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What We AREN'T Being Told About Smoking

OneWingedBird said:
I suppose it depends if the alternative was that he'd have gone back to the cancer sticks.

If he'd always been a non-smoker it was probably kind of dumb. Although plenty have gone down that road one way or another.
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It turns out that he was smoking an e-cig that has no nicotine in it, so I guess it's not addictive. This is not a stupid man - this is our new head of development...
 
Mythopoeika said:
It turns out that he was smoking an e-cig that has no nicotine in it, so I guess it's not addictive. This is not a stupid man - this is our new head of development...
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How much does an e-cig have to be different from a cigarette before it no longer qualifies as any kind of cig, e or otherwise?
 
PeteByrdie said:
Mythopoeika said:
It turns out that he was smoking an e-cig that has no nicotine in it, so I guess it's not addictive. This is not a stupid man - this is our new head of development...
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How much does an e-cig have to be different from a cigarette before it no longer qualifies as any kind of cig, e or otherwise?
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It has to be capable of exploding?

I presume they will now be banned from all aircraft.
 
Anything electrical is capable of exploding if you plug in the wrong charger, as happened in at least one of these so-called 'exploding cigarette' cases. Are we going to ban laptops?

Despite elf'n'safety, you cannot protect people either from terminal stupidity or some kinds of momentary thoughtlessness.

I was not very impressed by the fire chief (or whatever bizarre title they possess nowadays) warning us all to prevent fires as they can kill people. Yes, they can, Virginia. But the one in my front room keeps me warm.
 
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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.[/quote]

I am not sure Southern Europeans drink more. I suspect they drink more often but in small quantities and less binge drinking than we get in Britain. So for instance, the Spanish have wine with most evening meals, BUT it is often also drunk mixed with water. There is a scientific evidence that moderate regular drinking, especially of red wine, is actually good for health.
 
The explosion (pun intended) of the e-cigarette market has been most visible in poor areas of Manchester. Shops have mushroomed up in otherwise-blighted precincts and others have been peddling their wares from market-stalls and backs of vans. There must be money in it for someone, though I guess it is a business run along franchise or pyramid lines.

The banner on one of these wayside stalls in Harpurhey invites passers-by to "rediscover" smoking a healthier way. It is clear that these products are being aimed at lapsed addicts as well as current cigarette-users.

Huffington Post article on e-cigarettes in the US
 
The thing is, its not nicotine which is the prime cause of health problems with conventional cigarettes, its the by-product of burning vegetable matter and particularly of the preservatives that exist in 'ready-made's' . That which gets described over-simplisticly as 'tar' and is basically the condensed by-products of the smoke that you have sucked deep into your lungs.

I've been assured both by a (non-smoking) chemist (that is, a senior man in chemistry, not a pharmacist) and an ex-employee of the tobacco industry (before e-cigarettes had been thought of) that smoking joints is just as dangerous, or very nearly as dangerous, to health as smoking roll-ups, It's the smoke, basically, bringing the toxic tar deep into the lungs, not the 'active ingredient'.

So on health grounds there really is little justification in banning e-cigarettes, in fact it would make more sense to ban normal cigarettes now there is a much less dangerous alternative available. No doubt the government can tax e-cigarettes and that can compensate the state for any remaining health problems so caused.

Having said which, I gave up smoking over 20 years ago when I realised exactly how much damage it was doing to my health, and I don't intend to start again, e-cigarettes or not.
 
You can't 'smoke' an e cig. You are inhaling a vaporous form of nicotine without the additional chemicals that make conventional cigarettes burn down like dynamite fuses.

It must be a considerable annoyance to anti-smokers who get their jollies by doing loud pretendy coughs around smokers but in many cases I suspect if it wasn't cigarettes, they'd find another target for their superior righteous indignation.

It's also suspiciously odd timing that these e cig scare stories are hitting the headlines just as cigarette manufacturers are trimming down production and shedding jobs.
 
As we're on the subject of e-cigs, I've been working on a site where there are designated smoking areas. I don't smoke, so haven't used them. One of the guys on the site told me today that people smoking e-cigs have to do so in the smoking areas with the smokers. So, people who are doing something (possibly) totally harmless to themselves or others, choosing the healthier option, have to do so in a relatively enclosed space with people filling the area with noxious gases. I know they choose to do so, but this seems counter to common sense to me. As was said above, if you're using an e-cig you're not smoking, except in the literal sense after it has exploded. You're simply using a theoretically harmless product. You don't have to go into the smoking area to eat a sandwich or drink a fizzy drink, so I don't see that you should when using an e-cig. Is this a common policy in workplaces, does anyone know.
 
Yep, e-cigs got quite popular at work when people realised they could use one at their desk!

Cue a big knee jerk "you have to do that in the designated smoking areas outside, policy change!".

A few of us pointed out that a lot of folks might be using e-cigs to to give up or cut down, and it was a little unfair to make them go and stand with the 'real' smokers.......

"Policy change! Just make sure it's outdoors then."
 
A hot vapour used as a delivery system to inhale nicotine without a passive effect.
It's not a great leap to say that water passed through a bag of leaves to make tea should be outlawed at the desk.
 
I visited a neighbour today who's been a heavy smoker since I've known her. As her house - nicely decorated and furnished as it is - stinks of smoke I rarely go in. I'd come out smelling too and want to shower and change my clothes.

Today I had a nice surprise: no smoky smell! She's been vaping for the last 9 months and her house is now smoke-free. I'm impressed.
 
Yes, the two I knew were both heavy smokers with more than their share of stress. They had both been unable to give up in the past despite repeated attempts.
 
I saw a man literally hold a piece of fruit up to his face and eat a bit of it while driving.
After that it was all a bit of a blur as the woman on the mobile phone in another onocming car decapicated me as she and her child were EATING CHEESE STRINGS WOULD YOU BELIEVE.

My Message from beyond the grave.... ban stringy cheese!
 
I eat when I'm driving. It's probably safer than when I used to roll cigarettes.
 
One problem with eating while driving is the inherent danger. While you're trying to multi-task around your snack - unwrapping your sandwich while negotiating a roundabout , say - there's the very real chance that you'll chuck the butty out of the window and sink your teeth into the carton. Gutting.
 
escargot1 said:
there's the very real chance that you'll chuck the butty out of the window and sink your teeth into the carton. Gutting.
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And that would be karma.
 
When I'm cycling, I always have half an eye on the drivers of other vehicles as an indication of whether they're likely to be aware of me being there, particularly when they're about to pull out from the left.

Without wanting to hate on any specific activity, anything that means that the driver's eyes aren't on the road and what is happening around them is kind of scary.
 
That sarnie carton you got in the face on the roundabout, that was me. sorry. :oops:
 
Some other cyclist got the sandwich, just before the turn-off. I like to think they enjoyed it.
 
This has gone from a smoking thread to a transport thread... :lol:
 
Pietro_Mercurios said:
It's the niccotine that gives cigs whatever kick they have.
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Maybe so, but it's probably the cigarette papers that contribute to the carcinogenic effect. Cigar smokers suffer less cancer, I believe.
 
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