are influenced so hugely by our emotions, to the point that common sense doesn’t get a look in.

    – ‘Love’ may often look different to what we might think, e.g. saying no to feeding someone’s addiction because it feels wrong to do so, may be the most loving choice, even if they don’t see it that way.

    Reply

  49. Just talking to a man today who lost his wife a decade ago – she had throat cancer.

    What he was clear about was that she was a smoker and a drinker and that is why this happened.

    She died in her late 40s and what I observed was how this man feels so hurt by her not being alive to see her daughter marry and have grandchildren.

    We talked a lot about smoking and how everyone starts in their teens, including himself but now he no longer smokes.

    He said back in his day it was the in thing to do and fashionable to go out down the pub to meet with your mates, drink alcohol and smoke.

    Today it’s all about screen time and experiences and by that he meant going out for dinner and posting on social media everything you do.

    Back to smoking and how we as an intelligent species have got it all wrong.
    How harmfull this poison is and how we are not aware when we light up our first cigarette of the addictive nature of this substance.

    It has taken us well over a century to get the world uniting on the fact that smoking cigarettes is not for human consumption.
    However, unless we are blind freddy what is obvious and clear is there are still many many people smoking and offering any solutions we all know is not really the answer.

    If the majority start smoking as teenagers, would it be a wise move to study our teens and children before they get to teenage years, see what they are up to and WHY they end up smoking because SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT?

    We can find other ways to combat this smoking stuff but the truth is we are no where on the front foot to eliminating this poison from our lifestyle choices.

    Real education by way of presentations brought into the school curriculum is now a must and needs to be across the board so that every one of us know the Real Truth about Tobacco and the harm to the human frame.

    Reply

  50. On the bus today, I sat next to a young guy with a tin on his lap and he had all his kit and was making up roll up cigarettes. I asked if he was doing them in advance as he was very busy with the whole thing and making lots of them.

    He told me he has to smoke one every 45 minutes throughout the day and then he said he smoked because he was lonely. His brother had given up smoking and he thinks he could one day if he had children.

    I had my usual tobacco research question that I ask every smoker – what age did you start and knowing the answer which has yet to be proven wrong. Every smoker thus far has told me they were in their teenage years when they first started cigarette smoking.

    There is a big clue here for researchers and for humanity to not dismiss this fact.

    I call it a fact as I have been asking people on the street, talking to them and finding out when did this habit start. So if we know this then would it be worth digging deeper and finding out what is going on for this generation who are going from being children to a growing young adult?

    Back to the 27 year old on the bus who looked painfully thin and undernourished.
    We talked about his need for connection and every 45 minutes he got it from his friend – the roll up ciggie. He knows he is lonely and it is because he does not feel connected.
    He also knows that the cigarettes momentarily take away the feeling of dis-connection but soon after it comes back again, hence the need for the next one.

    He was not aware of the real harm to the body and I gave him details of this website.

    What I walked away with was knowing that the time he spent with me on the bus he felt something – I call it connection. He was met by another with no judgement, reaction or expectation of any kind. I simply met him and got talking and his nervous anxious disposition was not there when I got off the bus.

    Job done and for the record, I talk to the general public when I am out and about.
    I am not fearful of their reaction or response as I don’t have a hidden agenda.

    What I do know beyond any doubt is that I have wisdom as an elder in the community and it is my duty to humanity to deliver the package – by that I mean say what comes to me without holding back.

    I have a library full of human life wisdom and it serves, so that’s what I do and I know others receive a blessing with that sharing.

    Reply

  51. Asian Correspondent – 23 May 2019

    Smokin’ Hut: Singapore’s Solution for Cigarette Puffers
    https://asiancorrespondent.com/2019/05/smokin-hut-singapores-solution-for-cigarette-puffers/

    Singapore has some of the world’s strictest anti-tobacco laws and smoking is banned in most public places with a fine of up to $725 if people are caught.

    E-cigarettes are banned outright.

    The city has found a way round the strict laws by launching its first air conditioned smoking cabin, kitted with a filtration system that is said to purify cigarette smoke before it is released into the air.

    The cabins can hold up to 10 people at a time.

    They have not gone down well with smokers who have described them as small and squeezy leaving them feeling like second class citizens. The fact that they have no seats is also a source of complaint.

