WASHINGTON — Landmark legislation that would give the federal government the power to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products passed an early hurdle Wednesday.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the bill, 38 to 12.
The measure would allow the Food and Drug Administration to review new tobacco products before they go on sale, limit advertising and restrict sales to youths. It also would enable the agency to regulate levels of tar, nicotine and other ingredients.
Fees imposed on tobacco product makers and importers would pay for the FDA's new oversight.
"Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and this legislation will help address this enormous public health problem," said committee Chairman John D. Dingell, a Michigan Democrat.
The FDA first asserted that it had authority over tobacco products in 1996, but four years later, the Supreme Court rejected the agency's initiative.
Ever since, backers have been pushing Congress to pass legislation expressly granting the authority. More recently, Philip Morris and other tobacco companies have expressed support.
"Despite all the death and disease tobacco products cause, they are exempt from basic health regulations that apply to consumable products, drugs and even dog food," Daniel E. Smith, president of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network, said in a statement praising Wednesday's committee vote.
The full House is expected to vote on the bill this spring.
The Senate is considering similar legislation, which the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved in August.
All three leading presidential contenders are co-sponsors of the Senate bill, and support for the House measure is said to be strong, but its passage is far from certain.
President Bush opposed an early version of the legislation. The FDA's commissioner, Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, objected to the agency deciding whether a cigarette was safe.
понедельник, 27 июля 2009 г.
четверг, 16 июля 2009 г.
Looking For Ways To Quit Smoking
With the right information in hand you can quit smoking and be smoke free forever. Each time I tried to quit cigarettes it took an unbelievable amount of drive on my part. In all the attempts that I had made before it did teach me what I needed to know next time I tried to stop smoking. If you should fail on your first attempts, you can at least slow down on the amounts of cigs you do have. When you do stop smoking it will be one of the best things you can do to promote your well-being. Sometimes health providers provide workshops to help in quitting smoking, so seek them out. Having a plan of attack will help to control your desire to smoke. Don't let yourself believe it's to hard too stop smoking.
I joined one of those stop smoking support groups the last attempt I made in quitting smoking. The rationality of doing this was it was just torture to time and time again quit smoking. That was going to be the last time I quit this habit. Support that is structured and personalized can be long lasting in helping you. The journey from this type of psychological ride can be so overwhelming. If you are in the know with advice from a support group, you can face what's coming. There is nothing here that is ground breaking at all. The stress of starting and stopping smoking is too much. Your mind will even come up with reasons to have a cigarette. Having a few tricks up your shelve can help not to have that cig.
Make sure you have equipped yourself with the knowledge you need on the smoke and how it affects you. Modify your behavior; hanging out with your former smokers will just pull your trigger to start smoking again. Tobacco is a drug of dependence, treat it as such. Confront the situation of wanting to smoke a cigarette and be prepared to stop yourself, easy quit smoking tip.
To quit cold turkey was an illusion out of my reach smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. It may be the most well known method to quit smoking and the oldest. If I would have quit cold turkey, I would have been climbing the walls without a plan to act on doing the cold turkey idea.
As difficult as it would be to try to quit smoking I would also use products to help with my withdraw symptoms to help with the smoking cravings. The use of a nicotine patch or nicotine gum is known to helping people be less likely to start smoking again. If you should mess up by having a few cigarettes do not despair, just start over. Let's not dwell on meshing up and quitting your no smoking efforts.
Start by making a promise to yourself, that you are going to find a way to quit smoking, it starts with a plan. When you start you will be very uncomfortable at first. Family can help with your stress. Smokers fail in there first attempts all the time, just start again.
Some smoking aids do contain nicotine; other products are coming on the market all the time that do not contain nicotine. Doctors may use drugs like bupropion, chantix and fluoxetine. Chantix is pfizer's drug, fluoxetine may be for depression in smokers and there is nicotine free bupropion. Doctors will use what works best.
