Tips For Quitting Smoking & Discussions With Smokers

 

TIPS FOR QUITTING SMOKING

[Also see a number of Youtube videos I made about quitting smoking, in English and Persian]

WARNING: THESE TIPS WORK! :-)

© Reza Ganjavi

"Smoking is so addictive that the mind plays tricks on itself. And the most common trick is procrastination: I will quit in the future, I will quit when such and such event occur, etc. -- and when that time comes, the mind plays a trick on itself again by getting into conflict with itself and saying, to heck with it, I will smoke, but, I will quit at some point in the future and the cycle repeats. The key to psychological freedom is to see what-is." Reza Ganjavi

 

The Big Tobacco criminals take another victim: A friend wrote: My dad died Fri PM. He was 71. Very long battle with lung disease caused by smoking.

 

"Quitting smoking is easy, I’ve done it hundreds of times." Mark Twain

 

Also see: http://www.notobacco.org/

 

- ride the wave of love and quit smoking.

 

- Most smokers who think they can quit anytime they want don't know that only 5 out of 100 people who want to quit can - and that cigs are as addictive as heroin & nicotin and so the addiction itself makes the mind trick itself in bringing excuses why this is not the right time to quit.

 

"Smoking Is Not Cool! -- TIPS FOR QUITTING SMOKING"

 

By Reza Ganjavi

 

John Lennon wrote: "Although I'm so tired, I´ll have another cigarette, and curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid get". (Raleigh was responsible for introducing tobacco to the civilized world).

 

I have a very dear friend who smokes cigarettes, so despite being extremely busy these days, I decided to pull out this old file and update and release it. If you do not smoke, you may want to pass it onto a friend who does - you never know - it might just help. Your comments are welcome. Cigarette companies want you to believe that smoking is ‘cool’. United States is doing a good job of controlling these monsters, but in the rest of the world they’re out of control. In Europe, where I live, smoking is a social disease. My observation is that 85% of people in their late-teens smoke! Official survey points out that the higher the economic class the lower the rate of smoking – and also in the same school, students in lower ranks smoke more. In the USA, it is such a joy to go to a club or concert and not nearly die from smoke, and not have your clothes stinking for weeks from the ugly smell of cigarettes. Recently the US government as well as several foreign governments began to sue large tobacco companies. Philip Morris got hit with a $50 million punitive damage for one person’s cancer. And an $80,000,000 on March 29, . Tobacco companies reached a $206 billion legal settlement with U.S. States. Less than 5% of those who try to quit smoking succeed – this shows how highly addictive this nasty drug is – smoking is a road that leads only to misery of being an addict.

 

When one is young and strong, the damage of the cigarettes is not visible, but after a while, they lead to insensitivity and misery. Sensitivity is necessary for perceiving beauty, and without it, life becomes unhappy – so the young, happy smoker gradually turns into an unhappy, addict whose happiness is dependent on a little ‘cancer-stick’. So, he smokes to find happiness which leads to greater misery. It is like a camel that chews on thorns and its mouth bleeds, but it still gets its pleasure. I am proposing there is a totally different kind of living in which conflict has no place, so you are full of energy.

 

Not only smoking in not cool but it is a disease - it kills one out of every two smokers, one person every 10 seconds, 3 million people per year (according to World Health Organization) - and people smoke to supposedly enjoy it - how empty and boring life has become that one tries to get enjoyment from inhaling 4000 kinds of substances, many of which are known cancer causing agents. Recent research links smoking to miscarriage, and that it mutates the DNA’s (therefore, messing around with the very core of our existence).

 

But most smokers I know are not stupid and have good lives - they are just addicted. (The other night I saw a man who was both addicted AND stupid - sorry to judge - he just looked it - and guess what he was doing: smoking the damn thing non-stop: he took a hit immediately after exhaling the last puff - as though he was drinking holy water!). The average smoker has trouble quitting - they are probably too busy and their lives are so complicated (smoking adds to that), that they never get face to face with the challenge - just postpone it for a future which never comes, always having an excuse, meanwhile cigs just linger in that background and fasten their curse on the smoker's life.

 

Nicotine is a highly addictive drug and is considered as addictive as heroin. That means it should not be messed around with – like a dangerous trap or a poisonous snake – it’s best to just keep away – most smokers start by thinking they’ll just smoke one a day, or only at night, or what not – but for most people it gets out of control before they know it – specially as soon as something goes wrong. Knowledge of how harmful smoking is, does not seem to help a person change. I have known cancer patients who could not give up smoking even in their death-bed. One of my co-workers died from cigs after losing his voice and his tongue to cancer. So, what is it that's going to help a person kick this nasty habit?

 

Generally speaking, any sort of change requires first seeing what is. I see time and again smokers who are utterly unhappy at smoking - as they take a puff, you can see the pain they experience - often they give a hopeless look at the cigarette and wonder if they are gaining anything in return for this pain of doing something totally unnatural. Many smokers testify that out of the 20 cigs they may smoke in a day they barely "enjoy" one or two - in fact, the rest, they may hate - can you imagine the level of conflict and energy wastage that the person goes through if all day they do what they hate?

 

The first step is to admit you are addicted - that is a sign of intelligence. I sometimes run into a few heavy smokers who say they smoke because they want to smoke - either they are lying or they've never tried to quit finding out how hard it can be. I know people who tried everything but couldn't quit. I know a acupuncture doctor who was treating patients for smoking but was a smoker himself. There is also a class of people who smoke one or two cigs occasionally - that is not problematic.

 

Quitting cigs means a change in lifestyle from an unhealthy one to a healthy one. Other than that nothing will change, so giving up smoking does not mean giving up everything in life - though any change has an effect on one's world - however small. Your friends who smoke will undoubtedly be effected - that is if you are still hanging out with them - my grandmother used to recite an old poem which said good friends lift you to the highest points and bad friends drag you down to the lowest - that is not to say smokers are bad people, but you get my point - it's called peer-pressure. I think the most important thing is to understand the process of smoking and addiction. There are two kinds of dependence: physical and psychological. Let's look at them:

 


All these things make the body feel good in itself by itself, so it doesn't crave for happiness from a cigarette. Breathing exercises (deep breathing) also helps. The good news is that 3 days without nicotine, and it's out of your system. But be careful, the next time you drink a large cup of coffee, or a few beers, the body may have an urge for the antidote. Switching to ultra-low-tar cigs also helps ease the withdrawal. Hang in there - it only takes a bit of time to get used to the lighter cigs - but it may be better to just go "cold turkey". Know beforehand what to expect: irritability, restlessness, etc., for only a few days.


 

And order in life is also important. When there is order one can be at peace easier - and much of the craving for cigs or drugs is a craving for peace - so, may I suggest: clean up your room and your life, and cigs will just fall-away as a natural consequence. If you have mess in your life you do not have the energy to change. When you are in conflict with yourself you suffer so much that you are willing to pay any price for happiness so you say "to heck with it - I'll quit in the future'. Change in future is an illusion. Change can only take place now. Can we live without craving? Can I observe craving in my body/mind so fully that I bring it to an end? Can I live without any stimulation: emotionally, chemically, intellectually? The answer is yes, but you will have to find the answer yourself otherwise it is merely words.

 

There is a class of smokers who are mostly young, who are closet smokers - even in the street or in their car when they notice that someone is seeing them smoke they are ashamed. Why? Probably because they don't want to look stupid? A lot of interesting things happen in the "closet", the battle to quit can be a tough one. Fighting it only makes it stronger, because you lose energy in the conflict, in the friction, between what you are and what you think you should be - whereas just seeing it can bring its own change - energy is required for change. Smoking causes stress, as caffeine does in most people, but people often try to use these things to combat stress which is a vicious circle. One young girl told me she stopped exercising when she started smoking so that she does not feel how bad cigarettes are for her! Many people, especially older smokers, lose the flame of discontent which is necessary for kicking the habit, and helplessly give up and put up with smoking: a gradual painful suicide.

 

Cigarettes make your beautiful teeth dirty, make your beautiful hair and skin look unhealthy, make your clothes smell, contaminate your breath/mouth smell, are bad for all of your body: lungs, heart, and all senses: you cannot taste, smell, see, hear, feel as well as you could. They disrupt the most fundamental living process: breath. You wake up and you have the residue of all the junk around your eyes and in your body. Your body has to work extra hard to keep itself pure, it has to constantly fight with the damage to the lungs, etc. (so smokers need to take extra vitamin C). You know what some smokers do? Have cigarettes and coffee for breakfast because after the body has purified itself in sleep, you get the most pleasure - when you are young you can get away with that but if this sort of regime continues it dulls the body's intelligence and makes it insensitive: the sensitivity that is required for happiness, health, and an extraordinary way of life (Leonard Cohen: "Well I've been where you're hanging I can see how you're pinned"). Many marijuana smokers say it is natural - yes, maybe the grass is natural, but the process of inhaling smoke is totally contradictory to life. And you can see what happens to these people when they get older: they become dull like a rock - like a stone - from getting stoned!

 

Cigarettes are expensive for your pockets as well as your health. It's better to put out the cigarette after 2 hits if you are not enjoying it than to smoke it all because they are expensive! Psychically speaking - (not scientific but interesting) - Charles Leadbeater wrote that narcotics (including nicotine), reverse the direction of energy flow in the chakras which makes you have good feeling but it damages the chakras – someone told me recently since they started smoking 2 weeks ago, they’ve had "devil attacks"! Also, a smoker's life becomes overly complicated for various reasons, including (again, not scientifically speaking) attracting negativity, because one is poisoning the system, "you attract what you are". As the saying goes, "happy go lucky" - and we can add to it: "healthy goes happy". Keep the flame alive, and Good Luck.

 

As the joke goes: "It's OK if you want to smoke - just don't exhale". "I love you just the way you are..." A last piece of advice: Love is the best catalyst for change - so "fall in love" - it worked for me!

 

***END OF MAIN ARTICLE***

 

PS – What about marijuana? This is also a very popular drug, and it is heavily propagated by the ‘cool’ image of the Jamaican Reggae culture. I saw one of Bob Marley’s guitarists in a concert recently. These guys look like lizards now – like a stone – a rock – dull, dead – from too much ‘getting stoned’. Don’t get me wrong – I like the music of Marley but the life-style lead to nowhere. I know other people who’ve been smoking for many years. They’re lazy and stupid, and generally are unhappy and sick. Marijuana is a drug – it’s a medicine – it has medicinal use for treating certain conditions – it’s also a pain-killer. So, it has its place, but it is abused. It has an effect on the respiratory system – it opens the lungs – so you get more air, more Prana, you feel ‘high’. But just as any other drug, a nose drop or anti-histamine, if it is used too much, the body loses, forgets, its natural effects. Another reason one gets "high" is that the brain in temporarily made quite. But the question a serious person must ask is, "can I have a quite brain naturally?" Why? Because we see that it’s great to have a quite brain – then you can really see, really listen (for this topic I highly recommend the writings of J.Krishnamurti www.kfa.org). To get high with pot is like blowing-up the door of the safe which holds treasure – then the door gets damaged – but it can be opened naturally…Pot taxes the brain – makes it quite for a while and the person has nice insights, perhaps cleans up things one had been ignoring – so in a sense bringing some sort of awakening – but then it makes the brain restless, dull, and to the other extreme unable to perceive the depth of things. Marijuana seriously harms motivation – you smoke a joint and get happiness so you’re not motivated to do something to improve your life to have a happier life. But as Persians say, "what the wind brings the wind takes". The high wears off, and if it’s done too much, this cycle of up and down, leads to dullness. Many pot smokers also smoke cigs. Pot makes you stupid – so you don’t feel the awful taste of cigs. One source told me that THC enlarges brain cells which leads to feeling high but then when the effect wears off the cells shrink to smaller than their original size so one feels down, cluttered, and confused. Fortunately the damage is not permanent as the cells are not killed – as is done by alcohol!

 

READ THIS AFTER YOU'VE QUIT SMOKING

 

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'VE QUIT

 

From Reza to a friend (MT).

 

Congratulations for quitting smoking. I was extremely happy to hear that. Only 5 to 7% of the smokers can quit. Guard it with care - be very very careful - nicotine is such a strong drug that one hit and you can be back - look at it like a poisonous snake - you don't play with it - you want to have nothing to do with it. Congratulations on your new apartment too - definitely forbid smoking there.

 

The times you need to be most careful are if and when you take other drugs: e.g. alcohol and caffeine - cig works against both stimulants and depressants. Al least for a good while I would suggest abstaining from these things - and if you happen to drink a few wines be very careful. The evil of cig may try to creep in.

 

Take vitamin C - it'll help repair the damage done. After a while your senses will be more acute, more sensitive - if you live good - by good I mean: to eat well - as you do anyway - get enough rest - exercise (e.g. walking / swimming). Your friends might change - be open to it (the same person may change because you have changed and you have an effect on your 'world' - you are the world and the world is you - did you read Krishnamurti yet or is it collecting dust - or a person whose lifestyle / mentality / outlook on life maybe very different may go - you know all these things already....... :-) - to live "good" also implies having order - order in the room - order in the mind - order in relationship... As the body cleanses itself your skin and hair will be even more beautiful - you can see better, hear better, colors maybe more vivid.

 

You will be more in tune. A guitar that is in tune does not sing so well. (I encoded Googoosh stuff on my laptop by the way). Breath is the most fundamental process of life - smoking interferes, messes around, with this process, and disrupts, interrupts the connection of one with the "breath of god".

 

You attract what you are. By putting poisons in your blood and body and aura (energy field), you attract negativity. You get into accident. It's related. I am sure. You spray your guardian angels away, though they come back and want to stay and protect you. They try. I cannot invite god, love, luck. I cannot invite the breeze but I can keep the window open.

 

DISCUSSIONS WITH SMOKERS / LETTERS

I met her years ago - she was a teenager who smoked. We reconnected after a long time. She still smokes but wants to stop. She said she wants to get help from an expert.

I'm not an expert but happened to be there -- so gave her some tips. Following these, she stopped smoking immediately and as I write this, she's freed herself from a most miserable, dirty, ugly addiction.

 

Some notes I sent her in the course of our conversation. She is genuinely interested in setting herself free from the chains of that nasty habit.

Yes, wanting is the first and most important step.

Look, nicotine is very addictive but after 3 days you're free from it. Reason most people have trouble quitting is because they don't understand psychological dependence. I explain this in my article. Also they fool themselves into believing they'll quit in the future... so they defer it for later...

If you really want to get that shit out of your life (it's literally shit - it's worse than shit - shit just has some bad bacteria -- smoking has thousands of poisons) you can take different paths.

One is to really come to terms and understand what you are -- how you crave it -- how you depend on it etc etc. -- and out of that understanding some change comes.

But I would suggest this:

Stop right now. Go cold turkey. 3 days, and you're free. Don't look back. Don't have an inward discussion. Do NOT try even one cig -- one cig and you're back in the prison. It's a prison.

And if you fail, at least you learned about craving.

So then deal with craving.

Don't take alcohol and caffeine since they counteract with nicotine and makes you want it.

Just a few days...

Anyway it's good to be free from all chemical dependence.

I would say given your situation / veg / vit / wanting / child / etc etc -- and now a kick from me 🙂 you have everything you need to FREE yourself from that shit right now. Just put it aside and don't even think about it -- not even one. 3 days and you're home free. Then we celebrate together 🙂

Destroy your cigs. Avoid caffeine and alcohol. If you get craving, do something else - take deep breaths -- go for a walk - drink water - contact me... and craving will drop.

read my article tonight.

today is the first day of the rest of your life 🙂

I send you lots of good energy. to save yourself from that disgusting prison.

Hi dear -- one GOLDEN tip I can give you: nicotine is so addictive that it makes you play games with yourself. It makes your mind trick itself into believing NOW is not the right time but that you will stop in the FUTURE.

I talk about it in the article.

That idea that I will change in the future is an illusion. Because any change needs to happen in a NOW.

But the brain / nervous system says, no, leave me alone with the addiction, I will change in the future. And it brings 1001 excuses. I'm sure you've been through this:  when I'm pregnant, when I finish school, etc. etc. -- New Year's Day. But they don't work because they're all about FUTURE.

And when that deadline comes the brain finds an excuse to push it out to a future deadline, and it gets into conflict with itself and addiction takes over because conflict is a loss of energy and you lose, and the opposite gets stronger.

Attention can solve all this.

And controlling it from the physical side as well by reducing drugs that counteract with nicotine (alcohol, caffeine)... and improving body's general state of health. Deep breaths. Make sure you get enough sleep. Minimize your exposure to microwave radiation (5G 4G WiFi Bluetooth...).  This is a great device to have www.emfmessen.ch (German)

https://emfcrisis.yolasite.com/emfmeter.php (English).

