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“Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the US each year.”

cdc.gov

21–30 of 53 posts

Re: “Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the US each year.”

#21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say keep increasing taxes on tobacco (slowly) and explore other ways to make the purchase process and use inconvenient (i.e. use dark patterns "for good.") Perhaps also explore legalizing marajuana (I think weed should be legal any way but I wonder what effects it would have on tobacco use. I wonder how that body handles a nicotine craving and then ingests marajuana instead.) I understand the personal freedom…

> Perhaps also explore legalizing marajuana (I think weed should be legal any way but I wonder what effects it would have on tobacco use. I wonder how that body handles a nicotine craving and then ingests marajuana instead.) This is pretty much one of the main reasons for my tobacco habit. Cannabis is hard to come by where I'm at (not the US), nobody smokes pure because most people don't have reliable enough supply,…

and the effect is stronger than filter cigarettes because it's unfiltered and presumably because cannabis would, just like menthol, open up the lungs.

Re: “Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the US each year.”

#22

So what do we do? I don't believe in making them illegal as that infringes on others rights to choose what they put in their body, but I do feel for the kids and family members who have to put up with the habit.

Well, this is my personal opinion but here it goes. It's not about our rights, it's about public health. Cigarrettes should be illegal, and all the companies making these products shluld be banned. This is costing the entire world millions every month. I am a smoker. I smoke about a pack everyday. And I've tried quitting more than once, but this thing is more addictive than a lot of substances you can buy on the stre…

trouble is, its not the tobacco doing the killing, its the radioactive high phosphate fertiliser used to grow it.

in total responsible for 3/5s of american deaths. the 1/5 from smoking, and 2/5s from food.

So by your rational, american food should be illegal.

Which is i guess why so many other countries banned imports of it.

Re: “Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the US each year.”

#23

So what do we do? I don't believe in making them illegal as that infringes on others rights to choose what they put in their body, but I do feel for the kids and family members who have to put up with the habit.

Well, this is my personal opinion but here it goes. It's not about our rights, it's about public health. Cigarrettes should be illegal, and all the companies making these products shluld be banned. This is costing the entire world millions every month. I am a smoker. I smoke about a pack everyday. And I've tried quitting more than once, but this thing is more addictive than a lot of substances you can buy on the stre…

Have you considered switching to an e-cigrarette without the intention of quitting (which is where I think most people trip up)? I have a friend who uses a balance of nicotine in his e-cigarette that is way way more nicotine than he would ever get from a normal cigarette, he is extremely happy (and claims that the real trick is you need to not use a cheap e-cigarette but get one that nails the temperature consistently), and as far as we can all tell he is avoiding the horrible health effects. I mean: you are addicted to nicotine, not tar, right?

Re: “Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the US each year.”

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I have zero tolerance for drinking after close friends were killed by drunk driver.

So how do we balance personal liberty with respect for others? I don't know the solution but welcome the discourse. Part of the problem I think is that the people who engage in these behaviors don't care very much for themselves, let alone others. I've often wondered if people who partake in cigarette smoking have a death wish of sorts, just unable to take the fast route.

Lack of awareness, tolerance and acceptance. Many people are just too hypocritical and I could point many such issues, so the problem is a more general one in society.

Re: “Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the US each year.”

#25
post #13
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely. I have exactly zero tolerance for smokers since passive smoking have me asthma. I'm all for outlawing it in all public areas.

My mother is dying of lung cancer from smoking right now. Growing up, she would smoke around me despite it causing me and my sister to have asthma attacks. I think forbidding it in public spaces does not go far enough. One's right to swing their fist ends where another's nose begins.

> My mother is dying of lung cancer from smoking right now.

I would like to say something encouraging, but can't think of anything fitting given the relative anonymity of this conversation.

> she would smoke around me despite it causing me and my sister to have asthma attacks

For me it was mostly my father. There was a time when everyone in my family (except me) smoked, but my siblings and my mother quit before or around the time when I got asthma. My father hung onto it for another 15 years. Then during a checkup, his doctor theorized that he may have lung cancer. The tests came back negative, but just visualizing this fate vividly caused my father to quit smoking from one day to the next.

Re: “Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the US each year.”

#26
post #6

Based on the references, I believe this should be tagged (2015) Also, article title is "Tobacco-Related Mortality"

Can you name any relevant "tobacco-related" activities that are not "smoking"?

(Technically, it's true that the term "cigarette smoking" is too narrow. When my mother asked my father to quit cigarette smoking, he happily obliged and started stuffing a tobacco pipe instead.)

Re: “Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the US each year.”

#27

So what do we do? I don't believe in making them illegal as that infringes on others rights to choose what they put in their body, but I do feel for the kids and family members who have to put up with the habit.

Tax it to death. A pack of cigarettes should cost $20 or more in this country. Ensure that the externalized costs are included with the price and people will quit.

Re: “Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the US each year.”

#28

Its also a nightmare when you rent. Luckily I see more rental properties banning smoking, but they are still in the minority. Its not just smoke wafting in from neighbors, but also the third hand smoke deposited in the unit you may be exposed to by previous smokers. For example, its almost impossible to remove the third hand smoke from ventilation systems that use flexible duct tubing because they tear. The cost of a…

Where are you based? I've been in many rental properties over the last 10 years; my own, my parents, and friends of. Oth of us. Every single one I've seen has banned smoking.

Re: “Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the US each year.”

#29
post #6

Based on the references, I believe this should be tagged (2015) Also, article title is "Tobacco-Related Mortality"

Can you name any relevant "tobacco-related" activities that are not "smoking"? (Technically, it's true that the term "cigarette smoking" is too narrow. When my mother asked my father to quit cigarette smoking, he happily obliged and started stuffing a tobacco pipe instead.)

> Can you name any relevant "tobacco-related" activities that are not "smoking"?

I'm only pointing out the actual article title. HN guidelines are to use the actual article title (with some caveats). As that's not the case here, I think it's useful to provide it.

Since you asked, as for other tobacco-related activities, tobacco is consumed in a number of different ways, smoked or otherwise. One of the bullets at the top of the article explicitly mentions:

> Smokeless tobacco is a known cause of cancer.

Wikipedia lists:

> Dried tobacco leaves are mainly used for smoking in cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and flavored shisha tobacco. They can be also be consumed as snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco and snus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco

Vaping is also an alternative which I suppose one could consider distinct from smoking.

Re: “Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the US each year.”

#30
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My mother is dying of lung cancer from smoking right now. Growing up, she would smoke around me despite it causing me and my sister to have asthma attacks. I think forbidding it in public spaces does not go far enough. One's right to swing their fist ends where another's nose begins.

are you saying fists should be outlawed in public spaces? I think you are, but it's ridiculous.

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