What happens when you quit smoking is withdraw symptoms from quitting smoking can vary from feeling fatigue or suffering from irritability and feeling like you are coming down with a cold or something. In the first 48 hours is when these will be the strongest. Temporary is what this is, do not forget. Knowledge is what you need to stay in control of your mind when this is happening to your body which will go away.
If you where not buying cigarettes for a year think about how much money that would be, is that enough of an incentive for you? Buy yourself something special after that. You will be one of the non smokers with negative attitude at the smokers outside. No more standing 15 feet away from the entrance to the building. Bring on the anti-smoking laws and more taxes on cigarettes; I don't have to pay anymore.
I joined one of those stop smoking support groups the last attempt I made in quitting smoking. The rationality of doing this was it was just torture to time and time again quit smoking. That was going to be the last time I quit this habit. Support that is structured and personalized can be long lasting in helping you. The journey from this type of psychological ride can be so overwhelming. If you are in the know with advice from a support group, you can face what's coming. There is nothing here that is ground breaking at all. The stress of starting and stopping smoking is too much. Your mind will even come up with reasons to have a cigarette. Having a few tricks up your shelve can help not to have that cig.
Make sure you have equipped yourself with the knowledge you need on the smoke and how it affects you. Modify your behavior; hanging out with your former smokers will just pull your trigger to start smoking again. Tobacco is a drug of dependence, treat it as such. Confront the situation of wanting to smoke a cigarette and be prepared to stop yourself, easy quit smoking tip.
To quit cold turkey was an illusion out of my reach smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. It may be the most well known method to quit smoking and the oldest. If I would have quit cold turkey, I would have been climbing the walls without a plan to act on doing the cold turkey idea.
As difficult as it would be to try to quit smoking I would also use products to help with my withdraw symptoms to help with the smoking cravings. The use of a nicotine patch or nicotine gum is known to helping people be less likely to start smoking again. If you should mess up by having a few cigarettes do not despair, just start over. Let's not dwell on meshing up and quitting your no smoking efforts.
Start by making a promise to yourself, that you are going to find a way to quit smoking, it starts with a plan. When you start you will be very uncomfortable at first. Family can help with your stress. Smokers fail in there first attempts all the time, just start again.
Some smoking aids do contain nicotine; other products are coming on the market all the time that do not contain nicotine. Doctors may use drugs like bupropion, chantix and fluoxetine. Chantix is pfizer's drug, fluoxetine may be for depression in smokers and there is nicotine free bupropion. Doctors will use what works best.
What happens when you quit smoking is withdraw symptoms from quitting smoking can vary from feeling fatigue or suffering from irritability and feeling like you are coming down with a cold or something. In the first 48 hours is when these will be the strongest. Temporary is what this is, do not forget. Knowledge is what you need to stay in control of your mind when this is happening to your body which will go away.
If you where not buying cigarettes for a year think about how much money that would be, is that enough of an incentive for you? Buy yourself something special after that. You will be one of the non smokers with negative attitude at the smokers outside. No more standing 15 feet away from the entrance to the building. Bring on the anti-smoking laws and more taxes on cigarettes; I don't have to pay anymore.
понедельник, 13 июля 2009 г.
The Myths About Smoking
If you are a smoker, then you know that any cigarette or cigar is bad for your health, but did you know that all of the different kinds are all the same in the regards of the damage they cause? When some people try to quit the habit, they will go to smoking the lights or they will even go so far as to try smoking the menthol brands, thinking that if they can't stand to smoke these they will be able to quit. Most of the time, this only leads to this person smoking more as the only difference is in the filter that is on the cigarette.
Our cigarette companies are in a lot of hot water today because of their claims that light cigarettes aren't as bad for us as the full-favored ones. Do you realize that smoking the menthol cigarettes only helps in crystallizing your lungs? I quit smoking a year ago and had smoked for years and never knew about these menthol cigarettes doing this until I quit. These companies really don't want people that smoke to really know all the facts about these because if we did, there would be more people that would quit. Some people quit when the ban for smoking in all buildings started, and most quit because they can't afford the cost of all the cigarettes that they smoke.