95% of smokers who want to quit smoking don't. Most of them think they'll do it in the future. Some give up and are victims of that deadly snake. And a few stupid ones, turn it around and say "I smoke because I like to", which is a lie, unless a person is a teenager when the body is very strong and the dirt hasn't accumulated enough, and the body doesn't feel the pain.

It's important to not get into psychological conflict with yourself. (But every smoker who is intelligent has conflict -- so a goal of life is to end one's internal conflicts by refining one's life).

In that light, it's important to pay attention to every cig smoked. Scan body's state. Why am I smoking? Do I have physical craving? is it because I'm sad and have another psychological issue that makes me want to escape? Or I make an image of the thrill that that super strong drug gives my brain for a few seconds? Whatever it is, to see it clearly. And at same time, improve the body's health so it can feel good without that shit. Smokers feel miserable - then they smoke to feel good. Which is a vicious circle. I know that -- I used to smoke. It's one big bad spider net that one's caught in. A road that surely leads to misery.

But we can gather all our energy and break free.

Good luck.

Also, it improved one's luck in general to stop smoking because every puff puts negativity in the system, and that attracts negativity. In Ayurveda they say it makes you susceptible to negative psychic influence. It's sooo true.

Be well.

- It's also very good to do deep breathing -- for example when you're in nature -- to sit and exhale all the air out of your lungs. And then inhale. I will show you some techniques. They're called Pranayama. They're very powerful.


--- 6 months later she got sucked into smoking again...


T. [her child who was saying mommy shouldn't smoke] knows what's good and bad for you... suck yourself out of that hole - just do it. forget the analysis and all the thoughts and plans and so on -- most are excuses of the addiction so you stay with it. Just die to it. Voila! like you did before. Get yourself out of that hole. That road leads to suffering - nothing beautiful about it. 🙂

https://rezamusic.yolasite.com/tipsforquittingsmoking.php

Look at it this way -- every fall is an opportunity to rise and be stronger. The BIG lesson here for you is NOT to mess with it. I learned this the hard way that's why I advised you already but some lessons people have to learn for themselves. You don't play with a poisonous snake because it bites you! You try ONE cigarette and you're finished and fall into that disgusting black hole. Rescue yourself. Don't fall for the tricks the mind plays "later". Just walk away - finished - those cancer sticks have no place in your life. Don't hang around with smokers if that makes you weak. Your freedom and health are most important.

 

Jon: My Grandmother died of emphyzema when she was 60. It was bad. It took her 10 years to suffocate to death. And that is still not enough to get my wife to quit smoking. But I guess it's really hard. Sigmund Freud said that he had done Opium, Cocaine and Heroine, and the only thing he couldn't quit was smoking.

Cigarettes become (an artificial) means of escaping from fears and insecurities. Cigarettes are a way to gain (temporary) security at a very superficial level.

Please add me to your list. BTW- I am on my 9th day smoke free. best wishes, Todd T

Nicotine triggers the release of glycogen from the liver, increasing brain activity temporarily. Sunflowerseed does the same. [not confirmed]

George Harrison died from smoking.

Beyk-Imanverdi the famous persian actor died from lung cancer from smoking cigs.

Several other people I personally know died from smoking - a slow, painful death 

Drug pushers did it again: just heard that unfortunately Bob Parvin, my ex-boss died from lung cancer -- he was a smoker.

Another cigarette - one slep closer to grave.

Ali Bulut method: Don't smoke for 30 hours. Then for 15 hours. Then for 7.5 hours. and on... At least one person quit this way.

Bernard came and said he's quit for 2 weeks now and was thankful for the article and talks.

Your smoking counseling seemed effective. Ross


12 sep

here’s another trick the mind can play on itself: after a few days of not smoking it can think: I stopped so I can stop anytime so I’ll smoke now (but smoking now means you did not stop). 

TALKS REZA GANJAVI HAD WITH TEENAGERS AND OTHER SMOKERS 

Did you read my article? I am not ready for it curious it just helps you understand dependence. It's just a set of pointers. And the idea that you're not ready for it is part of the game that your mind plays as a symptom of the addiction which means which says you will be ready for it later so you're pushing it out into the future and then you see that play that game you stop playing that game.

2016 July

After a few minutes of talking, a few questions I asked her, she admitted she doesn't like smoking. Fact is you don't like it but you say you do. Fact is you're stuck in a hole and your mind tricks itself thinking it will get out later. She called it a "mind fuck".

Message to young (and old) friends about smoking: (please also read the article: Smoking is not cool! and sepcially, Tobacco facts)

majid: "Your analysis/suggestions/ideas on smoking was the most effective so far. It is sinking in very well."

 

You're puffing away your happiness...

Guaranteed road to unhappiness

Ticket to misery

This road isn't going to Disneyland!

You are beautiful but cigs are ugly - you two don't match!

Life's too good to ruin it by smoking!

Ride the wave of love and quit smoking!

“After I quit smoking pot, I’ve received 3 promotions in a month”. S.H. Feb 13,

Yes it is! It is a problem!

Everyone who smokes is unhappy (at least at physical level).... It's about your future.... It's your choice to be happy or not...

 

Lousiest logic:

- do you like smoking?

- yes, otherwise I would not smoke.  [  wrong  ] because there are many smokers who do it despite despising it.


here's another lame excuse: I could be doing worst things!!

It was interesting, Fabienne (15) was sincerely wondering why I was telling Anna (16) cigarettes are not good. I told her Anna knows exactly - because she doesn't want to smoke them, she doesn't like them, but still does them because she's addicted.

you should stop smoking before it makes you suffer any more.

a group of youngsters a few nights ago had a big change of mood. i went back to give them my website and they were standing in a close circle talking in a serious mood about what this passerby just told them - that cigs are not toys -- you don't play with a poisonous snake.

 

If you are really honest you will admit that you dislike most of the cigs you smoke. You are doing something that you dislike.

Most of you smoke because you think it's cool - it's not cool - that's what cig companies want you to believe through

advertising. But you are messing around with a very dangerous drug. But the cigarette companies don't tell you about that. They put this dangerous drug in nice packaging and associate it with a smiling face.

Cigarette tells you it's your friend - if you're happy it says: let's celebrate together. When you're sad you think: let's smoke to

feel better. But in fact, it's not a real friend - it's like a person you know who is friendly when you're there but when you leave

he talks bad behind you: he stabs you in the back. Cigs are not your friends - they poison you...

 

Now you're young...as you grow older cigs make your like unnecessarily complicated, then you become unhappy and want to

drink or do drugs to be happy. You'll be unhappy because you will do something you do not love (most people who smoke

don't like it) - not only that but for most people it is something they dislike but still do because they are simply addicted to

Nicotine which is as addictive as Heroin!

 

One out of every 2 smokers dies from smoking. And it is not a quick death - usually a slow painful one. I had 3 friends who

died from smoking.

 

You think you're free - freedom is so important to you - America, land of freedom, etc.. Real freedom is in your mind. As long

as you smoke you're not a free person because you depend on the cig for your happiness: if it is not there you're not happy.

You use it as a psychological crutch. You must be strong and be able to stand alone with no crutches and no fears to face life -

all its challenges and beauties.

 

If you don't smoke regularly and are just starting or do it as a social thing once in a while, be careful. You are walking in a

jungle full of traps - soon you could be caught by the trap of this nasty drug. Don't mess around with it - you don't play with a

poisonous snake.

 

Simply put, it makes you unhappy. You should be happy. You are taking away happiness from your body.

______________________________________________

She's been a vegetarian for 6 years. She smokes 10 to 20 cigs a day. She wants to quit someday she said first. Got her to face

the fact that cig is highly addictive and it creates many excuses for one to postpone quitting "I am not ready now", "maybe later"...

There is no good reason not to quit now. If one says my life is a mess or I am depressed or whatever, cig does not help any of

that and in fact makes life more complicated. The society tells you it's cool to smoke, the ads, your friends... And the person fools

oneself also because smoking is SO stupid that he/she says: I enjoy it... She admitted that she only enjoys one or 2 in the day. " So,

10 or 15 times a day you're doing something which is making you unhappy. It is so against nature, against your body's intelligence...".

She began to soften up: I will quit after this pack. "You will not quit because you have not understood it. You will buy more, or bom

from friends... but you are on the right track. If you are fully aware, and watch what goes on in your body and mind for the rest of

this pack then you can stop. To watch your body, have you drank coke, coffee and are stimulated, and watch your mind, are

you missing your boyfriend, did your boss yell at you... just to see the connection. Just to look. And when you look, you learn,

and learning brings its own change. That it's not a matter of decision, it falls out of your life.


She said she wants to be able to smoke one or two after quitting if she wants to. "It's more important not to fight with yourself,

but what you perhaps might find out is 1) cig is like heroin, one is not enough, you want more, so you learn that this is like a

poisonous snake which may also be fun to play with but it might bite, so you decide not to mess around with it. and 2) that it

brings bad luck, because it's poisoning your being, and you attract what you are.)

______________________________________________

- Talked to a 21 yr old about smoking. She smelled horrible. First she said she likes it, then admitted she doesn't like every one

of the 15 she smokes everyday. "There is absolutely no benefit for you in smoking. It does not reduce stress, it makes it more.

You smoke because the cigarette companies have brain-washed you, indirectly. The only one who benefits from your smoking

are the cigarette companies."

______________________________________________

- Talk with young smoker. He thinks like is shit and he likes every cig he smokes. I: you think life is shit because you're putting

this shit in your body - poisoning your body - this is like a horse, a dog, when it's healthy, it's happy. He: no risk, no fun. Ya,

but this is stupid risk. Take intelligent risks and have fun.

- Told teenager offering cig to a non-smoking friend: you're not being a good friend.

______________________________________________

Good luck beating the smoking habit. Just one tip: the biggest lesson I learned was that the mind plays tricks on itself by thinking it wil quit in the future "leave me alone with my addiction and I'll do it when .... " and when that event comes it finds another reason to delay it.

That's the concept of psychological time (which is an illusion) : that somehow we change in time but psychologically we will be in the future what we are in the present unless some change comes around in a present.

I found out just learning about dependence made it drop off -- physical dependence is easier beat by cutting down on things that nicotine interacts with, e.g. coffee and alcohol -- and after 3 days the craving is over. Psychological dependance drops off from simply seeing what-is.

_________________________________________

in the sauna he said he wants to quit smoking and is down to 3 a day but is finding it puzzling and challenging.

He got the basic principles of the new way of looking. Not to fight it b/c conflict weakens us. To see the tricks played by the mind (deferral). Etc. Attention is the key. Big tobacco wants you to be unaware.

We think a certain way and we think it’s normal but we think that way because it’s our habit

The last word was: The future is now. And he got it.

Brain Shrinkage Linked to Smoking

 Smoking marijuana can raise your risk of developing a psychotic illness by 40 percent, British researchers say.

Smoking among teenagers leads to general health problems

 NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters Health) -- Teenage boys and girls who smoke daily have poorer general health, use more medications, and have significantly more trouble sleeping than those who do not smoke, investigators have found.  

Researchers with the Nord-Trondelag Health Study, conducted in Norway, report that there was a consistency in the reporting of health problems, medication use and the need for health services'' among teen smokers.

The study authors surveyed 8,040 male and female students aged 13 to 18 on a variety of topics including smoking, sleep habits, eating habits, mental and physical health issues, quality of life, and school environments.......

The study also found that when compared with nonsmoking teens, daily smokers reported more physical and mental health problems, including headaches, neck pain, muscle and joint pain, stomach problems, hearing problems, nervousness, and sleep difficulties. It was alsa shown that daily smokers were much more likely to have missed more than a week of school over the prior year, and to have used medications more often than nonsmokers to help them sleep and manage pain. Boys and girls who smoked daily also reported having accessed healthcare services more often in the past year than nonsmoking teens.

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24 FEB

You smoke because you see photos of beautiful people everywhere smoking - these cigarette companies are out of control. "I am trying to cut down...". Her friend arrived. You smoke too? of course. "ya, not of course". yes, of course

because 85% of Swiss young people smoke. "you're right". It's a national tragedy. These cigarette companies are crooks.

You're good people, they fool you. They put their poison in a nice package - they just want your 4 francs.

______________________________________________

Olivia (17) wrote:

No I know it's shit! And I know that it's poison... and I think I'm going to stop smoking. But as I told you on friday... I didn't

have the energy to see it through.

But the worst thing of smoking is that it ruins your voice... ;o(

I've smoked for two years. And I've had a feeling that my voice had got more

and more low-powered... ;o(

I hope that my second attempt will be more successful.

______________________________________________

30MARCH

Walking down the stairs 2 young girls smoking - I: why do you smoke? "Shush!" and the one talking on the cell phone dropped

the cigarette and quietly told me: it's my mother on the phone - soon she hung-up. 'your mother loves you - that's why she

doesn't want you to smoke - but these crooks - the tobacco companies don't love you - they just want your money - so they

get you addicted - you know - sucht [german]. "I smoke because I am nervous". 'That's stupid. If you're nervous you need to

take deep breaths, stretch, eat fruits, go for walks, be healthy - gesund [german]. Smoking makes you nervous and then you

think you smoke to not be nervous - that's stupid - that's what cig companies want you to believe. And look, this beautiful girl

keeps spitting. Spitting is horrible. You spit because you smoke and the taste is awful - and because it's cool?' "Ya, it's cool"

'you learn it from American movies'. "All my friends smoke". 'Yes, it's a national tragedy - a social disease'.

'How old are you?' "15, and she is 14". 'I want to cry'. You're young now, you like it - you grow up, like all smokers you do it

although you don't like it. So, you become unhappy. 'You don't play with a snake - you play with your friend - with a ball - not

with a snake - it can bite you' "yes" 'and cig is a poisonous snake. nicotine is a narcotic - like if you try heroin you're finished -

have nothing to do with it...

Turned around and saw the first one spitting too - 'you spit too! - because of the bad taste of cigs' "yes".

______________________________________________

I've been working like a dog - in trying to catch up after a couple of weeks of being without a computer... have managed to do

some yoga etc. and go for a walk. On the walk today saw 2 youngters - maybe 15 - boy and girl - smoking "come on, go for a

walk, get high naturally... smoking's not cool - makes you sucht (addicted) and unhappy..." on the way back they were kissing

"that's better than smoking.....even better if you kiss a non-smoker.....else it's like kissing an ashtray..." They laughed...

_____________________________________________ 

One youngster said: "when you're young you have friends you like to be like them and liked by them - it's hard to say NO

when you're young."

______________________________________________

smoking is death – it’s not a joke. Dependence is death [No death has dignity, beauty. Dependence is suffering]. You depend on cig for your happiness.

-  yes, I smoke to be happy.

-  Do you like all the cigs you smoke?

-  No

-  So it makes you unhappy!

______________________________________________

- The only thing you're helping is big tobacco mafia. They got you fooled, and you fool yourself by saying one day I'll quit. When that one day comes you find another excuse.

______________________________________________

do you like all of the all of 16 you smoke a day?

- I wouldn’t smoke if I didn’t

- You’re lookin for a reason why u should like it. Do u actually like it?

______________________________________________

16 year old girl: my parents both smoke. I told myself I will never smoke - but I tried it and got addicted - and all my friends

smoke.

______________________________________________

You shouldn’t smoke – you don’t play with a poisonous snake.

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The latest analysis from the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project tracked the average amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in samples seized by law enforcement agencies from 1975 through 2007. It found that the average amount of THC reached 9.6 percent in 2007, compared with 8.75 percent the previous year.

The 9.6 percent level represents more than a doubling of marijuana potency since 1983, when it averaged just under 4 percent.

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 your voice sounded better

remember the habit wants to persist - it's harder to quit cigs than heroin - so give it attention and fire it from your life COMPLETELY. if it stays a little bit it's got you fooled

______________________________________________

That’s not a good breakfast.

I know.

Here’s my website…smoking section…

Stephanie: I tried to stop but couldn’t. (Another victim of big tobacco in chains).

the file is called ‘smoking is not cool’

I know, I don’t do it for fun. (she spends money, health, life, and poisons herself and it’s not even for fun).

That’s just the title …

______________________________________________

if you think of it there are no more stupid ways to loose your health and money than smoking

 ______________________________________________

why smoke weed? get high on life. life is wonderful. he healthy and you can be high.

you smoke this shit and you feel bad.

it's a different way than the society tells you because it wants your money.

8 youngsters all smoke, and caffeine.

______________________________________________

- Come here...how many do you smoke in a day?

- 3 or 5

- Do you like it?

- Not really

- Take a puff - do you like it?

- No

- Why do you do it?

- I don't know.

