The Dangers of Smoking: From History to Reality, What Should We Choose?

The Dangers of Smoking: From History to Reality, What Should We Choose?Smoking is harmful to your health, this well-known warning seems to have failed to deter peoples enthusiasm for cigarettes. Many smokers often argue, They say smoking is harmful, but Im perfectly fine

The Dangers of Smoking: From History to Reality, What Should We Choose?

Smoking is harmful to your health, this well-known warning seems to have failed to deter peoples enthusiasm for cigarettes. Many smokers often argue, They say smoking is harmful, but Im perfectly fine. However, this is not the case. The harmful effects of smoking on the lungs are obvious, and every year many smokers lose their lives because of smoking. According to statistics, from 2009 to 2011, more than 6 million smokers in China died due to their smoking habits, and this number continues to rise. Despite this, smoking rates in China remain high, and some tobacco companies even engage in false advertising for profit, even going so far as to hire people to conduct experiments to forge results claiming that smoking is harmless.

To understand the dangers of smoking, we need to trace its origins. As a country with a long history of smoking, the origin of tobacco in China is not native. As early as around 12300 BC, archaeologists discovered traces of tobacco at archaeological sites in the Americas. At that time, the indigenous people of the Americas had already mastered agriculture, and in addition to tobacco, they also cultivated a variety of crops, including chilli peppers, eggplants, and others. Over time, tobacco gradually spread to the northern regions of South America. In the Mexican region around 600 BC, people began to experiment with eating tobacco, initially mixing tobacco leaves with other plants and adding seasonings. As time went on, people discovered more uses for tobacco, some people made it into tea and drank it, some people smoked it, and some people even used tobacco fibers to weave cloth. It can be seen that tobacco has become an indispensable crop in the lives of the indigenous people of the Americas.

In 1518, European colonists introduced tobacco to Europe, and it spread to France, Britain, and other countries between 1519 and 1540. Initially, Europeans did not know the correct way to use tobacco, but simply chewed the leaves in their mouths. In 1492, when Columbus returned home from Cuba, he discovered that the local natives smoked tobacco rolled into cigarettes. After tobacco was introduced to Europe, people initially used it for medicinal purposes, and even revered it as a divine object, believing that taking the first puff of smoke would bring divine power. Therefore, there were many smokers at the time, mainly among the nobility. When smoking, the smoke exhaled from the nasal cavity was mixed with the scent of spice powder and lavender.

However, cigarettes are not harmless, the process of inhalation and exhalation produces a large amount of smoke, which has a great impact and harm on surrounding people. In 1640, King James I of England issued a ban on smoking, because the price of cigarettes was very high at that time. At that time, the price of cigarettes in China was even higher, with the price of a pack of cigarettes equivalent to a piece of cloth. In 1913, the price of cigarettes in China remained at 10 copper coins per pack. Although King James' ban on smoking failed to be emulated by other countries, it did hinder the rapid rise in the price of cigarettes in China.

After cigarettes entered China, the number of smokers gradually increased. In 1857, cigarette sales in China surged, almost the sum of total sales in the previous five years. China's tobacco planting area expanded accordingly, reaching 3.7 million mu in 1877, known as the "year of tobacco". By 1900, this figure had reached 17.2 million mu. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, cigarettes became an important consumer product. According to relevant data, after entering the 21st century, there are about 300 million smokers in China every day. However, the number of smokers in China has not decreased, but has increased year by year, even reaching 32.3 million in 2019.

In 1950, a report called "Smoking and Health Hazards" was published in the United States, detailing the health risks of smoking. This report is considered the founding report on the dangers of smoking. In 1964, this report was updated and gained higher authority. The release of the report quickly spread, making the public aware of the dangers of smoking and encouraging them to quit. The younger generation discovered the negative effects of smoking on health through regular physical examinations, and sales in the tobacco industry plummeted. To attract consumers, tobacco companies began to invest heavily in advertising. However, people's emphasis on health far outweighs false advertising.

In 1969, a survey in the United States showed that the lung cancer death rate for smokers was 13 times that of non-smokers. In 1971, the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring all tobacco advertising to include a warning that smoking is harmful to health. In 1984, Diana Banfield, who lost all her teeth due to medication, suspected it was caused by smoking. She sued the tobacco company for compensation. During the investigation, lawyers discovered that her husband was a long-time smoker. The risk of huge compensation plunged the tobacco company into crisis, and the veracity of its health reports was also called into question.

To prove that smoking is harmless, tobacco companies even hired a hunting dog named Bonnie for an experiment. After three years of experiments, the results showed that Bonnie was in good health and did not show any signs of cancer. However, the truth of the experiment was soon exposed, and all the "health surveys" results were fake. Bonnie was eventually blamed and put to death for the fraudulent experiment.

The lungs and bodies of smokers are very dirty, yet they continue to inhale more "dirt", making it more likely for the lungs to become diseased and producing even more "dirt." Smoking can lead to a variety of diseases, such as lung cancer, throat cancer, pancreatic cancer, heart disease, and others. Between 1980 and 1987, a public health survey on smoking-related cancer found that 87% of people worldwide who died from lung cancer were smokers. Therefore, smoking itself is a high-risk behavior.

In June 1990, the American Medical Association declared cigarettes a lethal consumer product. In 1999, the United States conducted a public opinion survey, which found that 61% of people agreed to quit smoking. Despite the rising number of smokers and deaths, global tobacco consumption remains stable at around 64 million tons. In 2012, the global tobacco market generated a total revenue of $600 billion.

With the tobacco companies' medical reports exposed, they made revisions to salvage their image and released a revised report. In 1990, the law required all cigarettes in the United States to have a "Smoking is harmful to health" warning printed on the pack. The law also prohibits smoking in places such as schools, offices, and public transportation. In China, from May 2006, every pack of cigarettes must carry a warning label. At the same time, tobacco advertising is prohibited from being broadcast on television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and outdoor advertising.

In October 2006, the World Health Organization passed a global smoking ban agreement aimed at controlling smoking and promoting public health. In 2017, the World Health Organization declared 2017 to 2022 as the "Global Tobacco Control Initiative," once again highlighting the dangers of smoking. In addition, many national governments levy high taxes on tobacco products to reduce smoking rates and improve public health. For example, starting July 1, 2014, China levied taxes on all cigarettes at 70% for national revenue and 30% for domestic public health projects.

"Smoking is harmful to health" has long become a common phrase. Some tobacco companies even used dogs for experiments to falsely advertise that smoking is harmless, but in the end, they could only use a dog to cover up the truth. For smokers, the dangers of smoking are not limited to themselves, secondhand smoke is also a pollutant. Nowadays, young people and children of the new generation will cover their faces and even refuse to communicate with smokers when they see others smoking. The dangers of smoking claim many lives every year, and this is a responsibility that smokers must bear. Smokers should cherish their bodies and cherish their lives.

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