We have people that quit just because the habit is so nasty because the more you smoke, the worse your teeth will become. There will be yellowing of the teeth because of the tar and the smoke that settles there. Also, the tar stains will show on your fingers because of all the cigarettes that sets between and on the skin. We have been smoking for centuries and are learning about all of the side effects in the last several years.
We have made it look so relaxing and enjoying to our young children that now we have to not only see health problems with our seniors and ourselves but also now our children as well. We have so many of our young dying each year because of the cancers that come from this habit. We really need to find out better ways to keep these things out of the hands of our children. In most cases, it might be too late for us, but when you do quit you have a better chance of stopping the problems from showing up later on as it might give your body time to heal itself.
Our cigarette companies are in a lot of hot water today because of their claims that light cigarettes aren't as bad for us as the full-favored ones. Do you realize that smoking the menthol cigarettes only helps in crystallizing your lungs? I quit smoking a year ago and had smoked for years and never knew about these menthol cigarettes doing this until I quit. These companies really don't want people that smoke to really know all the facts about these because if we did, there would be more people that would quit. Some people quit when the ban for smoking in all buildings started, and most quit because they can't afford the cost of all the cigarettes that they smoke.
We have people that quit just because the habit is so nasty because the more you smoke, the worse your teeth will become. There will be yellowing of the teeth because of the tar and the smoke that settles there. Also, the tar stains will show on your fingers because of all the cigarettes that sets between and on the skin. We have been smoking for centuries and are learning about all of the side effects in the last several years.
We have made it look so relaxing and enjoying to our young children that now we have to not only see health problems with our seniors and ourselves but also now our children as well. We have so many of our young dying each year because of the cancers that come from this habit. We really need to find out better ways to keep these things out of the hands of our children. In most cases, it might be too late for us, but when you do quit you have a better chance of stopping the problems from showing up later on as it might give your body time to heal itself.
понедельник, 6 июля 2009 г.
Tennessee Goes for Safe Cigarettes
A bill has passed through both chambers of the state legislature requiring that only fire-safe cigarettes be sold in Tennessee.
After passing the House by an overwhelming margin on April 10 and receiving final approval from the Senate on Thursday, the "Fire Safety Standard and Firefighter Protection Act" is now headed to the desk of Gov. Phil Bredesen to be signed into law.
"Unattended cigarettes are the leading cause of home fire fatalities each year in this country. That's a preventable cause that we simply cannot continue to ignore," said Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Rosalind Kurita. "Fire-safe cigarettes cut off the burning time before most cigarettes are able to ignite furniture, bedding material, and other similar items."
Fire-safe cigarettes are produced to have a reduced propensity to burn when left unattended. They are made from a special paper that contains "speed bumps." These areas of increased thickness extinguish the cigarettes when air is not pulled through them. Unattended cigarettes burn out when the flame hits the speed bumps.
The new law only allows the sale of cigarettes in Tennessee that have been manufactured by companies that use fire-safe cigarette paper.
Manufacturers will be required to maintain records of testing, and the Tennessee Fire Marshall will review the program to determine its effectiveness.
Statistics from the state Fire Marshall's office show that from 2000-04, 36 Tennesseans died and 53 were injured in fires caused by smoking materials. During this period, 800 smoking-related residential fires caused over $13 million in property damage.
"Fire-safe cigarettes have the potential to save lives and save money," Speaker Kurita said. "This is a common-sense step in fire prevention."
Thursday's action completes over a year's worth of work on the "Fire Safety Standard and Firefighter Protection Act."
Speaker Kurita introduced the bill in February 2007 and it initially passed the Senate in May of that year.
The bill is supported by the Tennessee Fire Chiefs Association, the Tennessee Fire Safety Inspectors Association, the Tennessee Fire and Codes Academy, and the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes. The House companion bill was carried by Rep. Gary Moore, D-Joelton.
