THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2022 - SMOKING WARS

 THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2022 - SMOKING WARS

Yes, I’m going to write about smoking today.  

I smoked once.  In about 1967 the Winona State Choir did a tour to Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Illinois.  Smoking was still very hip.  You could smoke in classrooms, in dorm rooms, in restaurants, pretty much anywhere.  So I thought I would see what it was like - I was 19 years old - and could buy cigarettes and I was away from home (home being college), but with college friends. So, I bought a pack of cigarettes.  I can’t remember if I finished the pack, but that was all it took - no more cigarettes.

I was tempted to smoke at my summer job in Cedar Rapids.  The crew members who smoked went out on the loading dock and smoked - at least twice a day.  I went out to the loading dock for a break from work and shortly after that, the boss came out and said “White, you don’t smoke, get back to work”.  

In my 40s, I thought it might be neat to smoke a pipe.  I had the tweed jacket with leather patches, I was a professor, it might be cool.  With permission from my wife (and encouragement from her), I got a pipe and some sweet-smelling tobacco.  I suppose I smoked about ten times - not enjoying it, so I kept the pipe and tobacco around for years and finally threw them out.  

I have friends who have smoked.  One close friend smoked for most of her life but stopped over ten years ago.  She had cancer of the tongue a year ago and had part of her tongue removed.  Two weeks ago she had the sensation of pain where her tonsils were - and last Friday had a doctor’s appointment - it seems that she might have some additional mouth cancer (not definite yet).

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But, smoking is under attack.  Much of today’s blog comes from OZY on August 2, 2022. OZY is a news aggregation app.

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In New Zealand, the government has a new program.  Nobody under the age of 15 can buy cigarettes now.  Next year, nobody under the age of 16 will be allowed to buy cigarettes.  In ten years, nobody under the age of 25 can buy cigarettes.  In fifty years, nobody under 65 will be able to buy cigarettes.  (My guess is that at some point, they will be totally phased out).  

In Malaysia, a similar ban is under discussion that included vaping as well.

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“This accelerating global campaign against tobacco comes after decades of mounting evidence of its dangerous — even deadly — effects. Smoking wreaks havoc on the heart and lungs, can cause cancer, and hurts unborn babies by cutting off their oxygen supply. The body can repair itself but it takes time — the more you smoke, the harder it gets. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), smoking tobacco directly claims over seven million lives worldwide each year, and another million or so from secondhand smoke.”

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Tobacco was around with Native Americans seemingly.

“Burnt tobacco seeds at the Wishbone archaeological site in Utah suggest that Native Americans have been smoking for 12,000 years. But unlike Marlboro’s mass-produced cancer sticks today, Native Americans used tobacco only sparingly — in their peace pipes and rituals. European merchants commercialized it in the Triangle Trade, sailing across the Atlantic with African slaves before returning to the Old World with cotton, sugar, and tobacco.”

But, even the American government got into the smoking promotion.  Soldiers could get cigarettes from the government.  My father-in-law was a smoker - mostly because of the availability of cigarettes to soldiers in World War II.  

“Winston tastes good like a cigarette should” was a popular slogan.  I grew up with cigarette ads on television, with smoking on different shows.  

“More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette." It promoted smoking as a sign of women’s emancipation (since the 1950s there’s been a 600% rise in women's deaths from lung cancer), while marketing it to teenagers as being edgy and cool.)  There were specific brands that appealed to women. Virginia Slims were a brand for women (and there were other brands).

In the 1960s, the Surgeon General (aka - the top doctor in the government) promoted smoking cessation.  Labels were required on cigarette packages.  I remember a cousin who smoked, who proudly bought cases of pre-labeled cigarettes. “Smoking causes cancer”, “Smoking while pregnant can result in low birth weight”.  On April 1, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the bill that outlawed television ads for smoking.

Tobacco is a crop.  There are fields that are good for raising tobacco.  Tobacco also generates revenue.  Money talks.  Money is used to lobby state and federal legislatures.  “Hooking” teenagers on cigarettes (or vaping, or chewing) can mean revenue for years.  States that grow tobacco have lower taxes on cigarettes (pressure by the tobacco lobby and tobacco growers).  

And, tobacco products can be exported for bigger gains.  Hey - growing tobacco in North Carolina and Kentucky brings revenue into the state.  Why not grow it and export it to other countries?  

Legal action can also backfire.  Bhutan (a small country next to Nepal, India, and Tibet) has been one of the highest smoking countries in Southeast Asia.  The government banned cigarettes - which led to a huge increase in smuggling - and in 2020 with COVID flourishing and the analysis that much of the COVID was coming from smugglers, the government removed the ban - to keep the spread of COVID under control.

There probably will “always” (my term) be smoking.  Maybe it will be like marijuana - where one can grow their own or the “gray market” will smuggle cigarettes in.  

There is also a new problem - quasi-related to smoking - 19 states now allow some form of marijuana (weed) - which is generally used in smoking.  

So, do you smoke?  Have you ever smoked?  Do you have a friend or relative who smoked (or smokes?) Do you believe that smoking is bad for your health?

LOVE WINS!

Karen White

August 4, 2022