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                                               TOBACCO                                  The English word “tobacco” originates from the Spanish and Portuguese word “tobaco.” It possibly entered the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian languages via the Arabic word “tubbaq,” which is a name for various herbs. Tobacco was long used in the Americas, long before the Europeans arrived. Traditionally it was seen as a gift from the Creator, with the ceremonial tobacco smoke carrying one’s thoughts and prayers to the Creator. Now we know it can carry even more – the human soul as well. It kills about six million people annually and is thought to have killed about 100 million people in the 20th century. It is estimated that the world has about 1.22 billion smokers, most living in undeveloped or transitional economies. The perils of smoking are distributed in all media, even on the package itself. So, it’s difficult to believe that any smoker does not know that this product can kill and most likely will. What is the most successful commercial product of all time? Yes, the cigarette. The Spanish brought tobacco seeds to the Old World in 1559. They were planted in the outskirts of Toledo in an area known as “Los Cigarrales” due to the continuous plagues of cicadas (cigarras in Spanish). It was a major industry in Europe by 1700. When it  was introduced in France it took on the name “cigarette” which it holds to this  day. In 1845 the French government formed a monopoly to manufacture the product for French consumption. German doctors were the first to identify the link between smoking and lung cancer in 1940. Since that time the tobacco industry did everything in its power to conceal from the public the harmful effects of its product. It was largely successful until relatively recent times. Every industry in the US has a strong lobbying presence in Washington DC and the tobacco industry had one of the most powerful and still does. Through lobbying, advertising, marketing and every means possible the tobacco industry concealed from the public the harmful effects of its product. The industry made it a macho thing for men to smoke and a sophisticated mannerism for women to smoke. All the while the product was killing in the US about 480, 000 people annually with about 50, 000 of those deaths due to second hand smoke. The industry leaders knew they were dealing in a deadly product while they concealed the fact from the general public. Why didn’t our Washington politicians warn the public of the danger? Because they were part of the public deception. Al Gore, Vice President, and his father, former Senator Albert Gore Sr. owned tobacco farms. The tobacco industry has been very liberal with their campaign contributions to both Democrats and Republicans. It was not Washington that brought the tobacco industry into court about its deadly product. It was the US National Association of Attorney’s General, state level people. The US Congress recently gave the FDA limited authority to regulate tobacco, but only after the tobacco industry agreed. This sort of activity is what has angered the public and had a significant effect on the recent presidential election. Our representatives in Washington pass laws and regulations to aid industry and often counter to the interests of the public such as tobacco, health care, prescription drugs, banking, agriculture, environment, airlines, and the list goes on and on. The US, due to the still powerful tobacco lobby, has not implemented graphical cigarette warning labels on the packs, which is considered the most effective way to communicate to the public the dangers of the product. The following countries have: Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, Hungary, Romania, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Egypt, Nepal and Turkey. Here is what a US cigarette pack looks like:

As you can see, the “warning labels” are quite mild and in my opinion, not likely to deter anyone from using the product. Now contrast that with a few foreign labels with their deterrent.  

Why doesn’t the US adopt the same packaging rules the other countries have? The answer is simple. The US Congress is foremost interested is getting elected or reelected. That is more important to them than half a million people being killed every year. Therefore, they want those campaign contributions from the tobacco industry to accomplish their objective. Currently two of the top four recipients of tobacco money are Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. Democrats and Republicans cater to tobacco. 