New York, Vermont, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire have all mandated the sale of fire-safe cigarettes. Over 20 other states are currently considering such legislation.
After passing the House by an overwhelming margin on April 10 and receiving final approval from the Senate on Thursday, the "Fire Safety Standard and Firefighter Protection Act" is now headed to the desk of Gov. Phil Bredesen to be signed into law.
"Unattended cigarettes are the leading cause of home fire fatalities each year in this country. That's a preventable cause that we simply cannot continue to ignore," said Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Rosalind Kurita. "Fire-safe cigarettes cut off the burning time before most cigarettes are able to ignite furniture, bedding material, and other similar items."
Fire-safe cigarettes are produced to have a reduced propensity to burn when left unattended. They are made from a special paper that contains "speed bumps." These areas of increased thickness extinguish the cigarettes when air is not pulled through them. Unattended cigarettes burn out when the flame hits the speed bumps.
The new law only allows the sale of cigarettes in Tennessee that have been manufactured by companies that use fire-safe cigarette paper.
Manufacturers will be required to maintain records of testing, and the Tennessee Fire Marshall will review the program to determine its effectiveness.
Statistics from the state Fire Marshall's office show that from 2000-04, 36 Tennesseans died and 53 were injured in fires caused by smoking materials. During this period, 800 smoking-related residential fires caused over $13 million in property damage.
"Fire-safe cigarettes have the potential to save lives and save money," Speaker Kurita said. "This is a common-sense step in fire prevention."
Thursday's action completes over a year's worth of work on the "Fire Safety Standard and Firefighter Protection Act."
Speaker Kurita introduced the bill in February 2007 and it initially passed the Senate in May of that year.
The bill is supported by the Tennessee Fire Chiefs Association, the Tennessee Fire Safety Inspectors Association, the Tennessee Fire and Codes Academy, and the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes. The House companion bill was carried by Rep. Gary Moore, D-Joelton.
New York, Vermont, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire have all mandated the sale of fire-safe cigarettes. Over 20 other states are currently considering such legislation.
пятница, 3 июля 2009 г.
Facts About Smoking Cigarettes
Breathing trouble and lung cancer are usually associated with smoking of cigarettes. Moreover, several other chronic disorders can also develop in smokers. Smoking is one of the major independent risk factors for coronary heart disease and kidney failure along with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. Since smoking decreases oxygen flow to the heart, it causes huge damage. Both blood pressure and heart rate gets increased and that is fatal for the heart. Among the poisonous substances present in a cigarette are carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, tar and above all, nicotine. In fact, many other poisonous ingredients of different levels of toxicity are also present.
Nicotine is addictive and affects the arteries in a negative manner. Heartbeat increases, hypertension occurs and arteries get constricted due to nicotine. Oxygen supply to the heart is stopped due to carbon monoxide. Blood clotting and clogging gets increased. In the case of coronary artery, the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart gets decreased due to narrowing of the arteries. This strain leads to a chest pain or angina pectoris.
Apart from the long-term bad effects, cigarette smoking affects the body right at the moment of smoking due to the presence of so many poisonous substances. Arsenic is a rat poison, methane is a rocket fuel, ammonia is used in floor cleaning, cadmium is used in batteries, carbon monoxide is part of car exhaust and hydrogen cyanide is a poison used in gas chambers. Every time one inhales smoke from a cigarette, all these poisonous chemicals enter into the blood through the lungs in small amounts. Even small amounts of such deadly poisons can harm the body.
Smoking makes one smell bad, stains the teeth, causes the skin to wrinkle and gives bad breath. Cavities are found three times more in smokers than non-smokers. Hormone levels get lower due to smoking. Smokers cough for a long time. They are more prone to bronchitis and pneumonia. Smokers fall sick more often. Every time one inhales smoke from a cigarette, some of the air sacks in the lungs get killed. This way, parts of the lungs gradually get destroyed. This hampers activities like sports or singing where proper breathing is necessary.
