<p>*Check out how many cigarettes the average Russian smokes from my link a few pages back.
Almost 3000 a year!>>>>>></p>
<p>That’s less than 10 per day. Not too bad really.*</p>
<p>You should be thrilled with the US standing then.
We smoke less than 3 a day.
:D</p>
<p>I’m not surprised US is less. I’d be shocked if it was more. </p>
<p>Russia is 4th, US is 51st.</p>
<p>“Old news. There’s a surcharge for our health insurance if a person with “issues” doesn’t participate in a wellness program. Oh yeah.”</p>
<p>Everyone has “issues”. Personally, I have never understood why this issue became the bad one. Wellness programs don’t solve addiction. Largely, they waste time and money unless the participant is ready, willing, and able to quit. </p>
<p>Just skimmed through the thread.</p>
<p>I’ve never smoked. My Dad died of oral cancer when I was 14. Three packs a day–that’s 60 cigarettes. He smoked Raleigh, so we could save up the coupons and buy stuff, like the blanket I slept under. What a bonus that was.</p>
<p>Poetgrl-- no one here said anything about coming after the smokers. That smoking is stupid and kills the parents of young kids? yeah, I think that is true. But my father had a perfect right to kill himself…</p>
<p>But you don’t believe in second hand smoke? That’s your right. Doesn’t make it comprehensible, though. The fact that you said you weren’t opposed to banning smoking in indoor places is nice; the fact that you doubt that habit actually impacts others is, well, your right to believe what you want.</p>
<p>I know the health of us kids in my family growing up with that WAS affected–guess we can be glad Dad died so we didn’t have to keep breathing his smoke.</p>
<p>I smoked for 32 years, quit 10 years ago January 1. Can still feel the tension leave my body with every exhale. I loved it then and know would I would still love it if I smoked today. It was the most stress relieving habit ever, EVER. On the other hand, I don’t drink! :-/ My friends tell me a glass of red wine before bed, but I don’t know…</p>
<p>The stress that smoking relieves is the stress that comes with the beginning stages of drug withdrawal. Nicotine levels start to fall, causing stress. Nicotine hits the brain 8 seconds after the first puff and stress is relieved. Of course, it doesn’t do anything for the non-drug induced stress of everyday life. We only believe that it does because we are so conditioned by the dopamine taskmaster to reach for a cigarette at every stressful moment.</p>
<p>Of course, non nicotine addicts never feel the stress of beginning stages of drug withdrawal. So we don’t need a cigarette to get to the same “stress-free” place that nicotine addict can only get to after taking the drug.</p>
<p>Okay - it still felt really, really good. Glad I don’t have those cravings anymore but I can sooo remember the enjoyment of exhaling. I am so glad it is socially unacceptable now (if that’s the proper term) and hope fewer and fewer people start smoking - it’s just too darn hard to quit.</p>
<p>Now I smoke a pipe, believe me, inhaling is much more fun than exhaling!</p>
<p>My dad wrote about heart disease and yet was addicted to cigarettes for decades. They killed him. He had a bicuspid aortic valve and smoking made him need a valve replacement years before it would otherwise have been necessary (assuming it would have been necessary at all). </p>
<p>He used to come home from the hospital stressed out and would blow smoke in my face to get me to leave him alone.</p>
<p>So I hate cigarettes. Bleeping-bleep cigarettes. </p>
<p>And when I worked in the hospital nights during vacations, I remember … well, one big guy came in and we did a chest series on him for his cough. I heard Dr. B****** saying to him in the consult room, “One of the bad things that can happen from smoking is cancer” and I watched him waste away. And the woman who was lying on a gurney in pain, waiting to be moved to imaging, and I was being cheerful and she told me “No, I know it’s back. I have 3 kids …” and she turned away. </p>
<p>Cigarettes are death. Nothing but death.</p>
<p>Again it comes down to genes
I’d agree that smoking is bad, but for instance my Fil smoked & drank for decades and he is still going strong in his late 80’s while my mother did not & she died from heart problems a month past her 75th birthday.</p>
<p>We are 51st in smoking but 7th worldwide in rate of cancer.
Something else is a factor.</p>
<p>To say it comes down to genes is a gross over-simplification.
Of course something else is a factor. Lots of other “somethings” are factors.
We can all throw out examples of relatives who died early while being healthy or got something they shouldn’t have based on their history and vice versa. </p>
<p>But wouldn’t we be better served by finding out what the “something” is?
Or we can just blame the elephant in the room even though Americans smoke less than 3 cigarettes a day.
That isn’t giving us the 7th highest rate of cancer.</p>
<p>Smoking affects just about every organ system in the body. It’s not just about lung cancer. It’s a big factor in heart disease, strokes, and many other conditions.</p>
<p>I never worried that second hand smoke was going to make me ill. I do think it was smart to ban smoking in office buildings because the smell was unpleasant for the non-smokers. We used to be able to smoke in the government cars and when a non-smoker went to use the car it was unpleasant for us.</p>
<p>smoking has never been lower in the US. We are so far down from where we were in the 90’s, you would expect, at this point, that we would have lowered our cancer rates significantly. Look, I’m not saying I think indoor smoking bans are “okay,” the way it has been implied, I’m saying they are obvious.</p>
<p>I’m also saying, and I provided a link, that even the scientists who research this will tell you there is no risk to you from exposure to cigarette smoke outdoors. That’s the science and it should be a relief to you, if it’s a concern to you, not a reason to get angry with me.</p>
<p>I believe the latest numbers show that less than 20% of Americans smoke at all. </p>
<p>Next stop obesity.</p>
<p>It’s obesity that really is causing the health care costs and crises in the US, today. And I fully expect increasng costs and regulations as the idea of obesity as a “vice” catches on. </p>
<p>My only point is that we should be careful about how much we law up on these things. We don’t want to lose our freedom.</p>
<p>Also, just as an aside, anyone concerned about walking past an outdoor smoker ought to be a lot more concerned about the bus and car that drove down the street while they walked to the door. </p>
<p>Oh, and also, and I don’t think this can be overstated, the aging of the population is causing health issues. This should be obvious, but apparently it is not.</p>
<p>Again, I will say, nobody is going to get out of here alive and everyone is going to get sick and die of something.</p>
<p>Maybe all the cigarette smokers should switch to pot. It’s social acceptability seems to be increasing by leaps and bounds.</p>
<p>It also prevents cancer.
:)</p>
<p>Smoking affects just about every organ system in the body. It’s not just about lung cancer. It’s a big factor in heart disease, strokes, and many other conditions.>>>>>>>></p>
<p>Bladder cancer.</p>