    Before we seek the next solution would we all benefit from asking first why any human being needs to smoke cigarettes?

    Having observed many smokers and having been one myself, I have found that cigarettes are often inhaled when one is feeling agitated, uneasy, anxious, restless or simply overwhelmed by life.

    I know that when I started to smoke in my late teens whilst I said that it was to fit in with friends, the truth is I felt so uncomfortable in my own skin and I was so disconnected from who I truly am that these were the real reasons why I smoked. The cigarette smoking temporarily enabled me to not be aware of the discontentment that I carried within.

    Is it possible that as adults and even as professionals, when we are living in disconnection to who we truly are – no matter what our IQ, or our social status, we will desire products like cigarettes to try and fill ourselves up with something so that we do not feel that void or emptiness within?

    Is it possible that we are aware that we are missing something and so in order to deal with this, we seek outside of ourselves to fill that void?

    Is it at all smart to seek tobacco or any other substance instead of being honest about how we feel about ourselves and about life on a day to day basis?

    Therefore with this in mind and if all of the above were true – does it support any of us in anyway to find new ways that we can encourage others to smoke?

    Does it make sense to have strict anti-tobacco laws but then install cabins where people are out of sight and are allowed to smoke?

    Does this make sense and what kind of message are we giving with this contradictory attitude towards smoking?

    Have we chosen to close our eyes and has this lead us to believe that if smokers are out of sight then all is well?

    Have we opted for the out of sight out of mind attitude, instead of seeking the Truth of why we smoke in the first place?

    Reply

  52. The world has just had another World No Tobacco Day and Simple Living Global presented the 3rd and final part to a complete book – THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT TOBACCO.

    https://simplelivingglobal.com/the-real-truth-about-tobacco-part-1/
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/the-real-truth-about-tobacco-part-2/
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/the-real-truth-about-tobacco-part-3/

    We have covered enough for any reader to stop and consider what is the real truth about a harmfull substance that has been a lifestyle choice for so many for hundreds of years.

    The changes now are showing us that man is seeking alternatives and in this demand we have suppliers ready to create the next form – albeit the same stuff but it seems and looks different.

    We like to blame the industry, the corruption, the greed, the policy makers, the politicians, the governments and those that champion and are behind keeping this toxic substance going.
    But what if there is simply no business to speak of if we made a choice to not consume it in the first place?
    A whole industry could die and end if we started to look at WHY we want to smoke, inhale and ingest any form of tobacco.

    What if we cannot bring about change unless we bring in understanding?

    What if we need to observe those who have walked the road – so to speak?

    Why are we not using anecdotal evidence and allowing the voices of those in our neighbourhood and in our communities, towns and cities to tell us when they started puffing, what age, what was going on at the time and take it from there?

    Could we join the dots and make some sense WHY anyone initially starts lighting up?

    Then could we run some real INDEPENDENT studies – not funded by any organisation where there could be even a small leniency to achieve a certain picture, image, result?

    Let those studies talk to those who currently use tobacco in various forms.

    Let those studies include those who have found an alternative to smoking in the belief it is working and is better for them.

    Let those studies include people who have been on nicotine lozenges for over a decade and see how their body is coping now.

    Let those studies ensure that we do not dismiss anything that is being said by those on the street who are the regular smokers.

    Let those studies communicate the real truth about Tobacco so that we can educate the masses and put an end to what we have all known from day dot is killing us.

    Dear World

    We need to stop pretending and we need to get up front and honest as our world is now facing a whole heap of illness and dis-ease in the human frame.

    We can no longer negate what our body is communicating and carry on ‘business as usual’ because our bodies are telling us SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT.

    Our researchers need to change direction and go for the obvious – the people.

    Make research about people, for the people and on behalf of the people.

    Let us no longer waste any time to delay the clear and immutable facts that are under our very nose.

    Let us unite and get on the front foot so that we all as a race of beings learn to work together and get to the heart – the Truth, the very essence of what we need to be doing together to make real change and evolve.

    It makes no sense to exhaust our health systems with self created ills coming from our lifestyle choices.

    It is time to educate and bring awareness to those that we can reach and on that note this is what Simple Living Global are committed and dedicated to doing.

    We have thus far delivered and will continue to do so feeling what is needed next by responding to the call of humanity.