Smoking paralyzes the hair-like structures called cilia lining the lungs. They become incapable of sweeping out dust particles, smoke and pollens from the lungs. As a result these particles stay permanently in the lungs and form tar. Cigarettes are as bad as cocaine or heroin. The poisonous addictive in nicotine makes people feel good while smoking. This increases the chances of lung cancer or emphysema. One ends up being sick for a long, long time.
Smoke from a cigarette increases fatty deposits in the blood and strains the heart. The risk of a heart disease and atherosclerosis gets aggravated due to this. Atherosclerosis is a disease in which fatty substances like cholesterol, cellular waste, calcium etc are deposited along the lining of arteries in a human body. LDL cholesterol increases and HDL cholesterol decreases due to smoking. Triglycerides increases and affects the cholesterol levels negatively.
Nicotine is addictive and affects the arteries in a negative manner. Heartbeat increases, hypertension occurs and arteries get constricted due to nicotine. Oxygen supply to the heart is stopped due to carbon monoxide. Blood clotting and clogging gets increased. In the case of coronary artery, the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart gets decreased due to narrowing of the arteries. This strain leads to a chest pain or angina pectoris.
Apart from the long-term bad effects, cigarette smoking affects the body right at the moment of smoking due to the presence of so many poisonous substances. Arsenic is a rat poison, methane is a rocket fuel, ammonia is used in floor cleaning, cadmium is used in batteries, carbon monoxide is part of car exhaust and hydrogen cyanide is a poison used in gas chambers. Every time one inhales smoke from a cigarette, all these poisonous chemicals enter into the blood through the lungs in small amounts. Even small amounts of such deadly poisons can harm the body.
Smoking makes one smell bad, stains the teeth, causes the skin to wrinkle and gives bad breath. Cavities are found three times more in smokers than non-smokers. Hormone levels get lower due to smoking. Smokers cough for a long time. They are more prone to bronchitis and pneumonia. Smokers fall sick more often. Every time one inhales smoke from a cigarette, some of the air sacks in the lungs get killed. This way, parts of the lungs gradually get destroyed. This hampers activities like sports or singing where proper breathing is necessary.
Smoking paralyzes the hair-like structures called cilia lining the lungs. They become incapable of sweeping out dust particles, smoke and pollens from the lungs. As a result these particles stay permanently in the lungs and form tar. Cigarettes are as bad as cocaine or heroin. The poisonous addictive in nicotine makes people feel good while smoking. This increases the chances of lung cancer or emphysema. One ends up being sick for a long, long time.
Smoke from a cigarette increases fatty deposits in the blood and strains the heart. The risk of a heart disease and atherosclerosis gets aggravated due to this. Atherosclerosis is a disease in which fatty substances like cholesterol, cellular waste, calcium etc are deposited along the lining of arteries in a human body. LDL cholesterol increases and HDL cholesterol decreases due to smoking. Triglycerides increases and affects the cholesterol levels negatively.
понедельник, 29 июня 2009 г.
The Facts About Cigarette Smoking
Nearly 50 million Americans smoke, resulting in nearly 450,000 deaths each year. The smoke from cigarettes alone contains over 4,000 different chemicals
The Facts About Cigarette Smoking
Nearly 50 million Americans smoke, resulting in nearly 450,000 deaths each year. The smoke from cigarettes alone contains over 4,000 different chemicals, including 200 known poisons. Cigarettes are also highly addictive; one-third of the young people who "experiment" end up addicted by the time they turn 20.
Even though many people smoke because they believe cigarettes calm their nerves, smoking releases epinephrine, a hormone that creates physiological stress in the smoker, rather than relaxation. Not only are smokers affected by their habit, but second-hand smoke is also responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually of non-smokers in the United States.
There are numerous negative side effects associated with smoking cigarettes; they include the loss of the sense of smell and taste, emphysema, premature and overabundant face wrinkles, gastric ulcers, smoker's cough, stroke, heart disease, and cancer of the mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, lungs, pancreas, cervix, uterus, and bladder.