3 chefs smoking "3 guys with a bad habit". It's not that bad, one said. "It's horrible. Sorry to say, one of you 3 will die from

smoking - one out of every 3 smokers die from smoking.". It doesn't matter. "It's usually not a quick death - long, painful

cancer...". Don't tell us. "tell the cigarette company not to tell you to smoke - they got you hooked on nicotine which is

addictive like heroin & cocaine.

______________________________________________

"It's not cool.... it's not funny either....."

"Put that cigarette in the water and sing"

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She said: "My father smoked even when he was on oxygen".

Told youngster in San Jose smoking is like locking yourself in a jail and throwing away the key in a far distant place.

Iron chains around your ankles - that's what that it. (to youngster in Folsom)

______________________________________________

Girl in Sacramento asked me to buy her cigs cause she had no ID - she had a guitar with her. "It is such an annoying habit

because I want to sing.... I've quit many times but after 2 days I start again... IF I am totally on my own I don't need cigs ...

after 3 or 4 hours of not smoking the craving is really nasty - you can't think of anything else."... K seems to be the primary

message.

______________________________________________

LETTER FROM & TO A 16 YEAR OLD SMOKER

----- Original Message -----

From: Schweizer...

Sent: Friday

Subject: hi

hey

we met last week in ..., you remember? i find your homepage very good, and i'm very happy, that there are people like you on earth; people who try to help other and put things into the right

i know I can stop smoking if I want to, and when I smoke, I remember your story of the poisoned snake and it's a very good example and it helps! but I smoke very seldom, and I always think of this, that smoking is terrible but i try to forget that, and i always "win"!! but deep in me I'm stronger than the devil, and when I know I can stop it if I want to, i don't stop! but when I feel the "poisoned snake tries to bite me I stop as fast as you can!

I just wanted to tell you that...and thank you, you helped me and you help other who smoke more than I!

bye

n...

P.S-i know, I have to learn a lot at English...

______________________________________________

Of course I remember 

You were walking with 2 other young girls - you were the only one smoking. I was really quite busy and had to go but I felt so sad to see you smoke that I had to talk to you. We walked to the end of the pier. Finally got the attention of the 3 giggeling 16-year-olds to give me 5 minutes without interruptions and comments.

When I walked away I wasn't sure if it was effective or worthwhile - but I felt that maybe it had a little effect - maybe you'll look back one day, either when you're free of this nasty habit - rather - never caught in it - or you're so caught in it that like all other smokers you're suffering, having been bitten by that poisenous snake you toyed with, having those iron chains around your ankles.

What fueled my entheusiasm in talking to you was that it seemed to me that you are not fully caught - although - my guess is that you are simply because nicotine is extremely addictive. A specialist doctor told me recently that nicotine is more addictive than heroine - and it's easier to become addicted and more difficult to quit nicotine than heroine. Recently a study showed that all is takes is a few puffs for a person to get addicted to cigarettes.

Another special cause of my concern was that smoking, specially for women, specially for young women is the most dangerous - it will have all kinds of ripples later in your life and you chidren and so on - and the younger you start the more difficult it is to stop. These are things the tobacco companies do not want ou to know. Those crooks just want your money. You are sustaining their existance. They want you to believe that you are smoking because you like it, that you're not addicted, and that you can stop anytime you want - WRONG! - out of a 100 people who want to stop only 5 actually do it!

You see, you're happy, the three of you could giggle, laugh, so easily. Your hearts are filled with joy of life itself. Life is good.

You are now young and your bodies are strong and can handle the tar and the 400 poisons you put into it with every puff. Soon, you will hate it - if you're honest. But you will have a hard time stopping - you'll be caught in a jail, in a trap - a perfect victim for the tobacco companies. It's no fun being in a jail. Think again! Is it worth-it?

You see, when you stop, you also make a strong statement to your friends. You are intelliget enough not to smoke!

Again, thanks for writing - you brightened my life.

Keep in touch & Good luck

Reza

PS - I like to send you my CD - if you're interested, I'll need an address.

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Ignore this User | Report Abuse

 Re: Bad day to quit smoking :(

 by: papaweird     Msg: 75627 of 75652

 

 You said it, but if you have quit it will benifit you more than the price swings we are experienceing. Hang in there, I quit,cold

turkey, 3 1/2 years ago and have

 never looked back. One of the good things that happened in my life.

 The stock mkt will rebound and Vrtl will go up when is the unknown.

 Oh! yes, for what it is worth stopping didn't bother me until 3 months down the road and then i thought my time in this world

was over. My body played every

 trick in the book on me but I prevailed.

 GOOD LUCK! PAPA

"You said it, but if you have quit it will benifit you.... Hang in there, I quit,cold turkey, 3 1/2 years ago and have

 never looked back. One of the good things that happened in my life.... Oh! yes, for what it is worth stopping didn't bother me

until 3 months down the road and then i thought my time in this world was over. My body played every trick in the book on me

but I prevailed. GOOD LUCK! PAPA"

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A young woman walking smoking, told her it’s not cool – then showed her an old woman who was smoking and very unhappy

… “you’re going to turn out like her if you continue smoking… you’re risking your happiness… and your life… send me an

email and say: I’m Jennifer the smoker – no – the non-smoker!” She was very receptive and guessed ½ of what I was gonna

say.

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Boston subway - told 2 girls: Smoking is not allwed Madam. She: it's non of your business. "It IS my business - this is my world".

_____________________________________________ 

Standing next to a smoker guy I felt the pain in his body. It was very painful.

______________________________________________

Why do you smoke?

- stress, problems.

You think it helps? It makes it worse. You smoke because you're sucht (addicted).

- No.

How many do you smoke in a day?

- 2 a week

How old are you?

- 14

How old is yur friend?

- 15

as you grow older that becomes 2 a day then 5 and 10 a day

- I have control

Out of 100 people who want to quit, 5 can. They all thought they had power.

You can do it (quit) but you have to go through hell - and fight it. You wont want to smoke but you will and you hate yourself.

It's ok to play with a toy but you don't smoke with a poisenous snake.

So what's in your pocket is not your friend.

He took his hand out and broke the cig that was in his pocket.

When you become twenty you'll break a whole pack because you won't want to smoke but the next day you'll buy more.

He understood.

______________________________________________

keep away from those ciggies - they will bring you a lot of pain in the future NO MATTER HOW STRONG YOU THINK YOU ARE.

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A week or so later he wrote:

----- Original Message -----

From: W.P.:

To:

Sent: Sunday, June 17

moin

i don't smoke any more

______________________________________________

(2 girls)

How old are you?

-15

...they didnt speak English too well - but understood - so I did most of the talking.

When you grow old it'll be more difficult to quit. Out of 100 people 5 can do it - and they all thought they can quit anytime they want. Nicotine is as addictive as heroine & cocaine.

- I know.

And the younger you start smoking the more difficult it'll be to quit. You have to be responsible to your life - to your future - you have to stop now otherwise you will not be happy in the future...

______________________________________________

26JUN01

Anette asked the wrong guy for a light. Told her and Selina they had walked in the "sports section" of the train - I was doing kicks before they come - and other exercizes following a standing yoga sequence in the early morning.

The usual sequence of q's:

how many? do you like it? so doing something that makes you unhappy...excuses for not wsanting to quit "this is not the right time" etc, and specially for a woman, always new research comes out.... and in this country, in Europe, cig companies are so strong, and you people are so good, they take advantage of you, fool you. So this (cig) is money in Philip Morris's pocket - they don't give a shit about your health.....

Maybe they'll write.

______________________________________________

Met a girl on the train who said she had a lot of bad health problems until she was 12 years old because her mom smoked when she was pregnant with her. But she smokes herself.

This is not a toy. It makes you suffer. Takes away your happiness. I guarantee it.

______________________________________________

this bad friend destroys you

see dependence

that future never comes. Future is now.

______________________________________________

She had a pink t-shirt on with ANGEL written on it.

-Angels don't smoke cigarettes.

- yes they do

- do they like it?

- I think so

- in english, i think so means I am not sure.

- well I'm sure otherwise i wouldn't smoke.

after some conversation she admitted:

- i tried to quit but couln't... admitted smoking is a big problem here - i started smoking at 12 - in the US...

i had to catch the bus - maybe she'll look at the website

later it occured to me maybe she was an angel? earlier today I had wrote to a friend: "...generally happy but tired - need an angel to help my body a bit but can't

ask everything from life at once :-) "

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2013

NYC bans tobacco sales to anyone under age 21

______________________________________________

Cigarette is like a poisenous snake. You don't play with it. It's addictive like heroin. Get it out of your life. Just say no. Your life will be better. .

Pim: it's the ego - the ego is smoking - "you are separating yourself from it - you are the ego"

______________________________________________

It's a shame for a beautiful girl like you to smoke these ugly cigarettes - it's a shame.

It's very very very serious - the tobaccom companies make it seem like it's cool and no problem but the fact is nicotine is an extremely addictive narcotic - and the poisons you put into your body - you are messaing around with your DNA's with the most basic part of your being - with your breath. Specially since you're a woman - if you want to have kids later, and so on...

______________________________________________

from rezajournal.com:

12 April 2011 - Smoking Flower  

Met a flower who smoked. Reminded me of Vero - a couple of years older - 20 - a victim of Big Tobacco mafia. Even used the same excuse as Vero: that when I am pregnant I will stop. Two kids later, Vero still smokes. Psychological time is an illusion. What we are is what we will be unless some change happens in the present. Smoking is so addictive that it makes the mind plays tricks on itself and the most common trick is deferral based on an excuse: some event that will happen in order to make one change but when that event comes the mind makes other excuses...

Despite her young age she knew The Beatles and likes them!

She smokes in order to forget her occupations, in order to be in the moment. She's obviously intelligent to recognize that, and that smoking doesn't help anything and makes like more complicated. Specially as one ages, living in constant conflict of having to do something stupid against one's will just disintegrates the mind, aside from the physical impact. And it invites negativity. I've discussed all this in : http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/cig.html

It's possible to be in the present, to not carry burden of the past, without such destructive escapes.

It's also possible to solve our problems if we really want to - by putting energy into it, by attending to it, exploring the problem ... and the solution is in the problem.

______________________________________________

Cigs make you feel aweful inside then you want something to make you feel better and you smoke !!!

______________________________________________

5/22/2008 9:34 PM

Spoke with two 16 year olds. One has been smoking since age 12 and one since age 11. Shame on you Switzerland. And they both admit to being unhappy about it, addicted, and unable to quit.

______________________________________________

nice job Ian

now clean up your temple and let god shine through

or

however metaphor you like to use...

cigs are no good

they are unnecessary and make life complicated

50% of smokers die from it.

Just do it. Now. Idea of doing it in future is just an illusion.

______________________________________________

Dear Onder:

Remember one thing:

any postponement of quitting, e.g., "I will quit tomorrow , or at some future date or after some future event" is just an excuse of the mind to be left alone with its addiction now, and that future never comes so the future is now.

Kind regards


It was fun talking with those 16 year olds about smoking.

You're right - they were quite open.

I spoke from the heart and it reached their hearts.

The tobacco drug pushers don't want these kids to know what misery awaits them.

Their bodies are young and can handle it now but tomorrow becomes another tomorrow and by the time they're in their 20's they'll be miserable as hell -- 95% of smokers who want to stop don't.

______________________________________________

You do something to make you happy but it makes you unhappy so you should just stop.

FG gave a good lesson - a remark of K challenging school authorities: "can you make the kids quit smoking without making them feel guilty?" Also, that "when you smoke and want to quit you have 2 problems: 1) you smoke 2) you wanna quit" [paraphrasing]

"Don't keep this child in this cancer room - it's not fair" (to his parents in train's smoking section)

______________________________________________

After a talk about smoking and what it takes to quit, said: for all this you need energy. See how you lose energy...

Don't fight it because you lose energy in the fight so it gets stronger.

______________________________________________

met group of 15 year old girls from Mexico - smoking. Good talks. You're so full of life, laughter, happiness ... - you're messing around with the most basic process of life: breath. When your car is running well, you don't go poke at the engine

Youngsters this age always think they can quit. Statistics show 95% can't.

______________________________________________

Smoking is crazy - it is stupid.

"It is eternally cool"!

What's cool about puffing in 400 poisons? It's only cool for the cigarette companies. Think!

"I am going to quit soon".

You will not. Soon will never come. Nicotine has you hooked and you play a trick on yourself - an illusion [to think time will change things].

______________________________________________

health is like gold - you don't throw gold in toilette

______________________________________________

"I am not ready yet - it's not the right time".

This is a typical trick of addiction......

When you realize that the toy you're playing with is a poisenous snake, you stop!

______________________________________________

Man in his 40's: "i smoke 2 packs a day - the addiction is like cocaine"

the physical addiction is easy - psycholgically you depend on it whe u're happy & sad - in your daily life - dont fight it - just look

______________________________________________

Why do you smoke?

- Why does it matter?

I'm just curious why somebody would smoke.

- MOre than 1/2 the population of the world smokes.

I knew we're stupid but not that much.

______________________________________________

to a 30 some year old:

When will you give me the good news that you've quit? Don't fight it nor make it into a problem - bring order - and let it fall on the wayside.

______________________________________________

27JUN03 Part by the Aare river

Simon (15): you don't like cigs?

- i don't like things that make me suffer.

- ya, i know.......

- do you drink?

- alcohol puts me to sleep, makes me lose energy and get tired (also bad for brain).

- marijuana?

- i get hight naturally through good food, exercise, etc.

- ya, i know......

______________________________________________

Don't even think about it - don't even try it because if you try it you're finished.

______________________________________________

in Tehran:

cig means suicide – slow and painful

cig, enemy of being. Don’t laugh – cry.

______________________________________________

WHy do you smoke?

- i don't know

I want to start - should I?

- no

why do you smoke?

- drugs are drugs

sucht? [addiction]

yes.

______________________________________________

Why do you smoke?

- It was made for smoking.

It was made for money.

______________________________________________

- Do you have matches?

Take a deep breath

Do you like it? Most people don’t

It’s I that smoke

We are all one.

______________________________________________

- Something that loves you told me to tell you to stop smoking.

______________________________________________

< >

you're wonderful. it's a real shame that you smoke. for you. it makes your life unnecessarily difficult and it doesn't help with the difficulties.

< >

you have a diamond inside

let it shine

the smoke puts dirt on it

and it covers your very very sweet heart with bitterness.

please stop

just do it

______________________________________________

it's very good - it's very good for cancer; it's very good for kicking happiness out of your life; if you really don't want to be happy, Smoke!

 

Mrs. Police you shouldn’t smoke.

I don’t want to live long

It’s a matter of quality not quantity

I enjoy smoking

How many do you smoke?

A lot

Do you like them all?

No

Then you don’t enjoy

Do you like everything in your life?

If something makes me suffer I end it.

 

Do you enjoy smoking

Give me an honest answer

Your answers reveal intelligence

It’s necessary

I don’t know

It’s nece b/c you’re addict

Yes for sure

 

One day I will stop

When I finsh

______________________________________________

if you throw yourself down the mountain it’s less painful than dying from smoking. My friends have dies – I know.

______________________________________________

Natel is ok - cig is not.

______________________________________________

It's about the quality of your life...

you're just a victim of a bunch of drug pushers.

the reason you're smoking is to give money to the tobacco companies. and they got you fooled in believing you're enjoying this... [and nicotine:... this is not the right time to quit]

______________________________________________

it's your enemy.

"it's not the only one".

it's the worst one because it makes you believe he's your friend (because it pretends it's your friend).

The enemy that pretends to be a friend is the worst kind. [logged]

______________________________________________

You're crazy for smoking - you're just supporting tobacco companies. They got you addicted to nicotine and make you believe it's cool to smoke, that you like it...

Irish doctor, regarding nicotine: it is easier to become addicted and harder to quit than heroine.

______________________________________________

"A guy told me the same thing today at noon. Why does everybody tell me that? (that I need to quit smoking)."

Life's telling you that - universe is telling you that - if you don't listen you'll be very unhappy...

______________________________________________

Why don't you stop?

"because it's not easy... I didn't smoke for 2 weeks and after I smoked again, it was gross".

 ______________________________________________

aug 11

That's so ugly. You're not interested in ending your problems are you? You just want to carry your problems -- like a bag.

______________________________________________

beautiful morning - ugly cigarettes

______________________________________________

You're crazy for smoking - it's terrible - it's no joke - stop it.

______________________________________________

The lousiest excuse is that "there is an ashtray here".

At least got one smoker to put it out.

______________________________________________

Smoking won't bring you happiness it'll just make you more confused.

Three boys, 14, 15, 16: as you get older other kids smoke - be strong and say no - look at your mother she wants to stop but can’t - she’s sucht - like chains around the ankle.