    In other words, Simple Living Global is on the front foot. They research and read what’s currently going on in the world and then report on that topic – that is the response to the call.

    This website is offering so much to our world right now – it is saying there is another way.

    Reply

  53. I have been interested in talking openly to those who smoke or vape as I know there is always something to learn.

    WHY ?

    Because I have written the book on Tobacco and presented all sorts of questions to humanity about this poison that has been around for a very long time.

    https://simplelivingglobal.com/the-real-truth-about-tobacco-part-1/
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/the-real-truth-about-tobacco-part-2/
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/the-real-truth-about-tobacco-part-3/

    Talking to a member of staff at my local supermarket who I have known for a few years and have a real connection. It is not fake or phoney or nicey nice. It is real and honest.

    She was very ill today and said her day off was yesterday and it all came – she means the flu symptoms with cough and heavy chest cold.

    I talked to her about resting more and going to bed early.

    Her response was she had given up smoking last month and it had nothing to do with that Stoptober thing that is all over social media about quitting smoking in October.

    We had a conversation about our immune system and I shared that I have never been to see my doctor or take medication for colds, cough or flu in over a decade.

    I did say that smoking was so harmful and it certainly depletes if not robs our immune system and she nodded as she is always getting colds and flu. Makes sense to us both.

    When I got back home, I was feeling the value of this conversation and I was wondering if her quitting smoking had anything to do with me and how I live – in other words was there an Alchemy here – what the dictionary would call a magical process of transformation.
    We cannot explain this to the average mind or intellect but what if this is possible and can we consider it.

    I always engage with her and we hug and chat about this and that but there is always a purpose as our conversations are never about gossip or circulating stuff that is going on. It is usually her sharing wisdom or asking me for support and understanding in a certain area, like for example her mother’s probate papers, which I was able to help with.

    This woman knows I do not judge her for smoking, her weight or how she lives. I just give her the space but always say something as I never hold back when I am asked.

    So if we look at this as a vibration – could it be possible that the space she has been feeling allows her to come to it herself and in this case we are talking about quitting smoking.

    Possible ?

    Reply

  54. Independent – 5th January 2020

    All Smokers Admitted to Hospital Will be Offered Help to Quit in New NHS Drive to Highlight Personal Responsibility for Health
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/smoking-stop-drinking-alcohol-nhs-money-saving-costs-quit-uk-a8712301.html

    NHS England has announced that expert teams will help problem drinkers and smokers during their stay on a ward.

    Supporters say it will save lives and hospital beds but critics say it’s an invasion of privacy.

    People who are alcohol-dependent will be helped by specialists to stop drinking, while a drive targeting smokers admitted to hospital will affect an estimated 500,000 people, including pregnant women and their partners.

    NHS chiefs say the savings will vastly outweigh the costs of £183 million over five years of the schemes.

    £157 million will target smoking, which costs the NHS £2.6 billion every year. Alcohol problems, which cost the NHS £3.5 billion every year, will receive £26 million of funding.

    But critics said it sounded like “mass lifestyle engineering” and tantamount to bullying vulnerable people.

    NHS England bosses say every smoker in hospital will be offered support to quit, with personalised bedside care, therapy and follow-up help when they have been discharged.

    A scheme is already running in Manchester that is expected to save £10 million and more than 30,000 hospital beds across the city, and it will be replicated across the country over the next five years.

    NHS figures show that the 10 per cent of new mothers who smoke are doubling the risk of stillbirth and tripling the chances of sudden infant death.

    Alcohol-related admissions have grown by 17 per cent in a decade.

    Health chiefs say the measures could prevent 50,000 admissions and almost 250,000 bed days over five years. The NHS England chief executive said: “Drinking to excess can destroy families, with the NHS too often left to pick up the pieces. Alcohol and tobacco addiction remain two of the biggest causes of ill health and early death, and the right support can save lives.”

    The former director of the Libertarian Alliance said the move smacked of oppression. “We pay our taxes and present ourselves to the NHS for treatment and should receive treatment. The NHS is funded by a collective compulsory levy and is a compulsory pooling of risk. So it’s one thing for an insurance company to tell us what locks to have but quite another for the NHS to tell us to stop eating or drinking what we want.”

    Is it possible that this stance from the above sentence towards the NHS is the real problem here?

