Is the dangerous of smoking overstated?

[heders]

There's a book called "In Defense of Smokers", by Lauren A. Colby, which debunks a lot of smoking danger myths.

http://www.lcolby.com/

What do you think about this? Is smoking really as bad as the anti-tobacco and world health organizations want us to believe?

[chainsnuser]

No, not really.

The propaganda has gone overboard for sure. One cigarette will not instantly kill you or turn you into a hopeless addict. Also, second hand smoke is (as far as I know) not dangerous at all. There is no higher mortality rate for people who are exposed to second hand smoke. The amounts of smoke from second hand air polution are just too small.

There also is no question for anyone who is able to read health statistics, that the dangers of smokeles tobacco are about as high as the dangers of coffee drinking, while the puritan anti-tobacco-workers (or anti-tobacco-psychos) continue to tell absolute nonsense in this regard.

But 40 cigarettes a day or more (that's where most long time smokers end to feed their nicotine-demon) will give you a 50% chance to suffer from a long painful agony at the end of your (short) life. And even if you belong to the 50% of the lucky smokers who die in relative peace at an old age, you will at least have wrecked your body to a point where life for a long time no longer was fun. Smokers normally don't die at 80 years old of a heart attack, while doing a bicycle ride, they die from heart attack sitting on their couch, watching crappy TV-shows because they don't have the breath left to do anything else.

Really, (cigarette) smoking is one of the worst ideas mankind ever had. It's fine or almost free of dangers as a once-in-a-month-habit, like the indian shamans celebrated it during their festivities. It's also fine if you're able to smoke just one weekend cigarette in the pub. But if one needs nicotine every day and in large amounts, smoking is the biggest nonsense one can do.

Cheers!

[lxskllr]

No, not really.

Lots O'Stuff

Yea, I think you're on the money. I'd even raise the quantity of cigarettes allowed higher than you give, but it still needs to be less than a full time smoker. I'd say no more than 1 cigarette per day, and preferably not every day for decent health.

[MJ26]

Nicotine is highly addictive compared to many other things which don't get you fysically addicted but it's not propably the most harmful ingredient in tobacco. I guess that years of lots of cigarette smoking is pretty dangerous but it is overstated too. There's lot of worse things out there.

[precious007]

It's better to stay away from smoking, and I can tell ya'
that one cigarette a day can turn into 5 cigarettes a day
and eventually into a pack a day and you won't even
notice it.

It's better to just NOT smoke altogether.

[Nuusku]

No think they are not overstated. Here in Finland many people die a year because of the secondary smoke of the cigarettes. And the most type of cancer is lung cancer that comes from smokeing. And when you think in common sense: Inhaling smoke isn't good for you. Seriously

[lxskllr]

No think they are not overstated. Here in Finland many people die a year because of the secondary smoke of the cigarettes.

How is that determined?

[precious007]

How is that determined?

Maybe they're people that live with smokers in the same house,
and eventually develop a heart/lung disease which proves that
it's due from the second hand smoke :-?

[lxskllr]

Maybe they're people that live with smokers in the same house,
and eventually develop a heart/lung disease which proves that
it's due from the second hand smoke :-?

I'm not necessarily disputing that, but a lot of the links are made using very sketchy science. EVERYONE will get cancer eventually if they live long enough. The question is how much does smoking accelerate the process. How do you separate smoking from, let's say radon exposure. Mining centers will likely have more smokers these days since it's more a blue collar past time. Miners, by nature of their occupation will also live in areas much higher in radon. Which caused the disease? How about city workers. Was it the cigarettes, or the diesel exhaust?

[Nuusku]

Don't know how it is measured, i'm not the scientist I've red few articles about it and also heard it from school... 300 die a year, that's not so much but it too much still.
And everyone will not get cancer if you live old. The danger of getting cancer significantly increases after turning 40, But i know some people who have died of natural causes and had no tumors. One of them is my great grandmother. Lived over hundred years old..

Oh and if smokes have about. 50 chemicals what are 100% sure known to cause cancer, ofcourse it speeds up the process.

[Reynard]

The Nicotine Myth

I thought this video seemed relevant The Nicotine Myth

[Mdisch]

I thought this video seemed relevant The Nicotine Myth

I love this one!

[EricHill78]

I thought this video seemed relevant The Nicotine Myth

I love that video, haven't seen in in a while. Only thing I don't like is in the beginning where it mentions snuff then says it carries health risk. It should show that snuff is just as safe as snus if not safer.

[Reynard]

I love that video, haven't seen in in a while. Only thing I don't like is in the beginning where it mentions snuff then says it carries health risk. It should show that snuff is just as safe as snus if not safer.

Yep, no person has ever contracted cancer or died from using nasal snuff NASALLY, whereas a person has had cancer from using snus as per the instructions. Correct me I'm wrong.

[Frosted]

Cigarettes can be lethal - no doubt. We just don't know who they're lethal to.
Some people smoke all their lives and escape harm. Some people die of lung cancer at 30, 40 and 50 years of age. Some people get emphysemia. Some people don't. Some people get COPD, some people don't. Only a few will escape all of these things.

If you smoke, you're taking a gamble. You're taking a gamble in having a horrific death as opposed to a sitting in a chair dribbling from old age kinda death.

Take your pick - the choices are marvellous.