Smoking

I wanted to write an Article on Smoking. I wasnt sure just how far back in History that smoking goes so I researched it on the Internet. I found that it dates back to Ancient Times. It is said that smoke in a different form would be used as a healing practice. When you look at the Aztecs you will find that the Aztec Goddess Cihuacoahuatl actually had a body that consisted of tobacco and there were human sacrifices performed by priests that wore tobacco gourds as a symbol of divinity. Mostly smoking was used to obtain trances so others could reach or come in contact with the spirit world. If you research it you will find that even today that the Tzeltal Maya will sacrifice 13 calabashes of tobacco on New Years. European Explorers and Conquistadors would tell stories about native priests who would smoke themselves into such a high degree of intoxication that it is highly believed that the rituals were not just used with strictly tobacco. They were either mixed with other psychoactive drugs or consumed in extreme amounts.

The most common form of smoking was done by using pipes in North America which are also known as Peace Pipes which were often given as an offering to European settlers and other tribes merely as a gesture of goodwill and diplomacy. If you take a look at Mexico, or South and Central America the early forms of cigarettes would include the most common smoking tools such as cigars or smoking reeds. It wasnt until Modern times that pipes became widespread. In the 9th Century you could see engravings on various types of pottery that depicted smoking which may have been strictly limited to the upper class and priests. That part is unknown. By the time the 15th Century came around, smoking was widespread and used as a recreational activity. During the Banquets of Aztec nobles, fragrant flowers and smoking tubes would be passed out for the dinner guests. Normally these events would last all night and the remaining left over smoking tubes and flowers would be given to poor people as a type of alms because they had been invited to witness these social occasions. If not that then it would be rewarded to servants.

A man named Jean Nicot introduced France to tobacco in 1560 which then spread to England. Coffee, Opium, and Tea were often used as an intoxicant or form of medicine back then. Smoking was originally beneficial in its heating and drying properties. Of course like in todays time there was that one person who had to stir up a debate about it, which was The English King James I who actually wrote A Counterblaste to Tobacco which is an unforgiving literary assault believed to be a menace to society. Ill recite part of his book. It makes a man sober that was drunke. It refreshes a weary man, and yet makes a man hungry. Being taken when they goe to bed, it makes one sleepe soundly, and yet being taken when a man is sleepie and drowsie, it will, as they say; awake his Braine; and quicken his understanding. As for curing of the Pockes, it serves for that use but among the pockie Indian slaves. Here in England it is refined, and will not deigne to cure here any other than cleanly and gentlemanly diseases.

Now when it comes to Indonesia, there was a specific type of cigarette that would include cloves called kretek which was invented in the 1880s which was used for therapeutic properties which actually became a cough remedy. Kretek became a national symbol in the 1960s and 70s which is where the product began to shift from traditional hand rolling to machine rolling. You see ever since smoking was introduced outside of America there have been Arguments such as farm land which was purely moralistic to being immoral intoxication. These arguments were not based on scientific arguments, but rather humorism and pre modern scientific methods. Physicians in the United States once pitched cigarettes as health improving products. This is where somewhere between 1964 the United States Surgeon Generals Reports on Smoking began linking smoking and cancer. This is where warning labels came into place. In 1984 National No Smoking Day was launched which remains an annual event during the month of March. In 1992 the Home Office State allowed a new cause of death to be issued upon death certificates which can state that Smoking can literally be the cause.

Are you aware that although smoking may not be good for you that it enhances our ability to think perform and take tests? Scientists through new research have proven that it actually increases our memory function as well. Dr. Stephen Heishman, a Scientist with the National Institute on Drug Abuse took some subjects and asked them to go 8-12 hours without smoking before testing their brain functions. After giving these subjects a cigarette and allowing them to smoke their performance had improved after being tested without the cigarettes. He later did a study on performance and found that not only does it help with fine motor skills and alertness, it improves short term memory as well or tasks for remembering a list of items. There are tons of smokers that claim that it helps them concentrate, focus and do their work better. The study was done merely to show that if they can get a better understanding of nicotines effects, a well as withdrawal effects, it can possibly lead to more effective quitting tactics where it can make quitting seem like less of an impossible task. Good reason to do a study I say.