    Yes, most of us pay our taxes and deserve the treatment the NHS can give us, but is it possible there comes a time when we have to take our own personal responsibility with our health?

    Critics say it is an invasion of privacy – if it is going to help someone quit, how can it be classed as such?

    Surely it can only be classed as an invasion of privacy if the patient doesn’t want any help?

    But, if the patient declines any help offered, is there a discussion to be had for not treating this patient?

    If we are in hospital for a smoking or alcohol related issue, WE, as the patient, know it is these substances that have put us there – so, is it possible that, if we refuse any treatment, all we are doing is refusing to take any responsibility for ourselves?

    The NHS is very close to breaking point and this view of entitlement we have to the NHS is certainly adding to it.

    If, or more likely when, the NHS goes bankrupt, we may go to an insurance based medical payment system.

    If we then have to start paying for our medical treatment, is it possible that, only then we will start to take more Responsibility for our well-being?

    Reply

  55. BBC News – 29th January 2020

    Lungs ‘Magically’ Heal Damage from Smoking
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51279355

    Scientists say that our lungs have an almost “magical” ability to repair some of the damage caused by smoking – but only if we stop.

    The mutations that lead to lung cancer had been considered to be permanent, and to persist even after quitting, but the surprise findings, published in Nature, show the few cells that escape damage can repair the lungs.

    The effect has been seen even in patients who had smoked a pack a day for 40 years before giving up.

    The thousands of chemicals in tobacco smoke corrupt and mutate the DNA in our lung cells – slowly transforming them from healthy to cancerous.

    The study uncovered that happening on a massive scale in a smoker’s lungs even before they had cancer. The overwhelming majority of cells taken from a smoker’s airways had been mutated by tobacco, with cells containing up to 10,000 genetic alterations.

    One of the researchers at UCL said: “These can be thought of as mini time bombs, waiting for the next hit that causes them to progress to cancer.”

    But a small proportion of cells went unscathed and, after someone quits smoking, it is these cells that grow and replace the damaged cells in the lungs.

    In people that quit, up to 40% of their cells looked just like those from people who had never smoked.

    A doctor from the Sanger Institute said: “We were totally unprepared for the finding. There is a population of cells that, kind of, magically replenish the lining of the airways. One of the remarkable things was patients who had quit, even after forty years of smoking, had regeneration of cells that were totally unscathed by the exposure to tobacco.”

    I think the only surprising thing here is the actual surprise of the scientists in their findings.

    As our bodies are very intuitive, doesn’t it make sense that, if we start to do something that harms our body, when we stop doing that something, our body has the chance to start to heal itself?

    This is a very useful thing, as we humans do not always make the right choices when it comes to our own health and well-being.

    This, of course, is evidenced by the fact that, when we inhale our first lug of tobacco, it is pain-full, makes us cough and choke and tastes awful – but yet, even though we know it is very harm-full we persevere with it.

    This I know for a fact as someone who gave up smoking on a few occasions and would have the same reactions every time I started again – not to mention the breathlessness, the smell it would leave on my hands, clothes, any room I smoked in and the mess it made from the ash.

    So I guess the question we should be asking ourselves, is, if our first time is pain-full, if it makes us cough and choke, if it tastes awful – WHY do we carry on?

    What is it in us that would make us continue with something we know is actually harming us?

    Simply put, what is missing in our lives that we need to fill our lungs up with a poison?

    Reply

  56. Talking to a tradesman today who mentioned that the NHS will not offer treatment to a smoker who has emphysema.

    This is because the medics are saying that smoking is the reason why this dise-ease in the body has developed.

    The man told me he accepted that they would not give him medication to treat his condition and nothing is going to stop him smoking. Yes – like most smokers he knows it is not good for his health but he has been smoking for over 5 decades and at age 67 he cannot see a way out.

    Question – how many people in the UK are aware that the NHS are not just going to save us if we are using our lifestyle choice to smoke and then get a disease like emphysema?

    More to the point, are we aware that it may get to the stage where other lifestyle diseases are also going to be affected? This means we may not get saved by the good old NHS as things are no longer the same. The health system is at its limits with so many symptoms showing up in the human body that come from our choices, that are made without any form of responsibility.

    Without finger pointing, judgement or blame – is it time to take a long and deeply honest look at how we are living everyday and reflect on where we can make changes because if we ignore this, chances are we may end up on the ill road with no NHS to look after us?

