Re: Joni's statue and smoking

[Sarah Gibb]

Hey Colin, I'm not having a go at you here, and I don't want to prolong the smoking thread unnecessarily, but I can't not respond to your comment that smoking doesn't cause disease in most smokers. Long term smokers who don't become ill are the lucky ones, and you're right that it's probably a genetic issue that protects them. Scientists, supported (of course) by the tobacco companies, and experimenting (of course) on animals who would otherwise never smoke, are currently trying to find out what that is. That aside, smoking causes serious illness in almost all long term smokers, and some short term smokers. Lung damage is not reversible. But smokers rationalize the damage away. They can't do sport easily/can't climb stairs easily, so they tell themselves they must lose weight/go to the gym. When they develop the cough, they call it "smokers' cough", when they should be calling it lung damage. Smoking and obesity are two of the major causes of death in North America. We don't think it's cool when people eat themselves to death, and we wouldn't think it respectful to build a statue of Elvis Presley holding burgers and pies in his hands, even though eating was as much his trademark at the end of his life as smoking is Joni Mitchell's.

COPD (smokers' disease - bronchitis and emphysema) is the fourth leading cause of death in America. In 2000, 10 million people were listed as having been diagnosed with COPD, 1.5 million visited an emergency room because of it, 726,000 were hospitalized with it, and 119,000 died from it. Another 14 million Americans are believed to suffer from COPD undiagnosed. Death rates are an underestimate because many death certificates will say "heart attack" or "old age", and won't bother to mention the lung damage that caused the heart to stop.

I don't buy the choice thing, because most people start smoking when they're teenagers, and by the time they realize the damage they're doing, they're addicted and their choice is massively reduced.

I agree with what you say about other types of air pollution.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now. As I said earlier, when you've worked as a smoking cessation counselor and have seen the terrible things people have done to themselves, and how they long not to have done them, you can't let myths about smoking just pass on by.

No offence intended to you personally.

Best,

Sarah


At 12:09 AM +0000 12/06/2002, colin wrote:

very sad and very unlucky people. smoking does not casue disease in all people who smoke, not even in most of them.
My partner's sister is 60 and she is dying from lung cancer and emphysema. she has never smoked.
One would be a fool to pretend that smoking is good for one, but there is so much scare mongering and exaggeration surrounding the smoking issue.
Both sides of my faimly are very long lived-80's and 90's and most smoke. Those that have died young, an aunt from cancer, and uncle from pneumonia, another form a stroke, did not ever smoke. Of course this does not eman that the long lived ones are kept alive by smoking. it does imply that our diseases are much more controlled by genes than anything else.

on tv tonight they were showing filters used to measure the air in London, the filters were covered in black soot-as are thelungs of those who live and breathe there. The air we breathe, the chemicals/poisons in our foods and water are all ignored and smoking is made the scapegoat.

Howver, smoking is not a good thing to do, butit really is time people minded their own business and live and let live. the pullution angle is really crap. these same people do not rant about the car they drive or the plane they catch etc. In this modern world, people are just too plain nosey!