History of one of the most poisonous plants: tobacco.

When America was discovered in 1492 tobacco had already been playing a major part in the culture of the Native Americans. The indigenous peoples were using it for their religious ceremonies because under certain circumstances it becomes hallucinogenic. The Europeans who settled in America learned to smoke and brought this practice to Europe. The early settlers thought tobacco had a ‘recreationally’ effect and the land owners made fortunes from their tobacco plantations which had widely spread especially in the South of the present day USA.

Smoked, chewed, dipped or sniffed into the nose tobacco became in the 17th century one of the most profitable products imported from America and at the same one of most dangerous substances that human beings deliberately introduce in their bodies.

Rejecting tobacco

Even in the early years of ‘the tobacco era’ most people strongly disagreed with the use of this plant for ‘the pleasure and flavouring of life’. King James I of England (1566-1625) wrote the first famous anti-smoking essay. He described smoking as a ‘custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the Nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the Lungs’.

Unfortunately there are still a lot of people nowadays who still don’t realize the threats and dangers that smoking or consuming tobacco in any way and under any form poses on their health and professional activity. Governmental agencies, transnational organizations such as the EU or World Health Organization and thousands of NGO’s worldwide fight against smoking and tobacco use for the so called ‘recreational’ purposes.

The effects of smoking on smokers and non-smokers.

In 1988 a report of the US Surgeon General classified smoking cigarettes as nicotine addiction. Nicotine is one of the many toxic substances that a cigarette contains and it’s a physically and psychologically addictive drug and the main purpose of smoking is to supply a dose of nicotine rapidly to the brain – this is in short the definition of smoking and its most dangerous effect, addiction. When lit, a cigarette releases in the smoker’s lung 4,000 poisonous gases and substances among which the nicotine, carbon monoxide, arsenic, benzene or hydrogen cyanide are the most dangerous and harmful. The fact is that over 85% of the smoke is actually released in the air so not only the active smoker is in danger but virtually any non-smoker who’s around is a potential victim.

Most countries passed in the last few years laws and regulations against smoking or supported campaigns to help people quit smoking. In the majority of the EU member states smoking has been banned in public places and breaking the ban might be very expensive. In the UK strict regulations will come into force on the 1st of July 2007. Smoking will be banned in more than 130,000 pubs, clubs and restaurants. The fine for breaking the law is £50 and in case the owner of the place failed to prevent customers to smoke pays a £2,500 fine
The brands that sell tobacco products must warn and discourage by all means the smokers to continue poisoning themselves. Some of the risks of smoking are: lung cancer, addiction, heart diseases or harming the baby during pregnancy. In the UK for example on the cigarette pack one can read warnings such as: ‘Smoking can cause fatal lung cancer’, ‘Smoking clogs the arteries and causes heart attacks and strokes’ or ‘Smokers can die younger’. In the US smokers are seriously warned that ‘Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy’.

According to the latest studies 30% of the people who die from lung cancer smoked intensively before getting sick. It’s been estimated that in the next few years over 500 million persons – 9% of the world’s population - will die because of diseases induced by smoking actively or passively. A really desperate situation is in the western countries where smoking related conditions cause 30% of the deaths among people aged 35-69. In Romania statistics show that nearly 64% of the youngsters under 16 smoke on a daily basis.

Can you imagine there’s a disease caused by smoking for each letter of the alphabet? Addiction, bronchitis, cancer, impotence, heart failure, stroke, are just a few conditions that come to my mind when quickly revising the alphabet. And the most serious threat is death.

Quit Smoking

For smokers their daily dose might represent ‘a reason to live for’. But for the majority of the world’s population tobacco means more of their money spent for treating lung or heart illnesses, regrets for the beloved ones who passed away and least but not last huge surfaces cultivated with this useless plant instead of being used to grow corn or wheat to cover increasing food demands.
Most smokers admit their addiction to nicotine is extremely dangerous for their health and that smoking decreases their professional performance. Most of them want to quit smoking but they simply can’t. Among the most frequently mentioned reasons for not being able to quit this habit are: the so called ‘comfort and relaxation’, the physical need, the lack of effective methods and therapies – but all of them forget that man shouldn’t become the slave of his ‘enemies’.

First of all addicted smokers should tell to themselves: ‘That’s it. I had enough! I’ll be another person – free and independent. Smoking doesn’t help me at all – on the contrary it increases blood pressure and the risks to die from a heart attack or cancer.’

If not able to quit by themselves smokers could go to specialized health professionals who can help. The best thing is to get information on the bad effects of smoking, to ask for advice and in severe cases of addiction to go to doctors and ask for special medical treatment.

I strongly recommend the so called “cold turkey” quitting - the abrupt end of all tobacco products use. 80 to 90% of all the long term successful quitters used this method. Basically it is about convincing yourself that you don’t need cigarettes anymore and that tobacco really hurts you on long term.

Other means that might help one quit smoking is the ‘Nicotine replacement therapy’ (NRT): pharmacological products that are clinically tested and help with withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Among these drug-like substitutes are the lozenges, transdermal nicotine patches, gum or inhalers.

Perhaps the most radical of all the suggested treatments is hypnosis. But don’t worry because there are other alternative techniques such as herbal preparations, acupuncture, attending therapy groups such as Nicotine Anonymous or even fasting. This last method seems ‘dramatically’ interesting. It is thought that quitting smoking is easier during fasting.

All in all I strongly believe that in fact self-motivation and self-help are the secrets of an effective method to quit smoking. Just tell to your mind and body that YOU must quit smoking and you’ll see that self-suggestion was the ‘substance’ you were missing and not nicotine.