______________________________________________

"do you have a light?

....

"are you jesus or my mom?"

.... so question your excuses...

______________________________________________

Most people don't go that deep - they think they like it or that they smoke because they like it.

______________________________________________

Pot makes you stoned - and it turns you into stone...

Cigarette and pot hurt your psychic body by reversing the way your energy flows in the chakras........

...

.... i also want you to be happy which means to be healthy - your lifestyle of pot and cigs will lead to sorrow not happiness. don't let the society fool you - just because everyone does it it doesn't mean it's right.

______________________________________________

X pointed out the familiarity and (false) security that cig provides is comforting during times of trouble. [for a mediocre mind]

______________________________________________

- smoking is terrible

- why? - life is terrible.

- life is great. life is terrible when you smoke!

______________________________________________

Smoking is terrible how could you do that to your body?

Told the youngsters smoking pot, I am naturally high. One: how did you do that? Did you take one big mother fuXXXXX pill?

______________________________________________

- we do it because it taste good ! and because Gstaad is boring.

Dear All:

Good partying with you last night.

Sandra, I'm in love with your smile.

Anne, what was your nickname? I came back and you were gone.

Marietta, I am sorry, I hope you didn't take my jokes seriously. You're wonderful.

Adrian, what's your family name?

Marc, can I have a million for the CD? Maybe Saanen Bank wants to invest in my next Beatles CD's I'm recording for Sandra?!!?!?!

Michael, good luck in art-school.

Keep in touch all. See you around. If your email changes, let me know.

 

Love

Reza

(and remember, cigs suck)

www.rezamusic.com

______________________________________________

2014

young smoker who obviously wasn’t too happy going to work at 8:30 Monday morning: “it’s an excuse to take breaks at work”. You don’t need an excuse – you can just go outside and breath.

______________________________________________

You are polluting the air

______________________________________________

... Singing is great - it makes you happy. Smoking makes you suffer.

He’s not your friend - he’s your enemy - he gives you cigarettes!

______________________________________________

drugs is not a toy. you should learn how to be naturally high. And natural doesn't mean marijuana. smoking is not natural.

natural is health. when you're healty you feelk good, you don't need drugs.

______________________________________________

Told him to quit smoking and made sure he didn’t mind.

- What r u waiting for?

- For lungs to collapse.

Don’t smoke in your sleep. Gotto be awake, attentive – see how it’s related to dependence – physical and mental… pot makes you sleep.

______________________________________________

“Don’t cry, come on, smile, it’s much better. Come on…see that’s much better.” The fat baby smiled and grabbed my hand and we shook hands for a good while. "Tell momy to stop smoking. Tell her you hate it."

______________________________________________

my poetry is not as good as yours but at least babies understand it :-)

In Baden the girl said she didn’t want to talk about smoking. “that’s exactly what cig companies not want you to do - to think about it - they just want your 5 francs a day.” Off the train, she didn’t smoke.

you want to make cigarette companies rich - you give them 5 francs a day - and they make you think smoking is cool!

Surveyor: What kind of cigarette do you smoke?

Do I look stupid? Do I look crazy? Why would I be smoking cigarettes? Cigs are evil. You’re working for crooks. Can’t you find another job?

It’s so stupid: you pay 5 fcs a day for something that kills you and you don’t even like. Because you’re sucht - wakeup!

you give 5 fc a day - for that you get something that's killing you, chains around your ankle, something that you don't even like -- who'se geting a good deal? (16 yr old said chesterfield). so they want to make you believe smoking is cool, good life, etc - they don't give a shit about your life.

______________________________________________

Jan thinks he's one of the 5% who can quit anytime (the rest of the 95% also think so!)

He: you're not the first one who's told me smoking is wrong.

You either live intelligently and not suffer or not so and suffer.

______________________________________________

I am sorry that you've given in to the addiction with various excuses as justifications. I doubt your sports teacher who smokes can be labeled healthy -- inside his lungs are black. It also does damage at the psychic level. THings that neither big tobacco's propaganda, nor the nicotin's addiciton want you to know. Another very common excuse is that everyone has a vice and this is mine. It just does not make sense.

______________________________________________

To not support drug pushers, a.k.a. tobacco companies who thrive on people’s addictions.

Smoking brings bad luck

______________________________________________

psych time is becoming

5% who want to can quit

decision=conflict=friction=loss of energy.

Will: reaching=conflict -- will is out.

nicotin is highly addictive

tricks of addiction / excuses: not the right time; not ready; everyone has a vice, etc.

insight / understanding - action

______________________________________________

The sooner you break away from the prison the less you'll be raped by Big Tobacco!

This poor child has to sit in the smoking section? You have to be more responsible.

______________________________________________

“I don’t understand why my father doesn’t stop smoiking after his dad died from smoking.” X

______________________________________________

Another excuse for not quitting: I have other things to think about.

______________________________________________

she said school is stressful and we have short breaks -- smoking is a way to calm down quickly within 10 minutes! 7:45 was too early to eat but not too early to smoke ! --- I could last the smoking section for a couple of minutes before taking off.

______________________________________________

In the old days I made a mistake to start smoking and now it’s hard to quit – it’s a terrible thing. (old man taxi driver)

This nasty habit likes to survives because you inattention- if you really pay attention there is no reason for it to continue.

This monk is smoking cigs. His life is about detachment and he’s attached to frikin nicotin.

______________________________________________

she said she likes smoking because she smokes otherwise she would not smoke !!

after some questioning and urge for truth she admitted she indeed doesn't like some of the cigs she smokes.

______________________________________________

the idea of "the right time to stop smoking" is an illusion of the mind to defer a problem that needs to be dealt with immediately. Take it easy. Don't fight it. It's a defendant you want to uproot so smoothly there will be no fight - like you know who (LOL). Main thing is to keep your attention on it. Walking in sleep one may fall.

good luck

and remember, no guarantees, but smoking pushes away some luck (too bad for a nice guy like you). don't fight it. improve your health and body's happiness and take addiction very seriously. 1 or 2 won't do. clean it out from your life once and for all. and if you fail, learn, observe and clean again. it is so serious that it deserves giving it all your attention and awareness, then darkness of cigs won't last in the light of attention.

Puffin away your happiness

re cigs, one approach is just to set it aside. have you been preparing the ground? being aware of dependence?

the brain's tricks are too strong and self hypnotizing in that this is not the right time. it is. just do it.

talk to me if you need to. i'm not trying to help dig you out of a mess. it looks orderly but it's a big mess with very dangerous consequence - even now it makes you suffer. gather all your energy to end your suffering. your body is your horse. make it happy. let it be happy. cater to its own intelligence. eat and drink life, etc. vitamin c will help repair. a good multi is good too. 1 out of 3 smokers dies from it and it's a slow painful death. despite that today is important. it tars your day, your luck, everything. don't fight it. set it aside quietly, and maybe even smoker friends, for a while, till you're strong. see a doctor if craving is bad - get all the help you can get - zero in on it - don't ever let it go its merry way. gotto uproot causes of suffering. good luck.

______________________________________________

resolution to quit smoking by then ;-) ?! keeping the flame alive is good. don't let the sucker rest at peace. you want to eradicate it from your life without fighting with yourself. You put it aside while being friends with yourself. then you have a lot of energy. understanding it, coming to full grips with the power of addiction is the first and, maybe, last step!

______________________________________________

Just when you think you've heard it all:

"I need a reason to die for" said the smoker...

______________________________________________

met SF -- she said she quit after we met and talked about it... 4 years ago

______________________________________________

the reason i am interested in this is because i know it will make you suffer - it'll make you miserable...

this is hip - your bag and clothes -- just kick the cig out of your image - then you change the world - you effect your friends.

like pouring dirt ON a flower.

______________________________________________

Please stop smoking --- this deferral -- next year etc. are all excuses of the nicotine addiction -- it is very very serious and it will make you very very unhappy -- please stop it now -- the right time will never come because the whole idea of "right time" is a trick of the mind to not let go of the dependance. Please read the first 3 files on my website's smoking section.

You're very sweet and cigs are very ugly.

______________________________________________

X:i'll quit when i have a baby

______________________________________________

Talked to 2 17 year olds – you’re so beautiful – look at those eyes – you’re like a flower – smoking is like pouring dirt on a flower. It breaks my heart because it will make you suffer – it will make you miserable.

A german woman said she can’t bother with quitting (meaning it’s so hard to quit that she’s given up – instead she fools herself that she likes smoking. “Do you like all the cigs you smoke?” she: of course otherwise I would stop (wrong! Because out of a 100 people who want to stop 5 do – she had other excuses too: I don’t drink so I smoke! What kind of a logic is that?!

The 2 girls got my CD – and liked the guitar playing and wondered if I Saw Her Standing There is on it.

______________________________________________

you stop smoking - hear this from me - don't fight it - just whatever it takes...

MOST people don’t pay att – they ignore what it does to them

a 17 year old told me today the only anti cig and drug education they get is in primary school!! A lady told me after quitting for 2 months she got hooked again because she thought she's strong enough!

______________________________________________

 every smoker of some intelligence sees that they're doing something they don't like and only making the tobaco company crooks rich. They're crooks because they survive by making others unhappy. Every smoker suffers. they have to, at the very least bodily.

What's your excuse for smoking?!?!?

The tobacco industry is evil. It thrives on people's addiction. Addiction makes people suffer. Every responsible government has a duty to curb these crooks as they directily effect the well being and happiness of people.

______________________________________________

here's the lousiest logic: "I must like it because otherwise I'd stop!"

______________________________________________

Here's more arguments:

Anita : when I buy a cig and hold a cig I must smoke it.

She thinks she's doing good because cig company allegedly gives money to the handicap (how hypocritical ! make people handicapped and unhappy, and turn around and support a charity!)

the diff is between being awake and asleep.

EXHALE - sit up - feeling good naturally - don;t need anything from outside

everyone wants comfort -- every addict -- every worshipper - every businessman - comfort, peace, is the goal of all strife. When you sit quietly, breathing, the body is healthy, there are no worries in the brain, there is comfort. that state is precious and must be guarded. craving destroys that state -- it's important to pay attention to the state of the body, understand its cravings, etc............ The society does't love you -- it tolerates cig advertising in every train station -- everywhere you look.

The tobacco industry crooks don't love you -- they just want your money.

______________________________________________

13 year old smoker: is it your problem?

- yes

-why?

-because you’re my brother.

______________________________________________

he: I smoke because i'm often nervous... when i go on holiday i smoke less. ... [stresses of modern life].

he: as a young person you try then you get wiser when you're older (but by then it's too hard to stop)...

______________________________________________

- It’s not your friend. It’ll make you Miserable. So why do it?

- sucht

- come on, wake up! … and he’s not your friend because he gives you cigarettes. (his friend asked for the cig back and put it back in the pack).

______________________________________________

today i met a 17 yr old (smokes 1 pack a day) and a 60 yr old (smokes 3 packs a day) who want to stop but can't.

______________________________________________

in reggae concert told the kids: is it really necessary? smoking pot...

______________________________________________

2 laughing girls: very typical answers: :

do you like all the 10 cigs you smoke in a day?

yes because if I didn't I would stop

not "because" -- you either like all of them or you don't.

i like them all

you're hopeless

what about you?

i smoke more than 10 a day and some of them i don't like

........

are you trying to save us?

i am just trying to show what is happening: you spend your money on something that makes you suffer and you keep on doing it and not do anything about it.

______________________________________________

Saw an 11 yr old smoker in baden today

______________________________________________

J.King: i admire you for putting a no-smoking sign on the guitar!

______________________________________________

met flower girl smoking: what happens if you give cigarettes to flowers?

- they'd die - they'd cry - so why do it to your boy?

she: i started and i can't stop.

______________________________________________

you got away yesterday too easily :-)

 

what I was going to say was just 1 thing - the biggest lesson I learned in trying to quit:

 

any deferral to the future is just a trick of the mind to remain with the addiction now

______________________________________________

> I am not sure if it is deferral or lack of confidence that I could make it...

Statistically, 3 to 5% of those who want to quit can. So your lack of confidence is warranted.

If you really want to do it, meaning, you're sick and tired of being dependant on something that costs, smells, etc., and is so anti-life that it causes disease. I knew several people who died from it and in every case it was a long painful death. You know all this. What I propose is understanding and learning instead of knowledge.

Really, the gist of it is the subject of psychological change. Have you read any boks by J. Krishnamurti?

Here's the article.

Good luck. We can talk anytime you like on the subject!

______________________________________________

> Hi,

> I don't have a lot of time ti write, but i just wanted to tell you that i think

> you're totally right. Personnaly, i've been smoking from 13 years old, but never

> really...The problem is that when something sad happens to you (and it's my

> case now), i begin to smoke...Except that, i do a lot of sport and i really

> think my body is healthy. Unfortunatly, too much young people are smoking in

> Europe, like all of my friend. For me, it's as stupid as i am when i am out

> drinking alcool. I've been travelling in Africa, in Cuba, In Martinique

> and i always think that there's smth in Europe which makes people sad, deep

> inside. I'll b a social worker, and the hardest thing in Geneva is that people

> are alone w their sadness...they're not hungry or poor, they're just sad. Take

> care of yourself. Cindy

______________________________________________

"you miss the best things when you take drugs" Sarah S. (she sang with a techno group -- others took drugs but she ate apples).

______________________________________________

that cigarette AND that pepsi makes you unhappy.

______________________________________________

talk w/ 16 year old who only smokes 2 a day:

you're crazy for smoking........

2 becomes 10 becomes 20 and 95% can't quit and are unhappy....

so why do something that'll make you unhappy? why? think about it.

______________________________________________

smoking is terrible. don't do it to your body. get smart.

______________________________________________

this (cig) is your enemy. it pretends to be your friend but it makes you suffer, so it's evil.

smoking will make you unhappy - it'll make you suffer.

really?

you don't know it? you will. the sooner you quit the better off you are.

______________________________________________

oct

why do you smoke?

- because everyone smokes

if everyone jumps off the clip, will you? everyone who smokes suffers or will suffer......

 [he thought i was 20 years old :-))

______________________________________________

Met 16 yr old who said she’s addicted and can’t stop smoking cigs.

______________________________________________

4 nov 03 

talk w/ very young girl Olivia -- probably 13 year old.

 - this cig is going to make you very very unhappy. it's not a toy. you don't play with it. it's very very serious. stop it.

- i have problems

- it doesn't help with your problems. it makes them worse. it will bring you new problems.

- ok.

- ... here's my website. write to me if you want to talk.

______________________________________________

28 nov

 She admitted she doesn't like smoking and knows it's stupid to smoke. She said she smokes for her country: "there are too many old people here". government wants the cig tax to support them. So she thinks she's doing good by smoking.

- You are suffering, right? It makes you unhappy.

- right....maybe

- not maybe, surely, there are clear reasons why.

- i might get hit with a car tomorrow.

- Quality is important. Even if you live one more minuet you should live happily. Why put this ugly junk in your system that makes you suffer?

______________________________________________

 Hey guys -- nice meeting you all -- hope your holiday was nice...

 Remember, one out of every three smoker dies from it - and it's usually in a painful way. Don't get fooled by the society's utter inattention. It doesn't care for you. As long as you submit it is happy. Society is corrupt. You have to sometimes turn your back to it and its ways of decadance. Step out of it and then you naturally change it. Remember, the addiction makes the mind play tricks on itself and the most common excuse, trick, is that this is not the right time: defer it for future, and end up one of the unhappy people you see who submit to the ways of decadance like sheeps, and suffer.

 Good luck

Take care

and check out www.rezamusic.com

______________________________________________

 this guy was not a teen: "you should have respect for people around you and not smoke in public".

i am so fed up with these stupid smokers in swiss restaurants - even in the vegetarian restaurant -- you just can not get away from the smoke.

______________________________________________

 Take your cig outside…I don’t care if there is an ashtray is there or not, you’re violating my right to breath clean air.

______________________________________________

 Smoking is not cool little girl - why do something that takes your money and makes you unhappy?

takes my money, yes, unhappy, no.

how many ...?

..

the ones you don't like makes you unhappy!

 

oh ya! you're right !! :-)

______________________________________________

 

this is not cool. it's stupid. makes you suffer.

 

canadian chap: so nice to hear someone say something bad about smoking in Europe.

______________________________________________

let me give u something to read to help u w/ your misery of being a smoker, and if you're not you'll be if u continue this way.

______________________________________________

 take it seriously - it's your life, it's your health, it's your happiness. You don't need this shit to be happy.

______________________________________________--

 she said her mom is on oxygen 24 hours 7 days a week - she is 63 - and is severly ill from having been a smoker

______________________________________________

 why do you smoke?