    This may sound alarmist but in reality we are heading in this direction so we had better wake up and pay attention now.
    Think about it – 10 years ago turning people away who smoke was never a consideration and today it happens.

    Simple Living Global has extensively written about the facts regarding tobacco, nicotine, vaping and everything else associated with smoking. We have presented questions for the reader to ponder or consider and bring awareness to all of humanity.

    However, those who are ready and truly willing to make changes may find it use-full and for the others, this may all seem a waste of time or information for someone else and not them.

    What if in decades to come, this website will be a go to library where the masses will find blogs like this with thousands of comments like this one written in the early 21st century asking mankind to wake up and at least consider if there is another way to live human life?

    Reply

  57. The Times – 21 November 2020

    The sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in supermarkets will be banned from 2024 in the Netherlands.

    Cigarette vending machines will also be banned from 2022 in a drive to get people to quit smoking.

    Most of us would consider this to be a front foot movement ahead of the game so to speak, but have the citizens moved on to something else and so it is no big deal to stop the sale of tobacco when the Netherlands are know for the mass marijuana in circulation from coffee shops?

    It is common knowledge all over Europe that the majority of tourists go to dutch land for a smoke of cannabis. Others say the country has alcohol problems – another toxic substance not designed for human consumption.

    It would be wise for us to always consider if there is more going on when we receive news of this kind which seems great for the country’s health and well-being but not if there is a substitute that is actively going on.

    Ask any pot smoker – if they have access to cannabis, alcohol and other illicit drugs would they still need tobacco? Chances are they won’t as they got more potent stuff to numb them and have a mind altering state of being. Tobacco is like the kindergarten version of these substances.

    Reply

  58. Science Magazine – 23 December 2020
    https://scienmag.com/light-smokers-may-not-escape-nicotine-addiction-study-reveals/

    A new study reveals that even light smokers may not escape nicotine addiction.

    Those people who consider themselves to be casual cigarette smokers may be addicted, according to current diagnostic criteria.

    Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and Duke University found that many light smokers – those who smoke 1 to 4 cigarettes per day or fewer, meet the criteria for nicotine addiction and should therefore be considered for treatment.

    This study demonstrates that many lighter smokers, even those that do not smoke every day can be addicted to cigarettes.

    According to Jason Oliver, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University, when assessing nicotine addiction – clinically referred to as ‘tobacco use disorder’ clinicians are encouraged to fully assess the 11 criteria listed in the 5th edition of the DSM – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. As a shortcut, clinicians more typically ask smokers how many cigarettes they smoke per day.

    Lighter smoking is perceived as less harmful than heavy smoking and that would be correct but it still carries significant health risks.

    85% of the daily cigarette smokers were addicted, be it mild, moderate or severe. This was taken from existing data where researchers examined more that 6,700 smokers.

    This tells us clearly that we get hooked, call it addicted to the nicotine when we choose to smoke cigarettes. It is the addiction that keeps us going back for more and more regardless of our good intentions, new year resolutions and everything else we say we will do, but before we know it we are taking the next puff.

    How do we break the cycle and has anyone noticed that we do have this habit of moving on from one thing to another. In this case, we may get to the point, get help and stop cigarette smoking but then what have we done to replace that? Is it vaping, munching salty crunchy foods, sweet stuff, more soda – what is it that we do instead?

    How many of us can be honest and say we do replace one ill with another ill – equally not great for our health and wellbeing but nevertheless we do it.

    What if we can only truly stop and renounce the cigarettes if we look at WHY we smoke in the first place with a big dose of honesty, then replace it with something that is true for the body?

    We need re-education as this brings awareness to topics like smoking, tobacco, vaping, nicotine and addiction. If we had a deeper understanding, chances are we would consider stopping the harm which is not just to our body but to those around us too.

    Back to the research study, with due respect to all clinicians that have to work very hard and may not have the resources to refer to the giant book called DSM 5, we could say common sense would work, as we do all know and can sense when someone says one thing but we feel another.

    However, if we as a clinician smoke then it would be true to say there is a blindspot.
    We either miss the signs, as we are in the same pool as them, so to speak or we simply are not aware as we have the same addiction going when it comes to nicotine.

