May 31st: WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY!!!

Today (May 31^st) has been set aside by the World Health Organization as the "World No Tobacco Day". This day is dedicated to a massive campaign against tobacco of all forms. Consequently, today, and the following days, Dokinta will be discussing various issues pertaining to tobacco, its different forms, the potential health benefits and the hazards it poses to health today.

Origin of Tobacco

Believed to be of Native-American origin, tobacco has been used by Native-Indians, since 6000BC, over 8000 years ago, in prayers, offerings and other sacred/ religious rites. In 1492, Christopher Columbus, the famous European voyager was introduced to tobacco when he arrived at America. It was after this that tobacco hit the European market. The traditional tobacco contains nicotine but does not contain most of the harmful chemicals (e.g. carcinogens i.e. chemicals which cause cancer) which the commercial tobacco contains in large amounts. These harmful chemicals come in because of, and during, the technique of commercial production of tobacco (fermentation) which is different from the traditional method of preparation of traditional tobacco.

Types / Forms of Tobacco

At the mention of “tobacco”, most minds picture cigarettes, which are just 1 form in which tobacco is consumed. Tobacco has since been converted to different products with varied applications, composition, formulations and modes of consumption depend on the cultural practice(s) and needs of society which produces it/ uses it. These include: 

• Smoke  tobacco

These comprise forms of tobacco which are burnt to produce smoke which is inhaled. Examples are cigarettes, cigars, hookah and various bongs.

• Smokeless tobacco 

These include chewable forms such as snuff, snus, nicotine chewing gum and other forms like the “dipping tobacco” which tobacco used place in their mouth between the gums and the lips. In addition to the chewable types, there are tobacco creams which are non-chewable types of tobacco applied on skin for problems like wasp, hornet, fire ant, scorpion and bee sting.  Did I forget to mention tobacco water? Seems like there's a "tobacco everything"

So what makes cigarettes the bad guy?

Being the commonest form of tobacco consumed, cigarettes have been enjoyed a great deal of notorious fame, criticism and negative protests. Are these attacks merited or are they just borne out of a supposed bias? Well I guess its time to roll in a few statistics. Frankly, I was stunned to discover the achievements of tobacco.

1. "Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death in our society."

2.  "Each year, smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides, and fires - COMBINED!"

3.One in every five deaths in the United States.

4. "Cigarette smokers die younger than non-smokers. In fact, smoking decreases a person's life expectancy by 10-12 years. Smokers between the ages of 35 and 70 have death rates three times higher than those who have never smoked."

5. While the odds for those trying crack or alcohol and becoming addicts are 1 in 6 and 1 in 10 respectively, they're 9 in 10 for cigarette smokers," reports the chief of clinical pharmacology, National Institute on Drug Abuse.
At this point I'm thinking to myself, "undertakers must be glad to the tobacco business".

So what’s the big deal about cigarettes? What do they contain that makes them so harmful?

Of the 2 main forms of tobacco, the smoke tobacco is, by far, the commoner, with cigarettes being the commonest of all tobacco products. But what’s the fuss about blowing smoke in the air? Why is the WHO so concerned with smoking?

Firstly, it is known that at least 250 of the 4000 chemical components of cigarettes and cigars are known to be harmful. Among these include formaldehyde (used in embalming bodies), hydrogen cyanide (used in chemical weapons), carbon monoxide (in car and generator fumes), toulene (paint thinner), and ammonia (household cleaning agents). However, there are differences between a cigar and a cigarette smoke due to the different ways of production. 

	CIGAR	CIGARETTE
Tobacco Concentration	5-17g	1g
Nicotine Concentration	100 - 200mg	8.4mg
Lasts	1 - 2hrs	10   minutes
Carcinogen content	>60	>40
Filters	Absent	Present

  Table of Comparison between a cigar and a cigarette

Cigars undergo a longer aging and fermentation process during which high concentrations of carcinogenic compounds are produced. The larger size of cigars, absence of filters and the longer time it takes to smoke them coupled with the larger carcinogenic contents makes cigars more deadly than cigarettes. It is also more harmful to secondary smokers (A secondary smoker is someone who inhales the smoke from a cigarette/cigar being smoked by someone else). Smoking 1 cigar is like smoking 3-8 cigarettes. A premium cigar is the equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarette. Kinda like smoking a pack of dynamite if you ask me. 

Conclusion

In spite of the above, there are 2 sides to every story. Today's discussion is a harbinger. Tomorrow, we'll talk about the "benefits" versus the "hazards" of tobacco. I can't wait to spill the facts.