Things That Make You Think...about Cigarettes
Cigarettes are widely available throughout the world and cause dividing social lines. Whether you are a smoker or not, you probably have strong feelings about cigarette smoking. If you smoke, you probably tend to defend your habit and your right to choose what you do with your own body. If you are a non-smoker, your arguments generally tend toward not wanting to breath secondhand smoke and worrying about the health of the smokers that you know.
No matter what your stance on smoking may be, there are some interesting facts related to smoking that you may want to know. These may or may not affect the way that you feel about cigarettes and cigarette smoking. They are, however, very interesting to note.
Cigarette Availability
Cigarettes are the most traded item on earth. Every year about a trillion cigarettes are sold between countries, giving them worldwide availability. In a time of economic stress, this is one of the industries that does not seem to be affected by the economy. Globally, the cigarette market produces $400 billion in revenue yearly, making it one of the world"s largest industries.
Nicotine Content
According to a study done by Harvard University, over the last two decades, several major brands of cigarettes are increasing the amounts of nicotine in their cigarettes. This means that it takes less product for a person to get addicted faster. Camel, Newport and Doral were among the brands of cigarettes whose nicotine content is on the rise, increasing by almost 11% over the course of the study.
Warning Labels
Though today they are a little-noticed fixture, warning labels were not always on cigarette packages. Until 1971, cigarette warning labels were unheard of. Believe it or not, the last day that cigarette ads ever ran on TV was January 1, 1971. Originally it was supposed to have been the day before, but the deadline was moved up to give the cigarette companies one more New Year"s Day push for commercials during football games. Knowing what we know now, this seems a little ridiculous.
Chemicals in Cigarettes
Cigarettes contain many of the chemicals that people have been convicted of using to murder people. These chemicals include arsenic, formaldehyde, lead, hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia and more than 40 known carcinogens. Makes you want to go light on up, huh?
Cigarette Flavor
Along with all of the horrendous chemicals that cigarette smoke produces, cigarettes also contain urea, a major component of urine. You may wonder why on earth cigarettes contain urine. Would you believe it"s for flavor? All I have to say is that if you have to use urine to add flavor to something, maybe it should be something that you want to ingest.
Legal Smoking Age
While the sale of tobacco is strictly regulated by laws around the world, there is no legal age for smoking cigarettes. So an adult can buy a pack of cigarettes and let their preschoolers smoke legally, but a teenager can"t walk into a gas station and buy cigarettes without someone breaking the law.
Instant Gratification
If you have never smoked a cigarette, you may think that the exaggerated reaction (usually one of the person exhaling slowly and relaxing) to taking a first drag off a cigarette that you see on TV and in movies cannot possibly be how it really is. However, nicotine has been proven to reach the brain just 10 seconds after the first inhale. It is interesting to not with that kind of absorption time, nicotine has been found in every area of the body "" even in breastmilk.
Diabetes Threat
There are many hidden dangers to people with diabetes, but one unlikely one is cigarettes. People fail to realize that every cigarette they smoke is made up of approximately 20% sugar. That is a huge ingestion of sugar that goes unaccounted for by most diabetics.
While these may seem like silly facts and figures just to entertain, they are actually things to make you think about the effects of what you put into your body. There are many harmful chemicals and products in our world that we ingest on a daily basis, but none more so than cigarettes. Cigarette smoking is harmful to your health in numerous ways. Quitting smoking can make a huge impact on your life and your health.
No matter what your stance on smoking may be, there are some interesting facts related to smoking that you may want to know. These may or may not affect the way that you feel about cigarettes and cigarette smoking. They are, however, very interesting to note.
Cigarette Availability
Cigarettes are the most traded item on earth. Every year about a trillion cigarettes are sold between countries, giving them worldwide availability. In a time of economic stress, this is one of the industries that does not seem to be affected by the economy. Globally, the cigarette market produces $400 billion in revenue yearly, making it one of the world"s largest industries.
Nicotine Content
According to a study done by Harvard University, over the last two decades, several major brands of cigarettes are increasing the amounts of nicotine in their cigarettes. This means that it takes less product for a person to get addicted faster. Camel, Newport and Doral were among the brands of cigarettes whose nicotine content is on the rise, increasing by almost 11% over the course of the study.
Warning Labels
Though today they are a little-noticed fixture, warning labels were not always on cigarette packages. Until 1971, cigarette warning labels were unheard of. Believe it or not, the last day that cigarette ads ever ran on TV was January 1, 1971. Originally it was supposed to have been the day before, but the deadline was moved up to give the cigarette companies one more New Year"s Day push for commercials during football games. Knowing what we know now, this seems a little ridiculous.
Chemicals in Cigarettes
Cigarettes contain many of the chemicals that people have been convicted of using to murder people. These chemicals include arsenic, formaldehyde, lead, hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia and more than 40 known carcinogens. Makes you want to go light on up, huh?
Cigarette Flavor
Along with all of the horrendous chemicals that cigarette smoke produces, cigarettes also contain urea, a major component of urine. You may wonder why on earth cigarettes contain urine. Would you believe it"s for flavor? All I have to say is that if you have to use urine to add flavor to something, maybe it should be something that you want to ingest.
Legal Smoking Age
While the sale of tobacco is strictly regulated by laws around the world, there is no legal age for smoking cigarettes. So an adult can buy a pack of cigarettes and let their preschoolers smoke legally, but a teenager can"t walk into a gas station and buy cigarettes without someone breaking the law.
Instant Gratification
If you have never smoked a cigarette, you may think that the exaggerated reaction (usually one of the person exhaling slowly and relaxing) to taking a first drag off a cigarette that you see on TV and in movies cannot possibly be how it really is. However, nicotine has been proven to reach the brain just 10 seconds after the first inhale. It is interesting to not with that kind of absorption time, nicotine has been found in every area of the body "" even in breastmilk.
Diabetes Threat
There are many hidden dangers to people with diabetes, but one unlikely one is cigarettes. People fail to realize that every cigarette they smoke is made up of approximately 20% sugar. That is a huge ingestion of sugar that goes unaccounted for by most diabetics.
While these may seem like silly facts and figures just to entertain, they are actually things to make you think about the effects of what you put into your body. There are many harmful chemicals and products in our world that we ingest on a daily basis, but none more so than cigarettes. Cigarette smoking is harmful to your health in numerous ways. Quitting smoking can make a huge impact on your life and your health.
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