    In conclusion, what we do know and this study has yet again confirmed the same stuff that has been told to us over and over again – smoking is addictive.

    There are no health benefits whatsoever when it comes to cigarette smoking, tobacco, nicotine or any other toxic substance not for human consumption.

    Reply

  59. New Years Day at 6am – who on earth is up that early talking ?

    I smell cigarette smoke and then see 2 guys puffing away next door. They continued to smoke one after the other (chain smoking) and so there was no break or pause from smoking for over 30 minutes.

    I went outside to question what was going on simply because it was early morning and it felt odd at this time. We got talking and I realised I rarely ever in recent years have put myself in a situation close to smokers, where it’s literally coming at me and I am inhaling it.

    This was the first time ever I have acknowledged how strong the smoke from cigarettes is and how toxic it felt. I started coughing and 8 hours later, I can still feel it in my upper chest area. I realised this is the second hand smoke that is mentioned in this blog that forms part of a book on the Real Truth about Tobacco.

    Another thing is my nose feels like it has had something happen as it is stinging and dry and it’s been over 8 hours now, plus the coughing now and then.

    Having experienced this today, I am left in no doubt of how bad smoking actually is. I am not the one ingesting it but happened to be in close proximity of 2 smokers who were and it has had a profound effect on my own wellbeing today. This cannot be ignored as it happened because my body told me.

    Well, they were out clubbing all night and the body looked totally exhausted and their eyes were half shut, the smoking was obviously stimulating them to stay awake and fight their natural state that wanted shut eye and sleep – all in the name of New Year’s Day, as I am told that in their countries in Eastern Europe, the actual day is more important than New Years Eve.

    My take was it makes no sense to stay awake when we simply cannot unless we ingest, snort or smoke something that will force us to not sleep – ie. Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco.

    This mini treatise about smoking tobacco on the website will leave the reader in no doubt of the harm.

    We do all know and yet we put up with it, override how we feel and shut down to our senses that remind us of that smoking is nothing but poison for the body, the people around, the animals and the environment.

    There is absolutely nothing whatsoever about smoking cigarettes that is of benefit.

    We seem to talk about Responsibility, but how many of us are truly responsible with our lifestyle choices when it comes to anything related to Tobacco?

    How many of us are aware that just having a ‘friendly chat’ after a night out smoking can affect the health of others around them?

    How many of us have even considered the consequences of our own choice to smoke and that it really and truly harms another – something that they would not want to do but yet they do?

    How many of us are not stopping to reflect on how we live life and the choices we make that seem to create more harm?

    Would this be a great question to start the New Year?

    Back to the real life story. The guys were back outside within 15 minutes doing the smoking and talking again and then back again and again.

    My lesson in this is I will ensure that I physically remove myself from smokers when they are close, whenever it is possible. I now understand WHY smoking has been banned on public transports and many many other outdoor places.

    How on earth did I live with a smoker 40 years ago and put up with it?

    I recall hating it, but at the same time just accepted it and saw no way out at the time.

    Reply

  60. Imperial College London – 8 January 2022

    https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/232934/new-findings-suggest-smoking-increases-social/

    A research study – first of its kind, published this week in The Lancet Regional Health Europe and led by Imperial College London and University College London found that people who are isolated and lonely are more likely to smoke.

    8,780 people assessed over 12 years means this is a study to take note of, as we have real life evidence here. Let us not dismiss the findings because it happens to be an “observational” study, which we are told means the cause of the association cannot be determined.

    The study also found that smoking itself may also lead to higher levels of isolation and loneliness.

    Smokers can become more socially isolated and lonely than non-smokers as they get older.

    Over time, people who smoked saw their social contact reduce and they became less socially engaged and more lonely, compared to non-smokers.

    The authors hope that their study will provide an incentive at the beginning of the year as many smokers pledge to quit.

    What this study confirms is that smoking is not a social activity and suggests the existence of a vicious cycle of smoking, social isolation and loneliness.

    The researchers found at the outset of the study, that those who were smokers at the time were more likely to be lonely and socially isolated than non-smokers, having less frequent social interactions with family and friends, less frequent engagement with community and cultural activities and being more likely to live alone.

    Will the UK government get anywhere with these findings and introduce the policies needed to achieve its ambition for a smoke free 2030?