 - i don't know

 then it's probably not necessary. if it was the reason for doing it would be obvious...

______________________________________________

 She smokes b/c of stress

 Playing w. fire

 Ultimately makes u miserable

______________________________________________

RG: Smoking’s no good

It’s fine

RG: If you like it but you probably don’t like it but still do it.

Better I smoke than you

RG: We’re all family

______________________________________________

smoking cuts off the main connection with the universe - the breath - and poisoning the blood and body cells makes them more susceptible to "negative psychic forces" / it's easier to attract negative forces when we poison our own being.

 it's against the body's nature - so quitting smoking makes the immune system having to fight less constantly with extra poisons - makes the body more comfortable - the brain clearer -

 is it possible to live without any dependence ?

 remember, the mind tricks itself by deferring it - as you read this you may think , one day , some day, or have a future event in mind as an excuse but these are just the mind's excuses for staying with the addiction.

 reading my article might help - discussing psychological and bodily addiction.... i also made some videos -

good luck.

______________________________________________

Another sad story of a smoker enslaved to the Tobacco mafia. Every bit

of the story is sad, boring and pathetic. I am tired of talking with

smokers, specially older ones. But I tried -- the main theme being:

attention. It's a sad vicious circle of cig making the body feel

miserable and then smoking to combat the misery which is disgusting and

hopeless. And this government, oldest democracy in the world, is not

doing anything fundamental about it -- they must love the cigarette

tax. Yesterday, walking into Balgrist in Zurich, world class

hospital, it stunk from cigarette smoke. Go shopping in Coop in

Tagipark, huge supermarket, and you have no choice, whether you're

young or old, sick or healthy, child or adult, to inhale poison gas

upon entering the store, and the pathetic explanation of the company

has been: when it's mandated by law, we will make our restaurant

non-smoking. Hello!? Migro's, another chain, already made their

restaurants non-smoking. Why can't Coop? Fear of losing the

revenue of coffee or whatever that the slaves of the Tobacco mafia

consume? Even the Green party bats for smokers. What could you expect

from the Conservatives then?  [copied to smoking file,

smoking-swiss file, Green party members, the fine gentleman CEO of

 Coop, and a few other members of Coop].

______________________________________________

 SOMEONE WROTE:

I bet if there is a BIG campaign / ad stating - "Smokers lack the sense of hygiene", I bet few will be embarrassed to do it instead of thinking they are cool when they are putting poison in their body.

 The rest will not care because stinking and/or not stinking is the same for them.

  Most ads just talk about health, people really don't care about that.

 Little story: A guy asked me to give him a ride because his car would not start. I called a taxi for him and paid for it. He asked me why I did it and I told him that he can't ride with me because I do not want my car to stink. Sorry no smokers allow in my car. Never talked to me again. Good for him. He got my massage.

 Put down the cigar or live with your stinky shame. Plain and simple

 It’s important to feel the urgency of the situation. The path every smoker is on is a very dangerous one and odds are heavily against them. It’s important to at least see that the mind plays tricks on itself by deferring quitting to future – all thoughts including “I need something to substitute with cigarettes” is the same movement of avoidance denial deferral. If you think quitting immediately now is not possible then at least bring order, prepare the ground.

 All one can and needs to do is to look and understand dependence. Then this nasty habit just falls away.


SMOKING RELATED ARTICLES AND NEWS 

(I COLLECTED THESE FOR A WHILE -- THIS SECTION IS NOT UPDATED)

reprinted with kiond permission of Mr. Oscar Falconi 

© 1971 Oscar Falconi

Wholesale Nutrition

PO Box 3345

Saratoga CA 95070

www.nutri.com

 

Facts About Smoking

 Cigarette, cigar, and pipe-smoking are so debilitating that the immediate cessation of the habit is always the first step of any program to improve one's health - even more important than vitamins, diet, or exercise.

 International studies of millions of people by government, industry, universities, and private research institutions have determined that smoking can cause:

stained teeth, fingers, and hair;

increased frequency of colds, particularly chest colds and bronchitis;

asthma;

neuralgia;

gastrointestinal difficulties, constipation, diarrhea, and colitis;

headaches;

nausea;

convulsions;

leukoflakia (smoker's patch);

insomnia;

heart murmur;

Buerger's disease (inflammation of blood vessel linings);

shortness of breath;

arthritis;

smoker's hack;

nervousness;

wrinkles and premature aging;

tension;

gastric, duodenal, and peptic ulcers;

lung cancer;

cancer of the lip, tongue, pharynx, larynx, and bladder;

emphysema;

high blood pressure;

heart disease;

artherosclerosis & arteriosclerosis (thickening and loss of

. elasticity of the blood vessels with lessened blood flow);

inflammation of the sinus passages;

tobacco angina (nicotine angina pectoris);

pneumonia;

influenza;

pulmonary tuberculosis;

tobacco amblyopia;

impared hearing;

decreased sexual activity;

and mental depression.

 

Blood flow to the extremities is decreased (cold hands and feet). One puff lowers the temperature in the fingertips 1ºF to 3ºF in 3 minutes.

Nicotine affects the nerve-muscle junctions, causing tremors and shaking. Nicotine causes narrowing and constriction of the arteries, adding to the heart's load. Nicotine, through its ability to stimulate, causes excitement and anxiety. But the effect wears off, often a period of depression follows, whereupon another cigarette is taken. Nicotine, an insecticide, makes the blood more viscous and decreases the available oxygen. It also adversely affects the breathing, sweating, intestinal, and heart actions of our autonomic nervous system, probably due to hindering the blood flow to the nerve centers in the brain. 

Two to four cigarettes in a row increase blood fats 200 to 400%. The average smoker (30 cigerettes per day) has 4 to 6 times the chance of having heart disease if he's in the 45-54 year age group.

If the mother smoked during pregnancy, her baby will average 6 ounces less and its pulse will be 30% faster than a non-smoker's baby, and there'll be withdrawal symptoms in the baby after birth. Premature birth has been related to smoking by the mother. There is a direct link between parents' smoking and children's respiratory disease.

Smoking causes widespread permanent destruction of the tiny air sacs (alveoli) and narrowing of small blood vessels in the lungs, decreasing the oxygen supply, requiring a higher blood pressure, thus causing extensive circulatory problems and premature heart attacks. Smokers have difficulty running and exercising.

The cilia are tiny, delicate, hairlike coverings on the thin membrane of the surface of the lungs and trachea that, by means of their whipping, beating action, produce an upward current of foreign material and mucus from the lungs which is then swallowed or expectorated. This is the way the body cleans the lungs. This delicate lung-cleaning mechanism, in a cigarette smoker, at first paralyzes, then deteriorates, and is eventually made inoperative, through the complete destruction of the cilia. The smoker then must resort to coughing as a lung-cleaning method. This isn't efficient, and more than a cupful of tars will have accumulated in his lungs by the time of his premature death.

Air pollution (auto exhausts, industry wastes, etc.) increases the lung cancer rate of the smoker, but not of the non-smoker. Apparently, the lung-cleaning cilia are alive and working for the non-smoker.

The time to recover from any specific ill, whether caused by smoking or not, is much longer for the smoker. Often, a non-smoker will survive a sickness from which he would have died had he smoked.

The non-smoker has no need to spend money to buy cigarettes, matches, lighters, holders, ashtrays, or to spend a dime a mile for that special trip to the store. Just the cigarettes alone amount to an average of $250 per year, after taxes - wasted. Add another $250 if the spouse smokes. This is hard-earned, after-tax, money of yours, used to pay for the above smoking paraphernalia - plus tax! (Please note: these are 1971 figures.)

By dying earlier, the smoker will lose many tens of thousands of dollars in social security and other benefits which will naturally end up in the pockets of the non-smoker. The cigarette tax is more money from the smoker to the non-smoker.

The smoker is sick more often, explaining why he misses an average of 7½ work days per year, usually with a loss of pay, while the non-smoker will miss only 4½ days.

The smoker must spend valuable time looking for ashtrays, cigarettes, matches, retail stores, vending machines, or change for these machines. He experiences displeasure if they aren't immediately at hand. Just the process of deciding on "which brand" wastes vast amounts of mental, physical, and financial resources.

The overall bad health of the smoker results, on average, in a decrease of 8.3 years in his life expectancy, or about 12 to 14 minutes per cigarette. Just in lost social security income alone, this amounts to about a 5¢ a cigarette. The actual cost of each cigarette when you include extra medical expenses, lost pay, etc., is of the order of 25¢ per cigarette (1971 figures).

Just the extra medical expenses alone can be expected to eventually use up all of a smoker's hard-earned savings, already depleted by the high cost of smoking. By the time non-smokers get sick, Medicare will foot their medical bills.

The smoker's body requires more sleep every night. This extra sleep must come from his spare time. Besides needing more sleep, smokers don't sleep as well.

Smoking destroys vitamins, particularly vitamin C and the B's. Smoking has induced cancer in dogs. Insurance rates can be higher for smokers. Some 100,000 doctors stop smoking every year.

Foods will taste much better to non-smokers. Many subtle flavors and aromas will be savored if your nasal and oral senses are freed of the effects of harsh chemicals, coal tars, and other combustion products. How long has it been since you've experienced the smell of fresh-cut grass or the delicate taste of lobster from Maine or Nova Scotia?

Other disadvantages of smoking: You must always carry cigarettes and matches; your pockets bulge - or there's less space in your purse; smelly breath; smelly house; smelly clothes; messy rugs and furniture, often burned; cigarettes lying around for kids to smoke (and matches to light); you're a bad influence on kids; you're held in low esteem by your kids and your friends (even your smoking friends); the inside of your home and auto windows need cleaning more often; death or property loss due to smoking in bed.

Some 120 persons have died in two airline crashes that have been attributed to ashtray and lighter-fluid fires. Cigarette smoke collects with lint and is known to gum up delicate mechanisms such as aircraft controls.

Smokers get into more auto accidents due to being less alert, having slower reflexes, and also due to fussing around while driving (lighting up, etc.). In Czechoslovakia it's illegal to smoke while driving. Accident-proneness has been related to smoking.

A non-smoker would have to put on an additional 150 pounds in order to increase his mortality rate to that of an average smoker.

The fact that the tobacco industry provides work, that wouldn't exist without it, is a myth. The money now wasted on tobacco, if diverted elsewhere, would create a wealth of new job openings in industries producing goods and services more useful to the society than cigarettes.

Smoking makes a person irritable and argumentative, partially due to a subconscious knowledge of all of the above facts. Smoking has been related to brain damage and premature senility.

A smoker needs much more food and sleep since nicotine makes his body work harder and less efficiently and his heart beat faster, thus using more fuel and energy. This, together with the fact that a smoker loses much of his appetite and his taste for food, explains why smokers have less trouble keeping their weight down. When one quits smoking, it's IMPERATIVE that the intake of food is drastically reduced in order to keep the body weight normal. Having to eat less is of course an additional saving of time and money.

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone quit smoking? There'd be less general litter, no more butts, ashes, or wrappers in the streets, grass, urinals, etc.; no more smoke in restaurants, theaters, airplanes or buses; a more alert society, with more spare time to enjoy or improve their lot in life; fewer auto, plane, on-the-job, and household accidents; fewer forest fires; less air pollution; lower auto and life insurance rates; and fewer people coughing and spitting in public. By inflicting smoke on your non-smoking friends, it's been shown that even THEIR health and life expectancy are adversely affected.

Notice how many of your friends have quit smoking in the last 5 years. They're the smart ones (and you know it). Lower intelligence has been related to smoking. In fact, smoking is both a cause and an effect of lower intelligence, just as smoking is both a cause and effect of lower income. The (smoking)-(lower-intelligence)-(lower-income)-(more smoking) vicious circle can unknowingly spiral a brainwashed young person down and down into the depths of poverty and despair. He'll not be as physically or mentally able to cope with life's challenges. Our successful capitalistic system is based on competition, and the physically-mentally handicapped smoker inevitably ends up at the bottom of the heap. So get smart, today, now, and join the happy, healthy ranks of the non-smokers.

Quitting the Filthy Habit

The smoker's body cells have become addicted to nicotine, and to quit smoking won't be easy, since withdrawal symptoms can be expected. Here are some helpful tips that might ease the quitting process:

If you're a light smoker, you should quit immediately, only moderately shocking your system.

The heavy smoker should allow two weeks for cutting down, then quit completely. An extended cutting-down period only prolongs the pain. Prepare for an agonizing month or two, though you might get off easily. The close family must give up, too, at least in your presence. It'd of course be best if the whole family quit at once. The pain and agony you'll suffer can be relieved completely in most persons by taking vitamin C to bowel tolerance. That means to take as little as one gram or as many as fifty grams (50,000 milligrams) every day until you reach the point of liquid diarrhea, then decrease the amount until your stools are normal. But "normal", for many smokers, means frequent constipation. Stools must always be soft, never, ever, necessitating any straining.

If anti-smoking drugs help (Nikoban, Bantron, Pronicotyl), good, but be prepared to find they won't. Vitamins C and B1 and tranquilizers often help to decrease irritability and other withdrawal symptoms.

After eating don't sit down. Take a walk instead. Try to avoid situations that you associate with smoking, such as sitting in your favorite chair, particularly after dinner. Try to avoid situations that are conducive to smoking, such as bars, meetings, and boredom. Don't invite smoking friends over during the critical first few months. Never, anytime, let them smoke in your soon-to-be smell-free home. In fact, after you've quit for a few months, you'll notice how your clothes still have a strong residual smell of an ashtray. It may be necessary to clean or clear away every source of that smell, usually from carpets and clothes. Then get ready for a new life of clean lungs and great health. Your non-smoking friends won't avoid you anymore now that you no longer smell like an ashtray.

When you get that urge to smoke (and you will), drink some water. If that doesn't work, suck a prune and keep the pit in your mouth for an hour. Try the buddy system: phone a friend who's also trying to quit. Think of the satisfaction of not having given in to that filthy urge. Think how bad you'll feel if you do give in. Think about how your cigarette money helps support those hypocritical tobacco companies whose income is derived at the expense of the health, wealth, happiness, efficiency, and resources of the addicted smoker.

Keep this sheet with you at all times, and re-read it when necessary, to refresh your memory of all the ugly disadvantages of smoking, and all the advantages of not smoking.

Try to avoid calories, but if you find that substituting food for cigarettes helps you give up smoking, then by all means have an apple, gum, beef jerky, or a prune. If at all possible, exercise a bit every day, especially when you get the urge to smoke. It's a good substitute, and you'll find that exercising comes much easier as a non-smoker.

After giving up, that filthy urge may remain for several years, so don't start again. Some people are lucky in that after a few months the thought of smoking makes them sick. But don't bank on being lucky.

Cigarette displays, cigarette ads, cigarette machines, anything having to do with smoking, must be looked upon in your mind as existing only for those poor unfortunates who are addicted to that filthy habit.

Life's too good and too short to waste on that filthy habit.


June Russell's Health Facts http://www.jrussellshealth.com/

< thanks to June Russell >

Smoking — Overvie 

Prevalence of Smoking

One-third of the world’s adult population are smokers (47% of these are men, 7% are women) and each year, tobacco causes 3.5 million deaths a year, or about 10,000 deaths each day. It is predicted that in 20 years this yearly death rate from tobacco use will be more than 10 million people. This dwarfs other health problems like AIDS or maternal deaths.

{“Global Tobacco Epidemic, according to WHO,” ASH Review, May/June }

An estimated 50 million Americans are smokers (25% of the population). About 20 million smokers try to break the habit every year, with only about a million actually managing to quit. Another million become new smokers annually.

{“Anytime’s a Good Time to Quit Smoking,” Washington Post Health, July 11, }

An estimated 48 million U.S. adults currently smoke: 28% of men and 22% of women. Adult smoking has remained unchanged.

{ABCNEWS.Com, Jan. }

The CDC says smoking among young adults, ages 18 to 24, has been rising for the first time to the level of those 25 to 44. High school rates are even higher. Banning smoking in the workplace and other smoking restrictions are the major reason for decline in people who smoke.

{John Banzhaf, head of ASDH - Action on Smoking, HealthCentral.com - May }

Over one million smokers of the 50 million are stopping yearly, but one million teenagers are picking up the habit. Presently 10% of the doctors smoke in the U.S. (One fourth of the Japanese doctors smoke.)

Smoking in developing countries is rising by more than 3% a year.

{“Tobacco Deceit,” Washington Post, Aug. 3, }

Effect of Smoking on Life Span

“Action on Smoking and Health” tells us that a 30-year-old smoker can expect to live about 35 more years, whereas a 30-year-old nonsmoker can expect to live 53 more years. The children of a parent or parents who smoke may be at risk from the genetic damage done to the parent before conception (because of their previous smoking), the direct effects to them in the womb, and the passive smoke they are exposed to after they are born.

