by Gwynn Alcorn

Created on: April 16, 2008   Last Updated: July 15, 2008

Know Your Enemy - Know Yourself

What is your reaction to tobacco smoke?
The chances are, whether you are a smoker or a non-smoker, that you find it offensive, especially in confined areas.
Your help is essential in the battle for clean air. You are needed as an ally!
When I decided to face the battle of my life and quit smoking no matter what, I was scared of how hard it would be, but I was also MAD! Mad at the tremendous cost, MAD that my habit made me an outcast; and MAD that my own smoke burned my eyes. My need to smoke CONTROLLED MY LIFE.

Any Military General will tell you that when you are facing the biggest battle of your life, there are three things to assess:
1. Your Enemy 2. Yourself 3. Your Allies
Tobacco was my enemy. The dollar cost was nearly $2,400 a year in 1993 (in 2008, it is $3,500), more than seventy five percent of which is tobacco taxes, and none of which, I discovered, was being used to help addicts quit.
The acrid smell of tobacco smoke had become unbearable. Why? In the 1960s, tobacco smoke smelled good; it was just as appealing as campfire smoke. What changed?
The content! Tar and nicotine were considered the bad stuff. So tobacco companies decreased tar and nicotine content by more than 60% in the past 30 years. Simultaneously they started adding more and more of what they call "flavorants".
Remember the canned food companies who added lots of salt and MSG and poisonous food coloring and wouldn't tell the public until it became law that the contents had to be listed?
The tobacco companies also call their flavorants "Trade Secrets," and refuse to divulge information about them. The concern to us is that these additives, when heated to 900 degrees Celsius during our smoking process, produce harmful gases.
When tobacco is burned, it gives off 4,000 identified chemicals. And more than 50% of the smoke produced is side stream smoke, meaning it is emitted into the atmosphere shared by smokers and non-smokers alike.
There are up to 500 additives put into Canadian cigarettes and up to 2,000 in American tobacco products.
Some of these additives are as innocuous as sugar or liquorice; others are as unwholesome as salt petre, turpentine and formaldehyde. The chemicals produced in the burning process include carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and ammonia. Ammonia and formaldehyde are colorless gases that have sharp, stinging odors which irritate the eyes and nose. Wonderful stuff to breathe.
The tobacco plant is a member of the Nightshade family,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>