    How far off are they and has anyone actually done an “on the street” study by simply observing all those in our neighbourhood and community that actually light up a cigarette or seem to be addicted to roll ups or chain smoking when they can?

    Add it up and know that other communities have the same thing going and then travel and stand outside bus stations and train stations and there will be no doubt that the smokers are still doing it, regardless of bans in many places now.

    Let us not be fooled or imagine a smoke free world coming soon in 8 years. We have a long road to walk before then and real education may play a part if we are willing, open and ready for real change.

    Ask the smokers, in particular the oldies that have been smoking for decades, since they were a teenager and they have no desire or will to give up. Some even say they enjoy it and don’t want to stop.

    We blame the tobacco industry but they are in big business because those that demand (those that smoke) their products continue to use them. Suppliers like tobacco giants would be gone if we stopped smoking but in truth there is going to be a long stretch in time before that happens.

    And finally, how many of us are aware that the big tobacco companies are involved in the ever growing vaping industry?

    We quit smoking and get advised that vaping is better and yet who is making the profits behind the scenes?

    On that note, read our Part 2 on this treatise about Tobacco (see link below) to get a deeper understanding and awareness about everything related to vaping.
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/the-real-truth-about-tobacco-part-2/

    Reply

  61. American Heart Association – 3 February 2022

    https://newsroom.heart.org/news/smoking-in-adults-ages-60-and-older-linked-to-worse-scores-on-cognitive-tests

    According to a national study of adults aged 60 and older – the more that people smoke cigarettes, the lower they scored on a cognitive test.

    Regardless of the presence of High Blood Pressure or Type 2 Diabetes, both known to affect cognitive function – the relationship between smoking and cognitive test scores was apparent.

    The results of this study suggest that greater emphasis on smoking cessation in older people is needed to reduce cognitive decline, regardless of their other risk factors.

    Dear World,

    Without going any further into the details of this study, can we stop here and address some valid points?

    How long have we really known about the harm cigarettes cause?

    With over 120 years of ingesting this toxic poison, are we ready to move on?

    How can we even call a person healthy if they smoke cigarettes but yet we do?

    If we know that we are at risk of poor brain health – why are we still smoking?

    What if we presented blogs like this at the next world premier meeting for researchers and clinicians because humanity can relate to simple presentations and it may point us in another direction as what we have thus far has not worked?

    Do we really need to wait for more research studies to tell us the next illness or dis-ease that cigarette consumption causes?

    WHY have our world of science academics not taken the other route – the path that leads to a line of questioning that is not the same as we are currently upholding and aligning to?

    What if we start to explore and go back to the drawing board, so to speak and get to the root of WHY anyone starts to embark on the journey of cigarettes?

    It is foul tasting, stinks and dis-colours the fingers and teeth plus our lungs (we have seen the pictures) are full of poison – so why on earth would we over-ride all of this and carry on?

    Something is not right but yet we never ever question what gets into us that makes us ignore all those signs mentioned.

    Is the so-called intelligence that attempts to re-solve and create reduction methods the same intelligence we align to that makes us take up smoking and continue with this ill movement? Are both the same, as we seem to go for ways to change but there is no change as we are still here a hundred years later. In other words, is the solution coming from the same intelligence we subscribe to that got us on the smoking wagon in the first place?

    Deeply ponder on this Dear World as time is running out now.

    We are going to end up soon with a world full of Dementia and our systems cannot and will not be able to house us, let alone cope with the devastating consequences that this will bring.

    Time to start questioning everything. Absolutely everything.

    Our emphasis – where we are choosing to put our focus needs a paradigm shift now.

    Reply

  62. University of California San Diego – 2 June 2022

    https://today.ucsd.edu/story/graphic-warnings-on-cigarette-labels-led-smokers-to-hide-packs

    Smokers in the United States who received cigarette packs with graphic warning labels hid them 38% more often.

    However, smokers stopped hiding their cigarettes when they returned to regular packs without graphic labels, according to a multi-institutional group of public health experts.

    Graphic warning labels are used on cigarette packs in more than 120 countries. Despite being mandated by the U.S. Congress in 2009, implementation of graphic warning labels has been held up by the legal challenges by the tobacco industry.

    Professor David Strong, senior author said “we found no evidence that graphic warning-labelled packs changed smoking behaviour over the year-long study”.