Smokers become physically and psychologically dependent, suffering numerous withdrawal symptoms when they attempt to quit. These symptoms include: changes in body temperature, heart rate, digestion, muscle tone, and appetite, irritability, anxiety, sleep disturbances, nervousness, headaches, fatigue, nausea, and cravings for tobacco that can last days, weeks, months, years, or even an entire lifetime.
Cigarette smoking is perhaps the most devastating preventable cause of disease and premature death. Adolescent cigarette smokers are more likely to smoke marijuana and are more likely to use other illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin in the future.
The Facts About Cigarette Smoking
Nearly 50 million Americans smoke, resulting in nearly 450,000 deaths each year. The smoke from cigarettes alone contains over 4,000 different chemicals, including 200 known poisons. Cigarettes are also highly addictive; one-third of the young people who "experiment" end up addicted by the time they turn 20.
Even though many people smoke because they believe cigarettes calm their nerves, smoking releases epinephrine, a hormone that creates physiological stress in the smoker, rather than relaxation. Not only are smokers affected by their habit, but second-hand smoke is also responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually of non-smokers in the United States.
There are numerous negative side effects associated with smoking cigarettes; they include the loss of the sense of smell and taste, emphysema, premature and overabundant face wrinkles, gastric ulcers, smoker's cough, stroke, heart disease, and cancer of the mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, lungs, pancreas, cervix, uterus, and bladder.
Smokers become physically and psychologically dependent, suffering numerous withdrawal symptoms when they attempt to quit. These symptoms include: changes in body temperature, heart rate, digestion, muscle tone, and appetite, irritability, anxiety, sleep disturbances, nervousness, headaches, fatigue, nausea, and cravings for tobacco that can last days, weeks, months, years, or even an entire lifetime.
Cigarette smoking is perhaps the most devastating preventable cause of disease and premature death. Adolescent cigarette smokers are more likely to smoke marijuana and are more likely to use other illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin in the future.
четверг, 25 июня 2009 г.
Smoking Cigarettes – Pros and Cons.
Cigarettes are smallish white cylinders, filled with the dried leaves of the tobacco plant. Predominantly sold in batches of 20, the boxes they come in demonstrate a wide variety of colours and designs, from the ubiquitous red chevron of Marlboro to the arched dancer holding her tambourine, featured on the classic blue design of the French brand, Gitanes. Tobacco can also be bought loose in pouches and rolled into cigarette papers to approximate the aforementioned cylindrical shape.
Cigarettes are smallish white cylinders, filled with the dried leaves of the tobacco plant. Predominantly sold in batches of 20, the boxes they come in demonstrate a wide variety of colours and designs, from the ubiquitous red chevron of Marlboro to the arched dancer holding her tambourine, featured on the classic blue design of the French brand, Gitanes. Tobacco can also be bought loose in pouches and rolled into cigarette papers to approximate the aforementioned cylindrical shape.
For some, smoking is a pleasure. For others, it's abhorrent. Indeed, smoking cigarettes has become a contentious activity, with health issues of paramount concern. For instance, the issue of smokers passing on their toxic smoke to the non-smokers in their community is, as they say, a hot potato.
Smoking is undoubtedly bad for the health and passive smoking isn't much good either. But on the other hand, in a world full of pollution and man-made health hazards, created by smokers and non-smokers alike, should non-smokers dictate to smokers just how to live their lives?
And what exactly is the right way to live a life, anyway?
Why Smoke?
It is difficult to know the reasons why people smoke. Non-smokers could rightly point to the deleterious physiological effects that prolonged and consistent smoking undoubtedly have and wonder...'Why?' Why on earth would we choose to physically do harm to our own bodies? Non-smokers don't smoke because they might not like the smell, or have tried it and just didn't like it. But generally they won't smoke because fundamentally, smoking cigarettes is bad for the health. Is smoking a cigarette, then, a wilful act of self-mutilation, that at best merits derision?