Think about the studies that have been done to show that running is shown to be bad for your heart, cannabis makes you smarter, alcohol doesnt make people seem attractive, but their physical appearance actually changes. A good question to ask would be if smoking cigarettes is relaxing yet shortens your life span then why are over 100 million people practicing things like Yoga and Meditation on a daily basis? Most beliefs we have learned about cigarettes that are supposed to be harmful to your health come from secondary sources such as Religion, Government Agencies, TV, Newspapers, Movies, Friends and Family and so on. Now someone might come along and say that you need to change your beliefs right? You mean like those same beliefs that Im not good enough or Nobody likes me, Im ugly, or even I dont deserve success. Hmm, typically created from societal influences and feedback from others. The point here is that its completely up to you as an individual as to how you want to live your life.

What bothers me the most is how people will put all smokers in the same category as others. Oh she or he is a smoker (as if we are a minority). Lets look at some examples here. You can take 10 people and stick them in a room and they could all say how much Pain they have from being hurt by some event that has taken place in their lives, however none of them have experienced pain the very same way. Two of them may have gotten into a vehicle accident but neither one of them were in the accident the very same way therefore the experience is very different for both people. See where Im going with that? Ok so I admit it, I am a cigarette smoker. I have smoked off and on since I was 13. Do I think or believe that its healthy for me or good for me? No I dont think it is. I actually do not give it any credit at all towards my health. However when you see the images below you can see it doesnt affect everyone the same way as it has me.

The longest living human on record, Madamme Jeanne Calment lived 122 years 164 days, smoked since her teens.

The longest living man, Shigechiyo Izumi who lived 120 years and 237 days, was smoker as well. Higher powers have a good sense of humor -- the only two humans who had to blow out 120 candles on their birthday cake were both smokers.

Before someone declares these 'lucky accidents' or exceptions, in animal experiments, the smoking animals live longer (about 20%) than non-smoking animals, remaining thinner and sharper throughout.

No one has a blueprint for what Nature or God has in mind for our lungs, our brains, our hands, or anything else for that matter Did you know that in Japan and Korea, 60-70% of men smoke, yet they tend to look more youthful than Europeans or Americans with less than half of those smoking rates. (Japanese also have three times lower lung cancer rates and live longer than American men). Now if you want my honest opinion I dont think harms people as much as others it does. I say its not the Tobacco; its the chemicals in the Tobacco. Take a look at the following image and see for yourself.

Am I trying to take up for Smokers? Maybe somewhat because Im smart enough to realize that smoking isnt going to affect everyone in the same way and these chemicals that you are seeing up above havent always been in Tobacco. Tar has a mixture of dangerous chemicals, Arsenic is used in wood preservatives, Benzene is an industrial solvent, refined from crude oil, Cadmium is used in batteries , Formaldehyde is used in mortuaries and paint manufacturing, Polonium-210 is a highly radioactive element, Chromium is used to manufacture dye, paints and alloys, 1,3-Butadiene is used in rubber manufacturing, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are a group of dangerous DNA changing chemicals, Nitrosamines are another group of DNA damaging chemicals, Acrolein is formerly used as a chemical weapon. I had someone tell me once that if I was going to smoke that I should switch to Indian Spirit Cigarettes because they didnt have all the additives and chemicals in them that the other brands do. They also told me that the smoke doesnt cling to your furniture or curtains or clothing and it doesnt leave a bad smell in your home. I decided to research this Idea. If you dont know what Indian Spirit Cigarettes are theres a picture below.

For one Native Cigarettes are Unregulated. What does that mean? It means you dont really know what the hell is in them. They do burn quicker but American (Indian) Spirit cigarettes are the only U.S. brand made of 100% certified organic tobacco, this is clearly stated on their homepage. It states on their homepage that their tobacco does Not mean a safer cigarette and all cigarette smoke contains Carbon Monoxide. Heres the website. https://www.nascigs.com/modules/Security/Login.aspx

Is it safer? Probably somewhat, but I wouldnt disclaim it to have No chemicals in it at all. Do cigarettes kill? Yes, do they affect everyone the same way? No. Are the roll your own kind any better? No. Its good to get information on whats inside of a product sometimes rather than judging the entire product itself.