• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

What We AREN'T Being Told About Smoking

"The mystery operation carried out for Japan Tobacco International, one of the world's biggest tobacco manufacturers, led to the purchase of 38 tobacco products suspected to be illegal, as it is believed no duty had been paid, from 14 sellers in Glasgow and Edinburgh. And they discovered that one in nine products from JTI, the makers of Silk Cut, Benson and Hedges and Camel, were suspected to be counterfeit."

"Steve Wilkins, a former detective chief superintendent, who is JTI’s anti-illegal trade operations director said: “Smokers buying cheap fake cigarettes and tobacco on the streets of Scotland may be getting more than they bargain for as these fake imitations has been found to contain asbestos, mould, dust, dead flies, rat droppings and even human excrement."

Yes, folks, your cancer-dealing plod says, "Don't risk your health to any other disease!" :joint:
 
If smoking is Darwinian in nature, why do some smokers live so long ?

INT21
 
Sounds like you have a nice life.
 
JamesWhitehead said:
“Smokers buying cheap fake cigarettes and tobacco on the streets of Scotland may be getting more than they bargain for as these fake imitations has been found to contain asbestos, mould, dust, dead flies, rat droppings and even human excrement."
Click to expand...

I'd imagine most legal tobacco contains at least some of those things.
 
ramonmercado said:
Is smoking more harmful than AIDS?
Wolfgang Fengler and Katharina Fenz Monday, March 27, 2017

Helmut Schmidt, the former German chancellor, was a notorious chain smoker. So much so that he was known to light up in non-smoking areas and while on live television. Yet he lived to be 96 years old, remaining an active public figure until the end and writing some 13 books after he turned 70. Did smoking, which he obviously enjoyed so much, not hurt him?

Schmidt, and others like him, feed a common belief that you can lead an unhealthy life and still live to a ripe old age. Winston Churchill, when asked about the secret of his longevity, famously quipped, “No sports, just whisky and cigars,” to the great delight of generations of bon vivants.

However, those who believe that they can safely follow Schmidt’s and Churchill’s examples make a fundamental mistake called selection bias—they are looking at a subset of people who lived a long life against the odds rather than the many others who passed away before their golden years. Since there are many more elderly people alive today than ever before in human history, you’re also more likely to find cases that enjoy longevity. You will also find elderly folks in Somalia or the Democratic Republic of Congo, but I’m sure you would agree that moving there is probably not a good idea.

Thanks to the Global Burden of Disease database developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), we can now calculate the statistical impact of health status and risks. Building on the demographic platform population.io, we have mapped the impact of several health variables that can be applied to every person in the world. We can estimate, on average, how many years of life a smoker will lose and how many years they would gain by avoiding the habit. And we can compare the results with (or combine them to) the outcomes of other risks or conditions, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, diabetes, or hepatitis. Years of life lost or gained depend on how long you can expect to live in the first place, as well as on the quality of the health system in the country in which you live, as well as your gender. ...

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/futu...social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=global
Click to expand...

The thing is, all the statistics in the world tell you absolutely nothing about what is going to happen to you personally. You can do all the so-called healthy things and still be struck down, or you can break all the rules and live to 91 (Hugh Hefner?).
 
Last edited:
Cochise said:
The thing is, all the statistics in the world tell you absolutely nothing about what is going to happen to you personally. You can do all the so-called healthy things and still be struck down, or you can break all the rules and live to 91 (Hugh Hefner?).
Click to expand...
Quite. It's about odds and averages (and possibly one's DNA). Living to 93 sand smoking 40 unfiltered ciggies a day doesn't not mean smoking is good for you, it means someone was lucky.

Although, the relative risk of some cancers if you're a smoker are not quite as high as you might think.
 
Coal said:
Quite. It's about odds and averages (and possibly one's DNA). Living to 93 sand smoking 40 unfiltered ciggies a day doesn't not mean smoking is good for you, it means someone was lucky.

Although, the relative risk of some cancers if you're a smoker are not quite as high as you might think.
Click to expand...

All good points. If we're weighing up relative risks though, the wider health risks of smoking - not just cancer - are well-known. I wouldn't personally take those odds! but then I was raised a cautious non-gambling Methodist.
 
Hallelujah Sister !.

INT21

Hmm, while we are on about light.......
 
escargot1 said:
I wouldn't personally take those odds! but then I was raised a cautious non-gambling Methodist.
Click to expand...
Ironically, Methodism itself is gambling on both the existence of a supreme being and that said being considers gambling 'bad'.
 
Not sure where to drop this new Irish anti smoking vid, they're obviously fans of 80's pop horror though ..

 
Coal said:
Ironically, Methodism itself is gambling on both the existence of a supreme being and that said being considers gambling 'bad'.
Click to expand...

Methodists don't 'gamble' on the existence of a supreme being any more than follower of other religions do. They think they have it right.
 
Quake42 said:
It's not just the Japanese - Southern Europeans also tend to smoke (and drink - far more than the Japanese) heavily, yet enjoy long and healthy lives.