{“Smokers urged to weigh the ‘facts’ during the ‘Great American Smoke-Out,’ Vital Signs, The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Virginia, Nov. 14, written by June Russell, a member of Smoke-Free Charlottesville}

The amount of life expectancy lost for each pack of cigarettes smoked is 28 minutes, and the years of life expectancy a typical smoker loses is 25 years.

{“Dying to Quit,” book by Janet Brigham}

Every cigarette a man smokes reduces his life by 11 minutes. Each carton of cigarettes thus represents a day and a half of lost life. Every year a man smokes a pack a day, he shortens his life by almost 2 months.

{University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, April }

There are some 1.1 billion people who smoke on our planet earth. Just less than one-third of all adults in the world smoke regularly. Tobacco deaths will not only occur in old age but will start when smokers are about age 35. Half of those who die from smoking-related causes will die in middle age, each losing about 25 years of life expectancy. More than 95% of the tobacco consumed is in the form of cigarettes. About half of all smokers who undergo lung cancer take up smoking again.

{“Dying to Quit,” a book by Janet Brigham}

Physiology and Psychology of Smoking

Most smokers perceive the immediate effect of smoking as something positive; a stimulant that makes them seem to feel more alert, clearheaded and able to focus on work. However, the smoker’s perception is mostly an illusion. Take a look at what smoke does to the brain.

Within ten seconds of the first inhalation, nicotine, a potent alkaloid, passes into the bloodstream, transits the barrier that protects the brain from most impurities, and begins to act on brain cells. Nicotine molecules fit like keys into the “nicotinic” receptors on the surface of the brain’s neurons. In fact, nicotine fits the same “keyholes” as one of the brain’s most important neurotransmitters (signal chemicals), acetycholine, which results in a rush of stimulation and an increase in the flow of blood to the brain.

After ten puffs have flowed through the lungs, the smoker feels energized and clearheaded, but this is partly due to the fact that this was a period which ended a nicotine depravation, and another is about to happen. Within 30 minutes, the nicotine is reduced and the smoker feels the energy slipping away. A second cigarette is lit, and there is another surge of adrenaline, but now there is a feeling of one of the paradoxes of smoking, that at one dose it can stimulate, at another soothe. The muscles throughout your body starts to relax, and your pain threshold rises.

Another 30 minutes pass and the attention of the smoker increasingly drifts away from work and toward the nearby pack of cigarettes. Nicotine prompts brain cells to grow many more nicotinic receptors which allow the brain to function normally despite an unnatural amount of acetylcholine-like chemical acting on it, so the smoker feels normal when nicotine floods the neurons and abnormal when it doesn't. “You might say smokers live near the edge of a cliff,” says Jack Henningfield of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Baltimore. “Most are never more than a few hours away from the start of nicotine withdrawal symptoms.”

The American Psychiatric Association classifies smoking withdrawal as a “nicotine-induced organic mental disorder,” and several studies have compared active smokers with ‘deprived’ smokers (those suffering nicotine withdrawal) on their ability to perform simple skill tests. These are often cited (and many were funded) by the tobacco industry as evidence that tobacco enhances alertness and performance. What they really show is that nicotine withdrawal causes dramatic mental dysfunction. Research revealed that a smoker might perform adequately at many jobs until the job gets complicated: a smoker could drive a car satisfactorily as long as everything was routine, but if a tire blew out at high speed he might not handle the job as well as a nonsmoker.

{“How Cigarettes Cloud the Brain,” Reader’s Digest, March}

In 1980, tobacco dependence was listed as a mental disorder in the official diagnostic reference for the American Psychiatric Association. The Psychiatric Association reported that smokers have a higher lifetime frequency of substance abuse, severe depression and anxiety disorders involving aggression and antisocial behavior.

The Pritikin Program states that smoking accelerates problems that come with old age, and shows up earlier in smokers, for example, premature osteoporosis. Smoking changes bone tissue, making it easier for minerals to leave the bone in solution. Smoking increases lung and bladder cancer. A smoker loses 26% of his field of vision. There is also hearing and visual impairment, taste impairment and general loss of physiological and mental function. It takes four to six days for the withdrawal symptoms to subside. After that, 90% of their problem is gone.

Risk Areas

Cigarette smoking harms the body by raising cholesterol levels and blood pressure, as well as increasing the risk of cancer and cataracts. Smoking destroys certain vitamins and creates the need for other specific nutrients.

{“Addictive substances: Nicotine,” Lets Live Magazine, Oct.}

Smokers are 4 times more likely to have gray hair and increased hair loss (British Medical Journal, Science News, Jan. 11}

No amount of smoking is free of risk. The exact amount of risk depends on how long you've smoked and how deeply the you inhale, as well as genetic factors.

(UCBerkeley Wellness Letter, June }

Smoking is associated with a decline in physical function that makes a smoker act several years older than he/she really is. Tobacco smoking reduces the effectiveness of medications, such as pain relievers, antidepressants, tranquilizers, sedatives, ulcer medication and insulin. With estrogen and oral contraceptives, smoking may increase the risk of heart and blood-vessel disease. Currently, smoking kills 1 in 10 adults worldwide.

{Information Plus - The Information Series on Current Topics, “Alcohol and Tobacco, America’s Drugs of Choice,” }

Smoking makes tinnitus worse, says Dr. Harold Pillsbury, University of NC, Professor of Surgery and Otolaryngology.

{People’s Pharmacy, Public Radio, July 24, }

Other research shows that smokers have an increased risk of heart disease (including stroke, chest pain and palpitations), cancer, emphysema, fatigue, loss of vitamins and nutrients, premature aging, gastrointestinal disorders, osteoporosis, sinus congestion and throat irritation. According to medical reports, colds, flu and laryngitis last much longer for those who smoke.

Smoking causes an increased stress in the whole body even though there seems to be a lessening of stress when the body gets its ‘fix’ from the nicotine. Dr. Norman Shealy, a physician with the Shealy Institute for Comprehensive Pain and Health Care in Springfield, MO, tells us that smokers tend to consume other drugs and chemicals more frequently than nonsmokers, and have a lower threshold for pain, possibly because smoking stimulates adrenaline and also blocks one of the body’s natural pain relievers. Smokers are more vulnerable to headaches.

Driving skills are negatively affected for both the smoker and those who breathe the passive smoke. In his book, “The Risk of Passive Smoke,” Roy Shepard tells us that tobacco smoke impairs the ability to judge time intervals and muscle responsiveness, as well as vision and memory. Also affected is the learning ability and a variety of reasoning tasks employed during test taking.

Dr. Edward Koop, past Surgeon General, tells us in his book, “The Memoirs of an American Family Doctor,” that emphysema is found almost exclusively in smokers, and that 35% of all cancers are from smoking.

In her book, “The Scientific Case against Smoking,” Ruth Winter writes that the use of tobacco is one of the primary, but frequently unrecognized contributors to drug interactions, and there can be errors in reading the diagnostic tests of the smokers because of the differences of the normal blood levels of several elements. Drugs taken by the smoker can interact, causing them to be weaker, stronger, or not effective.

Dr. John Farquhar, in his book, “The Last Puff,” tells us that 95% of those who die from lung cancer are smokers. Lung cancer is killing more women than breast cancer, and cervical cancer is increased 8 to 17 times because of the increased concentration of nicotine on the cervical mucus; pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) is worsened as well.

One out of four adults smoke now as compared to 4 out of 10 in the 1940’s. (Energy Times magazine, Feb. }

Military studies of those in basic training show that those who smoke are 50% more likely than nonsmokers to injure themselves with sprains and fractures.

{People’s Pharmacy, Public Radio, April 15, - Show # 309}

People who smoke are more likely to have sinusitis.

{Reuters Health, HealthCentral, Aug. }

Cigarettes don't just damage the heart and lungs: they also interfere with the healing of bone and muscle injuries, and they lead to higher rates of complications after surgery.

{CBS HealthWatch, Aug. }

In general, adolescents, whites and women are the groups most susceptible to becoming dependent on nicotine, even when using the same amount of nicotine as other groups. Women also smoked fewer cigarettes than men but have a higher rate of dependence.

{“Nicotine most likely to hook women, whites and young,” Reuters Health, healthcentral.com }

Smoking has been linked in medical studies to more than 25 diseases, including heart disease, strokes, respiratory illness and several forms of cancer.

{John Banzhaf, head of Action on Smoking, HealthCentral.com }

Long-time smokers may face an increased risk of multiple sclerosis say Harvard researchers.

{“Smoking risk factor for multiple sclerosis,” HealthCentral.com }

Even though studies show that kicking the habit has immediate health effects, it is clear there are permanent ones. Smokers, even those who quit years ago, have damage to their genes that can lead to cancer. There is molecular damage in the lungs of people who smoked only a pack a day for a year.

{Anderson Cancer Center, HealthCentral - Reuters News, June }

While smoking is a well-known risk factor for heart disease and cancer, the habit can wreak havoc on bones and muscles, and smokers not only fare worse after certain surgical procedures, they are more likely to see them fail. Because smoking impedes the blood supply to the lower spine, it is also linked to chronic low back pain and degenerative disk disease.

{“Smokers found to fare worse after bone surgery,” presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, investigators were from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, Reuters Health, HealthCentral.com - }

The information placed on low-nicotine brands is deceptive, and the filters which dilute the smoke when tested on the machine simulation do not appear to have the same effect as on humans. The Journal of the National Cancer Institute reports that people who smoke ‘light’ or ‘mild’ cigarettes inhale up to eight times as much tar and nicotine as printed on the label.

{“‘Mild’ cigarettes still pack nicotine punch,” Reuters Health, healthcentral.com - Jan. }

Cigarette smoke transforms healthy saliva into a deadly cocktail that can accelerate cancer, according to new research in the British Journal of Cancer. Normally, saliva - which contains antioxidants - provides a protective buffer in the lining of the mouth for the enzymes that fight and neutralize harmful substances. New research shows that the chemicals in tobacco smoke destroy these enzymes, leaving a corrosive mix that damages the cells of the mouth, and can eventually turn these cells cancerous.

{“Cigarette smoke transforms healthy saliva into a deadly cocktail that can accelerate mouth cancer,“ Medical News Today, June }

Statistics

Smokers in their thirties and forties are five times more likely to have a heart attack as nonsmokers of the same age, says WHO.

{Washington Post Health, June 26}

The addiction to smoking gives a 50% chance of killing the user: three times the risk of playing Russian roulette.

{ASH - Jan./Feb. }

 

Tobacco is a mood-altering, addictive drug that kills 500,000 Americans (200 million worldwide) and costs $400 billion each year, according to “Smoking and Health Review,” . We are told by the American Lung Association that tobacco contains more than 4,000 chemicals, 60 of which cause cancer. Some of the ‘killers’ are radioactivity, arsenic, ammonia, lead, formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide, cadmium, phenol, benzene and hydrogen cyanide (the ‘gas chamber’ gas that poisons the respiratory enzymes).

Although smoking is a constant and chronic irritant to the body tissues, it is also a high-priced addictive pleasure (and sometimes displeasure) that is costly, not only in dollars but lives as well. In the U.S. alone, cigarette smoking causes over 1,000 deaths a day or a half-a-million lives a year, is responsible for 25% of the cancer deaths, and 30 to 40% of coronary heart disease. Smoking decreases life expectancy for all age groups, and for those who must breathe the passive smoke. There are 4,000 chemicals (lead, cyanide, arsenic, etc.) in cigarette smoke and over 30 of them carcinogenic. The act of smoking desensitizes the smoker to outside stimuli, and it is estimated that a smoker costs an employer about $5,000 yearly.

Smoking has about a 50% chance of killing the smoker. This is three times the risk of playing a round of Russian roulette.

{“How YOU Pay The Price,” ASH Smoking and Health Review, Jan./Feb. }

WHO estimates that smoking kills more than four million people a year, This figure may rise to 10 million per year by 2030 because of surging tobacco use in developing countries.

{AP, “WHO accuses tobacco companies,” HealthCentral.com - Aug. }

At least 625,000 individuals in the Americas die each year from tobacco use, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Tobacco use seems to be on the rise in most countries in the Americas. What is needed is for governments to implement the recommendations of a report of the World Bank that was released last year. Ways to reduce tobacco use: increase taxes, restrict advertising, restricting smoking indoors, and strong, meaningful, and visible warnings on cigarette packages.

{“Tobacco kills 625,000 in the Americas each year.” Reuters Sept. }

The cost of one pack of cigarettes is increased by $7 when medical and other costs are included in the price.

{Morbidity and Mortality Weekly, Report ;51: 300-302}

Comments by the Author

Smoking decreases physical fitness and vitality, and when you add the offensive breath and body odor that smokers exude, the chances of attracting the opposite sex is greatly diminished.

Those who take up smoking and become addicted can be doomed to have it be the center of their life:” Where are my cigarettes,” “I hope I have enough cigarettes so I won't run out,” “I wish I could stop this nasty habit,” “God, they taste so good,” “I am really going to try and smoke less today.”

Even if a smoker quits there are the months and years (for some individuals a lifetime) of energy focused on trying not to start again, and being driven by the urge to “smoke just one cigarette.”

Quitting smoking will be a minor task compared to the suffering and ill health that will result if you do not quit. If you haven't started, DON'T — if you now smoke, QUIT — and remember to stay away from passive smoke.

  

VARIOUS TOBACCO AND POT FACTS I COLLECTED A LONG TIME AGO

    Tobacco plant (genus Nicotiana) of the NIGHTSHADE family,

   and the product manufactured from its leaf and used in

   cigars and cigarettes, snuff, and pipe and chewing

   tobacco. The chief commercial species, N. tabacum, is

   believed native to tropical America. The tobacco plant is

   a coarse, large-leaved perennial, but it is usually

   cultivated as an annual. Tobacco requires a warm

   climate and rich, well-drained soil. After being picked,

   the leaves are cured, fermented, and aged to develop

   aroma. The amount of nicotine (the ALKALOID

   responsible for tobacco's narcotic and soothing effect)

   varies, depending on tobacco strain, growing

   conditions, and processing. The use of tobacco

   originated among natives of the New World in

   pre-Columbian times. Introduced into Spain and

   Portugal in the mid-16th cent., initially as a panacea, it

   spread to other European countries, and by 1619

   tobacco had become a leading export crop of Virginia.

   Since the 1950s there has been concern over the harmful

   effects of nicotine, the tarry compounds, and CARBON

   MONOXIDE in tobacco smoke; smoking has been

   especially linked to lung cancer and heart disease.

 

[from Swiss magazine]

Tobacco came to Europe

in the 16Th century, following the colonisation of the Americas and contact

with the local inhabitants. Swedish soldiers spread the habit all over Europe

during the Thirty Years War; but smoking really became established with the

rise of the cigar in the 18th and the cigarette in the 19th century.

 

2012 -- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Major tobacco companies that spent decades denying they lied to the U.S. public about the dangers of cigarettes must spend their own money on a public advertising campaign saying they did lie, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The ruling sets out what might be the harshest sanction to come out of a historic case that the Justice Department brought in accusing the tobacco companies of racketeering.

Tobacco companies are targeting the half billion young people in the Asia Pacific region by linking smoking to glamorous and attractive lifestyles, the U.N. World Health Organization said Friday.

______________________________________________ 

BOSTON - A Massachusetts study suggests that restaurant smoking bans may play a big role in persuading teens not to become smokers. Youths who lived in towns with strict bans were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers than those in communities with no bans or weak ones, the researchers reported in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

______________________________________________ 

LONDON - As little as five minutes of exercise could help smokers quit, says a new study. Research published in the international medical journal Addiction showed that moderate exercise, such as walking, significantly reduced the intensity of smokers' nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

______________________________________________ 

MUNICH, Germany - Women typically get heart disease much later than men, but not if they smoke, researchers said Tuesday. In fact, women who smoke have heart attacks nearly 14 years earlier than women who don't smoke, Norwegian doctors reported in a study presented to the European Society of Cardiology.

______________________________________________ 

Secondhand Smoke Leaves Kids Prone to Severe Infections

In addition to developing asthma and respiratory infections, children in households where someone smokes are more likely to catch a whole range of severe infections, including meningococcal disease. Many even have to be hospitalized, a new study found.

______________________________________________

WASHINGTON - More than one in 10 pregnant women smoke, and new research suggests many of them also may suffer from depression, making kicking the habit even harder.

______________________________________________

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Otherwise healthy men who smoke risk developing erectile dysfunction -- and the more cigarettes they smoke, the greater the risk of erectile dysfunction, according to a new study.