    Individuals continued to smoke as often as they did before and after the study.

    Dear World

    Do we need those in authority to tell us that when we are addicted to something that is highly addictive, chances are we are not going to change our behaviours? Is this something we can work out without using the resources of our highly academic scholars that we call public health experts?

    We ought to realise that so much time and effort continues to go into what makes smokers smoke and we completely dismiss that there is a root cause here that is yet to be questioned and then addressed.

    This blog and those others on this website about Tobacco needs to be studied because the presentation and the commentary style questioning gives us all much to consider when it comes to smoking cigarettes, vaping, tobacco use in different forms, nicotine and addiction. It is well worth our scholars looking at what is here being offered on this website.

    Reply

  63. University of Nevada, Las Vegas – 8 June 2022

    https://www.unlv.edu/news/release/smoke-break-unlv-study-strengthens-link-between-smoking-and-increased-fracture-risk

    A new study has revealed that male smokers who, demographically are more likely than women to smoke are placing themselves at a significantly increased risk of osteoporosis, bone fractures and early death.

    Nicotine impacts bone health, upping the chance of wrist, spine and other breaks by 40%.

    Lead author, Qing Wu, a researcher with UNLV’s School of Public Health said “smoking is a major risk factor for osteoporosis and risk of fracture. Men tend to smoke more than women, increasing their risk for osteoporosis, which has traditionally been thought of as a women’s disease.”

    Cigarettes’ influence on fracture risk is not fully understood, researchers said.

    Dear World

    While we wait for the next study and the next to get to ‘fully’ understand WHY, can we stop and simply read Simple Living Global’s treatise on Tobacco, starting with this article, which is Part 1?

    The reader will be left in no doubt whatsoever, that there is absolutely nothing of benefit to the human body when it comes to smoking cigarettes.

    How much more resources do we need to tell us All what we already know?

    Reply

  64. University of Michigan – 1 July 2022

    https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/psychiatry/news/archive/202207/study-pre-teens-yields-surprises-about-alcohol-tobacco-marijuana

    Pre-teenage children at the age of 9 or 10 are curious about using substances.
    10% of children already say they are curious about using alcohol or tobacco products.
    1 in 50 are curious about using marijuana according to a new study.

    12,000 9 and 10 year olds surveyed said they already have a friend who uses one of these substances. Those who said they did were also much more likely to be curious about trying alcohol or tobacco and other nicotine containing products themselves.

    35% of the children’s parents said their children may have easy access to alcohol at home, while smaller percentages said the same about tobacco or marijuana.

    25% of parents said they had not yet set rules for their pre-teenage children about whether they are allowed to use the substances.

    This study was published in the June issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports and was led by a University of Michigan researcher, using data from a large national project.

    The findings show considerable variation by gender, race/ethnicity and family income in many of the measures. Across-the-board boys were more likely to be curious about substances than girls.

    Pre-teenagers whose parents made $100,000 or more per year were much more likely to be curious about alcohol and their parents were more likely to say it was readily available in the home. Lower income children with family incomes of $50,000 or less, were slightly more likely to be curious about nicotine and marijuana and to have it available in the home.

    “the earlier in adolescence a child begins using the substances, the greater the potential impact on brain development and functioning.” Megan Martz PhD

    Reply

  65. UPI Health News – 10 August 2022

    https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2022/08/10/smoking-cancer-deaths/9441660139795/

    2019
    Smoking was linked to 123,000 Cancer deaths.

    This amounts to 30% of ALL Cancer deaths in the United States.
    $21 billion in annual lost earnings.

    These losses were much higher in states with weaker tobacco control laws, particularly in the South and Midwest, according to researchers. These states include:
    Alabama
    Arkansa
    Indiana
    Kentucky
    Louisiana
    Michigan
    Mississippi
    Missouri
    Ohio
    Oklahoma
    South Carolina
    Tennessee
    West Virginia

    The researchers calculated that years of life lost was 47% higher in these states.
    They also found that if other states had followed Utah, a state with more smoking regulations, for example, more than half of the lost years of life would have been avoided.

    “Our study provides further evidence that smoking continues to be a leading cause of cancer-related death and to have a huge impact on the economy across the U.S.”
    Dr. Farhad Islami – Senior Scientific Director of Cancer Disparity Research at the American Cancer Society.

    Reply

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