I'm guessing it is a combination of factors and that things such as healthier diets and less stress are as important as fags and booze (ot the lack of them).

I think I did read something once which suggested that the rise in lung cancer etc was linked with the popularisation of commercially produced cigarettes, which are full of lots of nasties aside from tobacco, and that when people smoked pipes or rolled their own there were not the same levels of health problems.
Click to expand...

It's just a thought but it's likely got a hell of a lot to do with environment.

Southern Europe enjoys a very agreeable climate with warm weather for most of the year. Even winter is benign so...they get out more, walk about in the fresh air, sitting outside cafes and restaurants whereas in the far more inclement north our smokers are huddled indoors rebreathing their fug or clumped under an awning in the pissing rain, fog, snow and whatever else muck there is to be endured in the outdoors.

The data is clear that indoor tabbing is very unhealthy so it is no surprise that the Mediterranean folk are living longer. Also hot weather means a lighter diet. Try scarfing steak and kidney pudding, chips as thick as your finger and boiled vegetables and then jogging around Porto Banus in 90 degree heat. It ainta-gonna happen. No, I'll have a grilled sardine salad please mate.

Added together. A better climate, less damp and cold, a better diet, less stodge more protein a decent amount of vitamin D from sunshine and hey presto..longevity. It's fairly straightforward as far as I'm concerned.

On the other side of the coin. Economically those countries are disadvantaged as sunshine, a social life and beautiful beaches mean folks are less inclined to drive themselves into an early grave grafting in an office or building empires in construction or whatever so value family and relationships far more than their Northern European contemporaries. Work is not so critical to them.

And they are far richer for it as far as I'm concerned.
 
Quake42,

..It's not just the Japanese - Southern Europeans also tend to smoke (and drink - far more than the Japanese) heavily..

Not necessarily so. The Greeks are not big drinkers.

INT21
 
Frightening numbers.

Smoking causes 100 deaths and more than 1,000 hospital admissions in the State each week, research from the Health Service Executive (HSE) states.

The research, published to coincide with World No Tobacco Day, shows that there has been a continuing decrease in the prevalence of smoking, down 20 per cent since 2005. However, the habit remains the leading preventable risk factor causing ill-health, disability and premature mortality.

“Put simply, tobacco control is the single greatest opportunity to protect and improve the public’s health,” according to the State of Tobacco Control in Ireland – 2018 report.

Despite the reduction in smoking, one in four men and one in five women still smoke. Smoking is now most common among young adults with 32 per cent of those aged 25-34 years smoking.

However, the research indicates people are starting to smoke later, with the number of under 17-olds who say they have ever tried a cigarette down from 28 per cent in 2010 to 16 per cent.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/hea...-week-in-ireland-hse-research-finds-1.3516109
 
Nick Smith,

..They can't afford it since Merkel closed the cookie jar...

Beer is much cheaper in Greece than it is in Germany.

INT21
 
Well, he is telling us this.

A 66-year-old man in New York state took it upon himself to write his own obituary as a cautionary tale warning others against smoking.

Geoffrey Turner died of lung cancer on 13 February after decades of smoking.

"I was an idiot who made the same stupid decision, day-after-day," Mr Turner wrote. "If you're a smoker - quit - now - your life depends on it."

His daughter, Sarah, told the BBC she was extremely proud of her father's last "selfless" act.

"I was a smoker and even though I knew it may eventually kill me, I chose to deny the truth to myself," Mr Turner's obituary in the Albany Times Union reads.

Mr Turner was diagnosed in November with stage four lung cancer that his doctor said was a direct result of his years of smoking.

"The pain and suffering I caused my family was not worth the perceived 'satisfaction' that really did nothing more than waste money, separate me from my family, and eventually destroyed my body.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47336530
 
ramonmercado said:
Well, he is telling us this.

A 66-year-old man in New York state took it upon himself to write his own obituary as a cautionary tale warning others against smoking.

Geoffrey Turner died of lung cancer on 13 February after decades of smoking.

"I was an idiot who made the same stupid decision, day-after-day," Mr Turner wrote. "If you're a smoker - quit - now - your life depends on it."

His daughter, Sarah, told the BBC she was extremely proud of her father's last "selfless" act.

"I was a smoker and even though I knew it may eventually kill me, I chose to deny the truth to myself," Mr Turner's obituary in the Albany Times Union reads.

Mr Turner was diagnosed in November with stage four lung cancer that his doctor said was a direct result of his years of smoking.

"The pain and suffering I caused my family was not worth the perceived 'satisfaction' that really did nothing more than waste money, separate me from my family, and eventually destroyed my body.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47336530
Click to expand...

Reminds me of when the late Yul Brynner made an anti-smoking video to be shown after his death from lung cancer.
 
James_H said:
To be fair, have you tried retsina?
Click to expand...

Indeed I have. And the similarity to the word 'resin' hasn't been lost on me.

But I do find metaxa preferable to other brandies. And am partial to a ouzo or two, on the rocks, naturally.

But only when I am on holiday; and those days are but fond memories.

INT21.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top