______________________________________________

WASHINGTON - A federal judge ruled Thursday that the nation's top cigarette makers violated racketeering laws, deceiving the public for years about the health hazards of smoking, but said she couldn't order them to pay the billions of dollars the government had sought.

______________________________________________

GENEVA (AFP) - The World Health Organisation said Friday that only a total ban on all forms of tobacco advertising can stop the "constantly mutating virus" of the marketing industry and protect vulnerable young people.

______________________________________________

Dec 2008

ATLANTA – A smoking ban in one Colorado city led to a dramatic drop in heart attack hospitalizations within three years, a sign of just how serious a health threat secondhand smoke is, government researchers said

Wednesday. The study, the longest-running of its kind, showed the rate of hospitalized cases dropped 41 percent in the three years after the ban of workplace smoking in Pueblo, Colo., took effect. There was no such drop in two neighboring areas, and researchers believe it's a clear sign the ban was responsible.

______________________________________________

Men who smoke more than a pack of cigarettes a day are nearly 40 percent likelier to suffer from impotence than non-smokers, says a study.

______________________________________________

Smoking, Cancer Deaths Linked at p53 Gene

By Karin Twilde

 

Researchers at the School of Medicine have uncovered the

most conclusive evidence to date linking cigarette smoking to

cancer. Their findings, reported in the March 16 issue of the New

England Journal of Medicine, represent the strongest molecular

link between cigarette smoking, the most common cause of

cancer-related death, and mutation of the p53 gene, the most

common cancer-related genetic mutation.


California Declares Secondhand Smoke a Toxic Air Contaminant

 

January 31,

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News Summary


Regulators in California -- which often leads the nation on health and environmental issues -- have officially named secondhand tobacco smoke as a toxic air contaminant, setting the stage for further restrictions on smoking in the state, Reuters reported Jan. 26.

______________________________________________

AP:

Nev. Study Links Casino Smoke, DNA Damage

Mon May 15, 8:23 PM ET

RENO, Nev. - Five years of research led by a University of Nevada, Reno department head in Reno and Las Vegas casinos have concluded there is a direct correlation between exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace and damage to the employees' DNA.

"The more they were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, the more the DNA damage, and that's going to lead to a higher risk of heart disease and cancer down the road," said Chris Pritsos.

Funded by a $2.5 million grant from the

National Institutes of Health, the clinical trial followed 125 employees who work on the gambling floors of casinos in both northern and southern Nevada.

______________________________________________

 Smokers At Higher Risk for Erectile Dysfunction

 By Steven Reinberg

 

HealthDay Reporter Thu Mar 23, 11:47 PM ET

THURSDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking can shorten lives, and a new study finds it may also hamper men's sex lives.

Researchers say men who smoke a pack of cigarettes or more a day are nearly 40 percent more likely to have erectile dysfunction compared with nonsmokers.

______________________________________________

Passive smoking is breast cancer risk factor

By Michelle Rizzo Fri Dec 2,

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The results of studies "with thorough passive smoking exposure assessment" indicate that passive smoking raises the risk of breast cancer, especially in premenopausal women, to a similar degree as active smoking.

______________________________________________

Secondhand Smoke Linked to Cervical Cancer

Fri, Jan 21,

By Anthony J. Brown, MD


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Exposure to secondhand smoke appears to increase the risk of cervical cancer, albeit to a lesser extent than active smoking, new research shows.

"There was good reason to think that passive smoking might be associated with cervical cancer, given the link with active smoking," Dr. Anthony J. Alberg, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, told Reuters Health.

______________________________________________

Mar 10,

Report Links Second-Hand Smoke, Cancer

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer

 

SAN FRANCISCO - Scientists at an influential state agency have completed a draft report linking second-hand smoke to breast cancer, a finding that could lead air quality regulators to strengthen the state's indoor smoking laws.

It's the first major report to draw that connection, and one of many findings about the health effects of so-called environmental tobacco smoke, or ETS.

The 1,200-page report drafted by scientists at the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment draws on more than 1,000 other studies of the effects of second-hand smoke and details a range of health problems caused by exposure to it. These included respiratory complications, heart disease and several cancers, many of which have been extensively documented.

But the report also establishes a connection between so-called passive smoking and breast cancer — a disease that kills about 40,000 women in the United States each year.

______________________________________________

 Study: Cigarette Smoke May Harm Fertility

 By EMMA ROSS, AP Medical Writer Thu May 26,

 

GENEVA - New research suggests that exposure to other people's cigarette smoke may damage a woman's fertility, especially if she needs the help of an infertility clinic to get pregnant.

______________________________________________

Smoking Ups Impotence Risk in Younger Men

Feb 25

Health - Reuters 

By Amy Norton

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adding to evidence that smoking is bad for a man's sex life, new study findings show that smoking may raise the risk of impotence, particularly in younger men.

Researchers found that among the more than 1,300 men they followed, those who smoked were at greater risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) than either former smokers or non-smokers.

______________________________________________

 Thu, Sep 23,

 Ex-FDA Chief: Tobacco Cos. Fed Addiction

 Add Business - AP to My Yahoo! 

 By NANCY ZUCKERBROD, Associated Press Writer

 WASHINGTON - The former head of the Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) came under cross- examination Thursday after testifying that cigarette makers manipulated nicotine to keep smokers addicted, a central allegation in the federal government's $280 billion lawsuit against the industry.

______________________________________________

  Feds: Tobacco Firms Worked Together

  Tue, Sep 21,

  Add Business - AP to My Yahoo! 

 By NANCY ZUCKERBROD, Associated Press Writer

 WASHINGTON - Tobacco companies, desperate to maintain their hold on tens of millions of American smokers, worked together for decades to deceive the public about the dangers of cigarettes and to encourage the young to start puffing, government lawyers said Tuesday at the start of a racketeering trial.

Justice Department (news - web sites) lawyers pointed to numerous statements by industry executives that created doubt among smokers about whether the habit was harmful and whether they really needed to kick it.

"Defendants' strategy of denial worked, and they knew it," Justice lawyer Sharon Eubanks told U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler.

______________________________________________

More Seek Help for Marijuana Addiction

Fri Mar 4,

Top Stories - AP 

By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON - Treatment rates for marijuana nearly tripled, the government says, attributing the increase to greater use and potency.

"This report is a wake-up call for parents that marijuana is not a soft drug," said Tom Riley, a spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. "It's a much bigger part of the addiction problem than is generally understood."

______________________________________________

Study: Cigarettes Cost Society $40 a Pack

Thu Nov 25,   Health - AP 


DURHAM, N.C. - Cigarettes may cost smokers more then they believe. A study by a team of health economists finds the combined price paid by their families and society is about $40 per pack of cigarettes.

"It will be necessary for persons aged 24 and younger to face the fact that the decision to smoke is a very costly one — one of the most costly decisions they make," the study's authors concluded.

Smokers pay about $33 of the cost, their families absorb $5.44 and others pay $1.44, according to health economists from Duke University and a professor from the University of South Florida. The study drew on data including Social Security (news - web sites) earnings histories dating to 1951.

______________________________________________

 Secondhand smoke costs nearly $10 bln in U.S.-study

 Wed Aug 17

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The effects of secondhand smoke in the United States cost nearly $10 billion every year, according to a study released on Wednesday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Society of Actuaries said that the direct costs of secondhand smoke exposure are $4.98 billion, including expenses related to the treatment of heart disease, chronic pulmonary disease, lung cancer, asthma and other sicknesses.

The study also detailed indirect costs of $4.68 billion, stemming from lost wages, reduced services and costs associated with disabilities.

"While the health effects of secondhand smoke are reduced in comparison to active smoking, the number of people exposed is so large that the costs are substantial," Society of Actuaries fellow Donald Behan said in a statement.

The group measured the costs by examining more than 200 studies that have been published since 1964 on the effects of environmental tobacco smoke.

______________________________________________

Smoking, even second-hand, ups risk of eye diseaseWed Dec 21, PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Smoking cigarettes, or living with someone who does, increases a person's risk of developing a progressively degenerative eye disease known as age-related macular degeneration or AMD, according to a study conducted in the UK.

"Smoking puts you at increased risk of losing your sight in old age and the more you smoke the higher the risk," Dr. John Yates from the University of Cambridge told Reuters Health. "Smoking also increases the risk for the people living with you. So these are two good reasons to stop smoking."

AMD is the leading cause of reduced vision and blindness in many European countries and the US. A person's risk of developing the disease increases with age.

______________________________________________

 Smoking lowers chances of surviving throat cancer

 By Graciela Flores Fri Dec 9,

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For people with cancer of the larynx or lower pharynx, continuing to smoke or drink alcohol make it less likely that they'll survive, while eating a diet rich in vegetables and vitamin C improves their survival, a new study shows.

"One might think, now I that have cancer, what's the point of stopping smoking? But there is clearly a benefit in doing that; it will improve your survival," Dr. Rajesh P. Dikshit commented to Reuters Health.

Tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, and diet have all been linked to the development of cancer in the larynx, or voicebox, and the area immediately above it at the back of the throat, the hypopharynx. However, little was known about the role of these risk factors on the survival of patients with these cancers.

______________________________________________

Smoking may increase risk of depression

Reuters - Fri Jun 1, 12:00 PM ET


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Persistent smokers appear to be at increased risk for becoming depressed compared to never smokers, results of a long-term study of Finnish twins suggest. On the other hand, this association was not seen in individuals who stopped smoking many years ago.

______________________________________________

List Linking Smoking to Diseases Expands

 By NANCY ZUCKERBROD, Associated Press Writer

 WASHINGTON - The list of diseases linked to smoking grew longer Thursday. Add acute myeloid leukemia, cancers of the cervix, kidney, pancreas and stomach, abdominal aortic aneurysms, cataracts, periodontitis and pneumonia.

______________________________________________

 Smokers, Drinkers Show Gene Changes in Mouth Cells

 Thu Jul 1,

 Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo!

 By Amy Norton

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many healthy people who smoke or drink may have a genetic alteration in the cells of the mouth and throat that could signal an increased risk of developing cancer, according to researchers at the University of Hong Kong.

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Toxins from tobacco smoke, referred to as thirdhand smoke, linger long after smokers move out of their homes and nonsmokers move in, say researchers from San Diego State University. Thirdhand smoke can seep into crevices and coat the surfaces of a dwelling, says lead study author Georg E. Matt. Findings, reported in Tobacco Control, show that even when a smoking home had been vacant for two months, nicotine on surfaces was up to 150 times higher in former smoking homes compared to homes of nonsmokers. Nicotine in the air was up to 98 percent higher in homes that had belonged to smokers. When nonsmokers moved into homes that had belonged to smokers, nicotine levels measured on their fingertips were seven to eight times higher than nonsmokers who had always lived in a nonsmoking home.

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U.N.: Smoking Kills People Seconds Apart

Fri May 28, 1:52 PM ET

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 By SAM CAGE, Associated Press Writer

 

GENEVA - One person dies from a tobacco-related disease every 6 1/2 seconds, the head of the U.N. health agency warned Friday ahead of its annual World No Tobacco Day.

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 Cigarettes Rob Smokers of 10 Years of Life

 2 hours, 45 minutes ago

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 By Patricia Reaney

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Cigarette smokers die on average 10 years earlier than non-smokers but kicking the habit, even at 50 years old, can halve the risk, according to half a century of research reported on Tuesday.

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Study: Marijuana smokers' sperm slow

Tuesday, October 14,

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Sperm in men who smoke marijuana regularly lose stamina and burn out which may prevent conception, said a study released Monday.

 The study by the State University of New York in Buffalo, New York, is the first to focus on the swimming patterns of sperm in men who smoke marijuana, the authors say.

 "The sperm from marijuana smokers were moving too fast too early," said Lani Burkman, lead author of the study, in a statement.

 "To attach itself to the egg, the sperm has to swim like mad -- that's hyper activation -- and they have to be vigorous at the right time," Burkman said. "Smoking marijuana messes up the natural regulatory system."

 "The timing was all wrong. These sperm will experience burnout before they reach the egg and would not be capable of fertilization."

 The study, released at the annual conference of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in San Antonio, found that men who smoke marijuana have less sperm because of lower quantities of seminal fluid compared to fertile men.

 One of the ingredients of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the psychoactive chemical that causes people to feel "high."

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 Smokers: increased risk of prostate cancer

 SEATTLE, July 14  -- A new study indicates long-term, heavy smoking doubles the risk of aggressive prostate cancer in middle-aged men.

 Science Daily magazine said the study shows men under the age 65 with a history of 40 or more "pack-years" (those who smoke a pack a day for 40 years or two packs a day for 20 years) face a 100 percent increased risk -- or double the risk -- of developing more aggressive forms of the disease, as compared with nonsmokers.

 Such men with heavy smoking exposure also face a 60 percent increased risk of prostate cancer overall. Compared with nonsmokers, current smokers experienced a 40 percent increase in the risk of prostate cancer.

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 april 1,

 Mont. Smoking Ban Cuts Heart Attacks

 By DANIEL Q. HANEY, AP Medical Editor

 CHICAGO - Heart attacks in Helena, Mont., fell by more than half last summer after voters passed a broad indoor smoking ban, suggesting that cleaning up the air in bars and restaurants quickly improves health for everyone, a study found.

 Doctors said their study, which they described as a kind of "natural experiment," is the first to examine what happens to public health when people stop smoking - and breathing secondhand smoke - in public places.

 The doctors, themselves backers of the ban, acknowledged the effects need to be demonstrated in a larger locale. But despite the small numbers involved, they said Helena's experience offers a clear hint that the change reduces the risk of heart attacks for smokers and nonsmokers alike from virtually the moment it goes into effect.

 People who worry about secondhand smoke often fear lung cancer most, but that takes years of exposure.

 Smoking is also a powerful trigger of heart attacks and it works quickly to increase the risk by raising blood pressure, increasing the tendency of blood to make clots and other ways.

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 Sat May 31, 4:56 PM ET

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CHICAGO (Reuters) - The leading U.S. group of cancer physicians on Saturday urged an immediate $2-per-pack increase in taxes on cigarettes and other steps to curb smoking, which is projected to kill a billion people worldwide this century.

"Oncologists see the end product from smoking. To see a preventable form of cancer is a tragedy," said Dr. Paul Bunn, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists

one-third of all U.S. cancer deaths relate directly to tobacco. If current trends hold, 1 billion people will die this century from tobacco-related illnesses compared to 100 million in the last century.

and live in conflict of wanting to stop but can not. That is addiction, and that is what the cig co does not want its young preys (victims/targets) to know. Every smoker suffers wheter they admit ir or ignore it or not.

Smokers' Sense of Time Examined in Study


Wed May 14, 7:57 AM ET

By DAN LEWERENZ, Associated Press Writer

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - For smokers separated from their cigarettes, time seems to stand still. New research indicates there's good reason for that.

Time perception, one of the simplest indicators of a person's ability to concentrate, is severely impaired after just one day without cigarettes, according to a study in the current quarterly issue of the Psychopharmacology Bulletin.

In the study, 22 nonsmokers and 20 smokers were asked — after 45 seconds — how much time they thought had passed. Nonsmokers and active smokers were generally within five seconds of being right.

But smokers tested the morning after a day without cigarettes overestimated the time by an average of 50 percent.

"We had some people (who) thought it was three minutes," said Laura Cousino Klein, an assistant professor of biobehavioral health who conducted the study with two Penn State University colleagues.

The results came as no surprise to Lynne Funk, a Penn State student who tried to quit smoking in January.

"When I'm sitting, when I'm bored ... one minute passes and it seems like five," Funk said. "That's when it would feel like time was standing still. I wanted a cigarette just to kill time, to de-stress."

Timothy B. Baker, associate director of the University of Wisconsin's Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, said the study might help smokers better cope with withdrawal.

If smokers mistakenly estimate how long they're experiencing urges, "they may be mis-estimating all sorts of things that may be making quitting seem more burdensome," he said.

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Tue Jan 21,

 "Giving up smoking would substantially reduce the future incidence of pancreatic cancer," write Dr. Rudolf T. Hoogenveen of the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands and colleagues.

Source: European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

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 WHO: Tobacco Even More Cancerous

Wed Jun 19, 3:40 PM ET

By EMMA ROSS, AP Medical Writer

LONDON (AP) - Tobacco smoke is even more cancerous than previously thought, for both smokers and nonsmokers who breathe in the fumes, causing cancer in many more parts of the body than previously believed, a panel of experts has concluded.

 

Although smoking has been established as a leading cause of cancer, scientists have only now been able to track more than one generation of smokers to develop a clear picture of the dangers of tobacco.

The scientists, convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a branch of the World Health Organization ( news - web sites), said Wednesday that for types of cancer already known to be caused by smoking, the risk of tumors is even higher than previously noted. The research also definitively proves that secondhand smoke causes cancer.