I was introduced to tobacco in 1947 when I was 16 years old and a junior in high school. Some of the top selling brands then were Phillip Morris, Lucky Strike, Camel, Marlboro, Winston, Cool, and others. My home was with my grandmother in Hope, Arkansas. At that time Hope had two major restaurants – the Diamond Café at the corner of Elm and Highway 67 and the Checkered Café at the corner of Main and Highway 67. No Interstate then. Highway 67 was the main artery through the state. Hope and Hempstead County were dry (no alcohol sold), but 30 miles away on the Texas – Arkansas border was Texarkana where alcohol and ‘nightlife’ was available. One of our late evening weekend activities was to stand on the corner at the Diamond Café and wait on our friends to return from Texarkana and regale us with the night’s adventures. One evening when sitting in a booth in the Café one of the older guys suddenly said to me “John, do you want a cigarette?” I said sure. I lit up and blew out the smoke. One of the other older guys said “Look at that. John can’t even inhale.” Oh, my. I was crushed and embarrassed. A package of cigarettes in 1947 was eighteen cents. As I left the Café that night I got myself a package of Lucky Strikes. I was determined to learn how to inhale. Immediately at home I tried it. My body completely rejected it. After gagging and nearly regurgitating I gave up for the night. But only for the night. The next week I tortured my body into accepting this intrusion. And the next Saturday evening at the Diamond Café, sitting there enjoying the evenings stories, I took out MY pack of Luckys, lit up, inhaled and proudly blew out the smoke. I was so proud and grown-up. And unknowingly at the time I was addicted to tobacco. I then smoked the remainder of my Hope High School days, four years in the military and five years in college. I got up to the point of smoking two packs a day. I had greenish brown nicotine stain on my fingers and teeth. I can recall that sometimes when I was engaged in an activity that required strict concentration, I would relax for a moment and notice that I would have two, maybe even three cigarettes going at the same time. The first thing I would do in the morning would be to smoke a cigarette and it would be the last thing I would do before going to sleep at night. Yes, the demon tobacco had me completely in its grasp. And I was beginning to get disgusted with it. We pick up the story in Buena Park, California. I am a young engineer, employed at Hughes Aircraft Company in Fullerton, California; neighboring town to Buena Park. I had a one bedroom apartment. It was bachelor living. I had everything I needed, but nothing to excess. I suppose many people would say – Spartan. As I recall I had two plates, two glasses, two knives, two forks, two spoons, two pans, etc. That sort of thing. Somebody might be invited over. You never know when these things will happen. In the bedroom I had a dresser with mirror and drawers holding my shirts, socks, underwear, and other garments. My neckties were hanging on the left side of the mirror. So when I prepared to go to work after breakfast, my routine was to take a fresh shirt out of the drawer, put it on, take a tie off the mirror and tie it. This significant morning as I was tying my tie I detected a burning odor. “What is that?” I thought. I looked down and I had placed a lighted cigarette on the edge of the dresser, the drawer where my shirts were was open, and the burning cigarette had fallen into the pile of shirts and burned a hole in one of my shirts. This infuriated me. I already was disillusioned with smoking and had been for years. This tipped me over the edge. All right. I’ve had it with these damn cigarettes. I gathered up all the cigarettes I had and flushed them down the toilette. Within 30 seconds I wanted a cigarette so badly that if I had one I would have eaten it with relish. OK. I accepted the fact that this was not going to work out this way. But I was determined to end this addiction to tobacco. But how to do it without going crazy? I immediately began to moderate my habit and was successful in cutting back to one pack a day. But even this was with great difficulty. It is impossible for anyone who has not experienced the absolutely overwhelming, all consuming effects of addiction to understand the uncontrollable physical and mental state the substance generates. There were two engineers living in the next door apartment, a couple, man and woman. Combined they made a lot more money than I did, but invariably during the last week of the month one of them would come to me asking for a loan of five or ten dollars – not for food, but for cigarettes. Once tobacco has a hold on you, it is unyielding. This was about 1960 and we did not know at that time that this product was slowly killing us. So that was not an incentive to quit the habit. But I was determined to separate from this demon. But how to do it? I read all I could about addiction and nothing I read seemed logical and reasonable for my situation and objective. One day I recalled a situation in college. I was a sports fan and it was baseball season. One day I said to myself “why is it that I can remember all the players names, their batting averages, their won-lost percentages and I can’t remember 15 history dates!?” I realized it was a matter of interest. So I “brain washed” myself into loving history. Then there was no difficulty with history dates. So, now, I realized that the answer to my addiction to tobacco was to apply my college brain washing technique. Only this time the brain washing would be in a negative sense rather than in a positive one. I had to teach myself to literally hate, to abhor tobacco. I would look at that yellow stain on my fingers and teeth. I would take a cigarette tray and hold it under my nose until I couldn’t stand it. I looked at all the trash generated. I watched other people smoking, thinking how ridiculous it was. All the negative aspects of smoking I began to concentrate on. From time to time I would try to quit for a day. Not much progress. But I was determined to not be controlled by this damn cigarette. This continued for over a year. Now I am living in Laguna Beach, California in a very nice sea side apartment overlooking the ocean. One day I said to myself “OK, this is the day. Today I will change my life. Today I will smoke my last cigarette and I will never smoke another one the rest of my life.”   Time for bed. I smoked my cigarette, knowing that this would be the last one I would ever smoke. I went to sleep. The next morning I had a strong urge, nearly overwhelming to light up. But I was determined. I would not be controlled by a cigarette. The urge dissipated, but did not disappear. I was gaining control. I was very much encouraged. I can do this. I had to do this. The first day was tough. The second day was tough, but not as tough as the first day. I recall watching TV. An actor lit a cigarette. It seemed like a physical force struck me in the chest. Wham!! The desire to smoke was overwhelming. But I said NO! NO! I will never smoke again. The urge and fullness felt in my chest seemed to subside as an ocean wave leaves the beach and returns to the ocean. It just swept away. Oh, my. I felt so great! There was a scant amount of material written on addiction in those days and it said that there is a physical addiction that will last for about 30 days and there is a mental addiction that can last for a year, maybe more depending on the individual. I began to smell things anew. Food began to taste much better. These stains on my body began to dissipate. Getting through that first 30 days or so was hell. After that it was not easy, but it got easier. The mental urge would come back when I saw another person light up or saw an actor on TV smoking. But I could now suppress it. The tide would go out. This situation would go on for well over a year – maybe two. As I recall even after two years I would get an occasional urge. Also I would occasionally dream about smoking. But I held fast to my conviction and objective. Never to smoke another cigarette the rest of my life. Now here we are in January 2017. I am 85 years old. I still have not had another cigarette since that day in Laguna Beach, California. Now I never have any urge. The proximity or sight does not bother me in any way. In fact I now have an aversion to the cigarette and its smoke. If I am near a person who is a smoker, I can smell it on their clothes and person. When I enter a building with a smoking spot at about 20 feet from the entrance I quickly detect that tobacco odor. In fact I am now allergic to tobacco smoke. If I come into contact with it for over a minute or two, my nose begins to run. Thankfully, my mother, Mary, who lived most of her life on a farm near Hampton, Arkansas was not a smoker. However, her sister, Vivian was and died of lung cancer. Her brother, TJ, died of smoker related heart disease. If you are a smoker, I urge you to quit. Surely you know that smoking can kill you. The use of tobacco in any form can be deadly. So, I urge you to stop this habit. You can do it. Use all the techniques now available – the patches, the group therapy sessions, and the ‘brain washing.’ It works. I have seen a lot and done a lot in my time so far on this planet. I will state unequivocally that the most difficult thing I have ever done was to quit smoking. I am very proud of myself for ridding myself of this demon. It infuriates me that our Washington congressmen, both parties, are so addicted to tobacco money that they prioritize it over the lives of about 480, 000 citizens each year. I hear them often speak of ‘serving’ the citizens. Oh, my.