It is often the case that we are not responsible for the environments we inherit, both socially and emotionally. Smoking cigarettes may be just one of the many 'imperfect' responses humans have to living in an increasingly 'imperfect', difficult world.
The question 'Why Smoke' is not an easy one to answer, indeed, it borders on the downright philosophical. If non-smokers wonder 'why?' (as in 'Why the hell would you want to smoke?'), so too smokers may wonder, 'why not?'. Or perhaps smokers may be tempted to examine their habit objectively and then ask themselves the question, 'Just why am I smoking?
An Act of Volition?
But the fact remains that many people do smoke. Certain groups from most cultures in most parts of the world today have found occasion to light up. As we've seen, there could be many possible reasons for this:
- smoking as a kind of 'rite of passage' displacement for the modern-day youth;
- smoking as part of social bonding;
- smoking as an aid to contemplation; ceremonial and ritualised smoking;
- smoking as a self-destructive reaction to depression or unhappiness;
- or smoking just for personal pleasure.
Smokers may smoke because they choose to. It's an act of volition, an expression of an individual freedom to make choices. Or is it? One could argue the opposite, that smokers smoke because they are duped in to doing so.
Cigarettes are smallish white cylinders, filled with the dried leaves of the tobacco plant. Predominantly sold in batches of 20, the boxes they come in demonstrate a wide variety of colours and designs, from the ubiquitous red chevron of Marlboro to the arched dancer holding her tambourine, featured on the classic blue design of the French brand, Gitanes. Tobacco can also be bought loose in pouches and rolled into cigarette papers to approximate the aforementioned cylindrical shape.
For some, smoking is a pleasure. For others, it's abhorrent. Indeed, smoking cigarettes has become a contentious activity, with health issues of paramount concern. For instance, the issue of smokers passing on their toxic smoke to the non-smokers in their community is, as they say, a hot potato.
Smoking is undoubtedly bad for the health and passive smoking isn't much good either. But on the other hand, in a world full of pollution and man-made health hazards, created by smokers and non-smokers alike, should non-smokers dictate to smokers just how to live their lives?
And what exactly is the right way to live a life, anyway?
Why Smoke?
It is difficult to know the reasons why people smoke. Non-smokers could rightly point to the deleterious physiological effects that prolonged and consistent smoking undoubtedly have and wonder...'Why?' Why on earth would we choose to physically do harm to our own bodies? Non-smokers don't smoke because they might not like the smell, or have tried it and just didn't like it. But generally they won't smoke because fundamentally, smoking cigarettes is bad for the health. Is smoking a cigarette, then, a wilful act of self-mutilation, that at best merits derision?
It is often the case that we are not responsible for the environments we inherit, both socially and emotionally. Smoking cigarettes may be just one of the many 'imperfect' responses humans have to living in an increasingly 'imperfect', difficult world.
The question 'Why Smoke' is not an easy one to answer, indeed, it borders on the downright philosophical. If non-smokers wonder 'why?' (as in 'Why the hell would you want to smoke?'), so too smokers may wonder, 'why not?'. Or perhaps smokers may be tempted to examine their habit objectively and then ask themselves the question, 'Just why am I smoking?
An Act of Volition?
But the fact remains that many people do smoke. Certain groups from most cultures in most parts of the world today have found occasion to light up. As we've seen, there could be many possible reasons for this:
- smoking as a kind of 'rite of passage' displacement for the modern-day youth;
- smoking as part of social bonding;
- smoking as an aid to contemplation; ceremonial and ritualised smoking;
- smoking as a self-destructive reaction to depression or unhappiness;
- or smoking just for personal pleasure.
Smokers may smoke because they choose to. It's an act of volition, an expression of an individual freedom to make choices. Or is it? One could argue the opposite, that smokers smoke because they are duped in to doing so.
Подписаться на:
Сообщения (Atom)