Cancer and Smoking

One would realize how dangerous smoking is if he learns that smoking is the major cause of cancer in the world. Smoking is known to be responsible for deaths of five times the people killed in road accidents, overdoses, murder, suicide and HIV all put together.

 

 

Smokers are highly susceptible to cancers because cigarettes contain 80 cancer causing substances. The smoke inhaled while smoking carries these dangerous chemicals into the body. The more you smoke the greater is the amount of poisonous substances delivered into the body. Research has shown that the chemicals change the DNA composition and affect important genes causing cells to multiply and grow out of proportion causing cancer.

 

Quitting smoking decreases the chances of developing cancer. Chain smokers can also decrease their chances of cancer by quitting as soon as possible. It is better late than never.

All too true.  And yet it is still legal to grow, process, and market tobacco products.  Not only to Americans, but to anyone else in the world too stupid, too weak, or too uninformed to choose not to partake.  The Marlboro Man still rides high in the promotional saddle.
I was encouraged the other day by reading a report that stated the number of adults (in my state of California) who smoke is down to around 12%.  That's one out of eight;  much better than a few years ago.  But it's still over a million just in my state.  If only it were a smaller number.
Totaling up just the monetary costs of tobacco consumption results in a staggering number.  Health care costs alone would probably add up to figures in the tens of billions of dollars.  Then, add in the costs of dealing with fires made necessary by the thoughtless flicking of all those burning butts, and pretty soon we're talking some real money.
Lots of businesses require periodic drug testing for their employees.  I for one would be in favor of expanding that practice to include seeking evidence of tobacco consumption as a legitimate cause for counseling (first offense), suspension (second offense) or termination.  Moreover, parents who knowingly allow their children to take up this lethal and disgusting habit should be prosecuted for child endangerment.
I know we had a terrible outcome from trying to legislate abstinence from alcohol at the federal level back in the '30s which would likely be repeated if we went that way with tobacco products.  And I know that taxing the hell out of the sale of tobacco products will (has?) eventually foster a thriving smuggling enterprise. 
But still, why do we allow farmers to grow that crap within our borders?  And to what degree do we taxpayers still subsidize those farmers? 
OK.  Enough ranting for one day.

The risk of developing lung and other smoking-associated cancers is related to total lifetime exposure to cigarette smoke, as measured by the number of cigarettes smoked each day, the age at which smoking began, and the number of years a person has smoked.

I WAS THERE FOR THE FIRST OBESITY HELP WALK -A- THON AND DR FOBITOLDMEIT WAS OK TO SMOKE AFTER SURGERY BUT WOULD BE HARD FINDING A PLASTIC SURGEON . BUT HE AND DR LEE  SMOKED AS  WELL .

 Smoking when studied by researchers has never yielded definitive proof that it is a direct cause of lung cancer. The thing we should look at is the effect smoking has on the cells ability to maintain themselves. The effects of the chemicals contained in the smoke from today's cigarettes, cigars, or any other tobacco products may not cause the direct manipulation of the genes that control the growth of the cell. But, they may rather inhibit the cell from growing and replacing it's self during the cells life cycle, thus causing the cell to try to work overtime and effect a change in the DNA that forces the cell to grow and divide( replace it's self ) at a rapid pace to keep up with the inhibiting effects of the chemicals.