The analysis is the first major examination of the accumulated research on tobacco smoke and cancer since 1986. A full report of the findings will be published later this year.

The scientists combined the results of more than 3,000 studies involving millions of people, which allowed them to draw conclusions not possible in smaller studies.

"We are still learning about just how damaging cigarette smoking is," said the panel's chairman, Dr. Jonathan Samet, head of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. "Only now are we beginning to see the full picture of what happens when a generation begins to smoke at an early age, as youth do, and then smoke across their whole lifetime. Before, we only had snapshots."

"The full picture is more disturbing than what we saw when we only had the smaller pieces," he said.

There are about 1.2 billion smokers worldwide, half of whom will die prematurely from cancer, heart disease, emphysema or other smoking-related diseases, research has shown.

The best way to prevent those deaths is to get smokers to quit, the scientists said.

"Our group concluded that any possible public health gains from changes in cigarette characteristics or composition would be minimal by comparison. Changes in cigarettes are not the way to prevent cancer," Samet said.

The 29 experts from 12 countries found that in types of cancer already linked to smoking, the risk is even higher than previously believed.

"For example, for tumors of the bladder and the renal pelvis, previously we thought the elevated risk was maybe three to four times that of a nonsmoker. Today, it looks like the risk is elevated five to six times," said Dr. Paul Kleihues, director of the U.N. cancer research agency.

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Exercise Does Not Protect Smokers From Cancer Fri Apr 12, 02 5:26 PM ET

 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Male smokers who think walking, swimming or other physical activity will lower their risk of lung cancer are wrong, researchers say.

 "The results of our study suggest that neither occupational nor leisure-time physical activity is associated with the risk of lung cancer in long-term cigarette smokers," write lead study author Dr. Lisa H. Colbert of the National Cancer Institute (news - web sites) in Bethesda, Maryland and her colleagues.

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CDC Estimates Cost of Smoking Thu Apr 11, 1:02 PM ET

 By ERIN McCLAM, Associated Press Writer

 ATLANTA - Each pack of cigarettes sold in the United States costs the nation $7 in medical care and lost productivity, the government said Thursday.

 The study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) put the nation's total cost of smoking at $3,391 a year for every smoker, or $157.7 billion. Health experts had previously estimated $96 billion.

 Americans buy about 22 billion packs of cigarettes annually. The CDC study is the first to establish a per-pack cost to the nation.

 The agency estimated the nation's smoking-related medical costs at $3.45 per pack, and said job productivity lost because of premature death from smoking amounted to $3.73 per pack, for a total of $7.18.

 The average cost of a pack of cigarettes in was $2.92.

 The CDC said it analyzed expenses, both personal and for the health care industry, and used national medical surveys to calculate the costs to the nation.

 The agency also reported that smoking results in about 440,000 deaths a year in the United States, up from the government's previous figure of 430,000. The new study was conducted.

 "The fact that nearly half a million Americans lose their lives each year because of smoking-related illnesses is a significant public health tragedy," said Dr. David Fleming, the CDC's acting director.

 Representatives from the nation's three leading tobacco companies — Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and Brown & Williamson — did not immediately return calls for comment.

 Among other findings of the study:

 _ Smoking causes an average man to lose more than 13 years of life, and an average woman to lose 14.5 years.

 _ Smoking during pregnancy causes about 1,000 infant deaths each year.

 _ Lung cancer causes the most deaths among smokers, following by heart disease and lung disease.

 _ Men account for about 60 percent of smoking deaths — 264,000 a year, compared with 178,000 deaths among women.

 ___

 On the Net:

 CDC tobacco site: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco

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YOUNG SMOKERS AT RISK

Smokers under 40 are at risk from heart attack - smashing the belief that only older people are vulnerable, says a new study.  

Experts studied 23,000 cases of people who had survived heart attacks and found four fifths of the victims were in the 35-39 age group.

Last Updated: 13:42 UK, Monday August 23,

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Babies of Smokers End Up in Hospital More Often Fri Mar 8, 10:30 AM ET

 By Chee-may Chow

 HONG KONG (Reuters) - Babies who live with two or more smokers are 30% more likely to need hospital treatment than those who grow up in smoke-free homes, according to a university study.

 If there is one smoker in the family, the risk is 7% higher, the study by Hong Kong University Faculty of Medicine found.

 More than 40% of the newborns were exposed to passive smoke, the findings showed. Doctors say affected children most commonly suffer from respiratory problems.

 The findings also underscored the dangers that passive smoke poses to the fetus. Babies whose mothers were exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy were 18% more likely to be admitted to the hospital and 26% more likely to be taken to outpatient clinics.

 The additional medical costs for infants under one year old totaled at least HK$30 million (US$3.8 million) a year, the study estimated.

 "This is a huge sum. It's about 10% of the total medical costs spent on infants of this age group," Lam Tai-hing, head of the department of community medicine of Hong Kong University, told Reuters Friday.

 Relatively few expectant mothers smoke, but nearly 65% of pregnant women in Hong Kong are occasionally or regularly exposed to second-hand smoke in their homes, offices or in public places, the survey showed.

 The Hong Kong government unveiled a raft of proposals last year to tighten anti-smoking laws and said it wanted to present them to the local legislature before mid-. It wants to stamp out smoking in most indoor public places, including restaurants and shops and eventually in lounges and nightclubs.

 Hong Kong, a territory of nearly 7 million people, has few smokers compared to many developed countries. Only 27% of its men and about 3% of its women smoke regularly.

 In mainland China, 63% of men and about 4% of women smoke, according to the World Health Organization (news - web sites).

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Friday January 4, 1:26 PM ET

 Smoking Mothers More Likely to Have Diabetic Kids

 By John Griffiths

 LONDON (Reuters Health) - The children of women who smoke during pregnancy are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes and obesity, new research suggests.

 The study, the first to link maternal smoking and a child's diabetes, suggests that smoking deprives the fetus of nutrients, resulting in lifelong metabolic abnormalities.

 Drs. Scott Montgomery and Anders Ekbom from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, used data from the British National Child Development Study on around 17,000 children born in 1958.

 In the study, midwives obtained information on smoking during pregnancy. Smoking among the mothers was also recorded in 1974. The researchers collected data on the children at age 7 and 16, and reviewed their medical records again at age 33.

 Fifteen men and 13 women among those followed throughout childhood and adolescence developed diabetes between the ages of 16 and 33.

 The investigators found that the risk of diabetes was increased more than 4.5-fold in the offspring of women who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day compared with nonsmokers. The risk in offspring of mothers whose smoked fewer than 10 cigarettes a day was increased by a factor of 4.13.

 The team also found that smoking during pregnancy increased the risk of obesity independently of diabetes. Offspring of smokers were 34% to 38% more likely than children of nonsmokers to become obese. Some 10% of the study group, a total of 602 individuals, were found to be clinically obese at age 33.

 ``These are conservative figures, as further members of the study group are likely to go on to develop these disorders in later life,'' Montgomery said in an interview. ``We plan to study the group further, and we expect to see insulin resistance in the diabetic children of smoking mothers, which would explain the association we observed between diabetes and obesity.''

 Insulin resistance, a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, occurs when the body becomes less sensitive to the effects of insulin, a hormone the body needs to use of sugar as fuel.

 Cigarette smoking in young adulthood was also linked to an increased risk of diabetes in later life, according to the report in the British Medical Journal.

 ``To my knowledge, this is the first study to show an association between smoking in pregnancy and diabetes,'' Montgomery noted.

 ``Smoking during pregnancy is an act of great selfishness, which may not only affect the development of the child but could also increase the risk of diseases that could emerge 20 to 30 years after birth,'' he said.

 ``We have long known about the reduced size and development in the children of smoking mothers. Because diabetes and obesity are associated with heart disease, smoking during pregnancy could also risk shortening the child's life span,'' he added.

 Montgomery suggested that smoking is likely to deprive the fetus of nutrients, setting the metabolism up to deal with famine rather then a modern diet rich in fat and sugar.

 SOURCE: British Medical Journal ;324:26-27.

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Tuesday March 20, 1:33 PM ET Teen Smokers End Up with Gum Disease in Their 20s

 By Charnicia Huggins

 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Teenage smokers are nearly three times as likely as their nonsmoking peers to have gum disease in their mid-20s, results of a new study suggest.

 ``The most important point of the study is that the adverse effects of tobacco smoking on gum health begin even earlier than was previously thought,'' lead study author Dr. Murray Thomson, of the University of Otago in New Zealand, told Reuters Health.

 ``At the public health level, measures aimed at reducing smoking will also have positive benefits for oral health,'' he said.

 To investigate the association between smoking and gum disease in young people, Thomson's group measured loss of periodontal attachment--the bony and soft-tissue support for the teeth--in about 900 men and women aged 26 years. The investigators asked the study participants about their smoking habits at the ages of 15, 18, 21 and 26.

 Those who reported smoking at each age of follow-up were almost three times as likely as their ``never smoking'' peers to experience loss of attachment, a sign of chronic gum disease, the authors report in the April issue of Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology. And the longer these individuals reported smoking, the greater the extent of disease, study findings indicate.

 This was true even after the researchers took into account the participants' toothbrushing and flossing habits, as well as dental visits.

 The study ``provides clear evidence of periodontal disease at an age when young adults are at their healthiest,'' the authors conclude.

 ``Don't start smoking,'' Thomson advised. ``If you have, then ceasing the habit will also be good for your gums.''

 According to Dr. Marjorie Jeffcoat, from the University of Alabama School of Dentistry, it is ``totally logical'' that those who begin smoking at younger ages will have a lifetime of risk for periodontal disease.

 Citing emerging evidence that individuals with periodontal disease may also be at risk for cardiovascular disease or pre-term births, she said ``It's all one more reason why people shouldn't smoke.''

 Jeffcoat is not affiliated with Thomson's research.

 SOURCE: Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology ;29:130-135.

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Friday January 11 10:59 AM ET

Quitting Smoking Cuts Post-Surgery Complications

By Suzanne Rostler


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Smokers can lower their risk of developing postoperative

complications by quitting or cutting back on their daily cigarette intake about

2 months before surgery, researchers report.

Cigarette smoke boosts the risk of developing cardiovascular or wound-healing

problems after surgery due to its effects on the heart, lungs and immune system.

 

To determine whether abstaining from smoking had any affect on this risk, the

team of researchers from Bispebjerg University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark,

assigned 120 daily smokers to receive antismoking counseling and nicotine replacement

therapy, or no intervention, 6 to 8 weeks before they underwent elective hip

or knee surgery.

 

About 18% of patients who had reduced smoking by at least half developed postoperative

complications, compared with 52% of patients who continued smoking their usual

amount, according to the report in the January 12th issue of The Lancet.

 

Quitting or cutting back had the greatest effect on wound healing. Only 5% of

patients who received antismoking therapy developed wound-related complications,

compared with 31% of patients who did not cut back. What's more, there were

no cardiovascular complications in the group of abstainers, compared with a

10% complication rate in the other group. Patients who quit or cut back also

had shorter hospital stays and were less likely to require a second surgery.

 

The findings have important medical and economic implications, since roughly

one third of surgical patients are smokers, conclude Dr. Ann M. Moller and co-authors.

 

``The worldwide effect would be enormous if the programs were implemented globally,

and not only in reduced postoperative complications,'' Moller said in an interview

with Reuters Health. ``We have substantial hope that some patients will (continue

chronic diseases.''

 

She suggests that all hospitals or surgical departments implement preoperative

smoking cessation programs that are tailored to the individual and include nicotine

replacement therapy.

 

SOURCE: The Lancet ;359:114-117.

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Wednesday March 28, 10:28 AM ET Surgeon General Warns of Smoking Peril to U.S. Women

 By Will Dunham

 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American women are facing a full-blown epidemic of smoking-related illness, with the deadly habit snuffing out the lives of 165,000 women a year and women now accounting for almost four in 10 smoking deaths, US Surgeon General David Satcher said in a report on Tuesday.

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Tuesday April 3, 6:31 PM ET Women Smokers More Vulnerable to Bladder Cancer

 By Amy Norton

 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When it comes to bladder cancer, two things have always seemed clear: smokers and men are at heightened risk. But new research shows that, cigarette for cigarette, female smokers are more likely than males to get the disease.

 In a study of more than 3,000 adults with and without bladder cancer, researchers found that when smoking habits were comparable, women had a higher risk for the disease than men did. The finding is surprising, investigators say, because bladder cancer, which has long been linked to smoking, is more common among men.

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Wednesday October 31, 10:40 AM ET

 Smoking Delays Pregnancy

 LONDON (Reuters Health) - Women who continue smoking while trying to have a baby risk having to wait significantly longer to get pregnant, according to study findings released on Wednesday.

 Researchers at the Institute of Health Sciences at Oxford University compared the time taken to conceive by 569 women smokers, ex-smokers and never-smokers.

 Their findings, published in the Journal of Biosocial Science, show that on average women who continued to smoke while attempting to conceive took almost two months longer to conceive than non-smokers.

 However, women who quit smoking a year before attempting to conceive were likely to get pregnant within a similar time period as non-smokers.

 

Tuesday September 18, 10:46 AM ET

 Cigarettes May Function Like Antidepressant Drugs

 By Melissa Schorr

 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cigarette smoking may have effects on the human brain similar to those of antidepressant drugs, possibly explaining the high rate of smoking among depressed people and their resistance to quitting, a team of researchers reports.

 ``Chronic smoking produces 'antidepressant-like' effects on the human brain,'' lead author Dr. Gregory A. Ordway, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, told Reuters Health. ``This may contribute to the high incidence of smoking and difficulty to quit in those who are depressed.''

 

 Tuesday November 27, 03:52 PM EST

 Light Cigarettes Are Not Safer

 By Melinda T. Willis ABCNEWS.com

 A report from the National Cancer Institute (news - web sites) finds that light or low tar cigarettes are not safer alternatives to regular.

   Smokers who have switched to light or   low-tar cigarettes with the belief that they are   safer than regular cigarettes have been   mistaken, says a new report from the   National Cancer Institute.

   "This report is one that has brought together   scientists of various disciplines and has   concluded that there are significant health risks from switching to low-tar, light cigarettes," says Scott Leischow, chief of the National Cancer Institute Tobacco Control Research Branch.

 Light cigarettes have been around for 20 years and have led some people to believe that they are healthier alternatives to regular cigarettes. And who wouldn't want to inhale less tar when given the opportunity?

 "Many people feel that if they are not able to quit smoking but are concerned about their health, low-tar cigarettes are a compromise," says Dr. Neal L. Benowitz, professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco and co-scientific editor of the report that challenges this notion.

 Smoking is the number one preventable cause of premature death in the United States, responsible for more than 400,000 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) Tobacco Information and Prevention Source.

 Removing Misconceptions

 According to Benowitz, light cigarettes are made of the same substances as their full tar brethren. The distinguishing factor is the engineering.

 Low-tar cigarettes can be made with porous paper and more loosely packed tobacco in an effort to reduce tar intake, but past research has shown that people are easily able to circumvent such designs.

 "There are actually four different ways that smokers can make a low yield cigarette higher yield," says Benowitz, who published one of the first papers on the subject in the New England Journal of Medicine (news - web sites) in 1983.

 Smokers can, for example, take more puffs per cigarette, take bigger or deeper drags, and they can increase the number of cigarettes they smoke each day.

 Additionally, "Some cigarettes have little holes in the filters and people will consciously or unconsciously cover those holes [with their mouths] and as a result get more tar and nicotine delivered to their bodies," says Leischow.

 "People are very adept at getting the nicotine that they're addicted to and as a result they also get the harmful substances as well," he adds.

 The Safest Cigarette

 "We do not imply in our marketing, and smokers should not assume, that "light" or "ultra light" brands are "safe," or are "safer" than full-flavor brands," states Brendan McCormick, a spokesperson for leading cigarette maker Philip Morris. "[The development of low-tar cigarettes is] related to consumer taste preferences."

 Experts say the take home message of the National Cancer Institute report is that smokers who make the switch to low-tar or light cigarettes should not be fooled into thinking that they are making a safer choice.

 "The focus of the [report] primarily is the public and what we can do to improve public health," asserts Leischow. "One of the key and critical recommendations is that the best way to reduce risk is to quit smoking."

 In other words, the safest cigarette is still the one that is never smoked.

Study Reveals Link Between Smoking, Birth Weight Fri Apr 5, 1:39 PM ET

 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy are at risk of delivering a low birth weight baby, although it is not clear why. Now, researchers report that cigarettes can reduce the flow of blood in the placenta and limit the amount of nutrients that reach the fetus.