The World No Tobacco day is once again upon us to remind us politely that health is a concern of everyone. From personal physical fitness to the threats posed by growing global pandemics, all people share an interest in improving the well-being of themselves and others. Real, sincere and ongoing action is needed to achieve this, instead of mere rhetoric. The war against tobacco needs to be won, and not just fought, with renewed pledges; stricter legislation; innovative awareness programmes; and the will to succeed in curbing the menace of tobacco.

It is easy to reel off statistics about the health hazards of tobacco consumption -- tobacco consumption is a leading cause of death among Indians aged 30-69 and 1 million Indians die from smoking-related diseases each year in India  ; among all women, 11% (over 54 million women) use some form of tobacco ; approximately 1 in 20 (or 90,000) deaths among women 35-69 years old can be attributed to smoking ; tobacco use causes lung and other cancers, respiratory/heart disease, heart attacks, and other diseases.; smokeless tobacco causes oral cancer, pancreatic cancer, increased blood pressure /heart rate and adverse reproductive outcomes  ; consumption of smokeless tobacco during pregnancy decreases gestational age at birth and decreases birth weight.  ..... The list can go on and on.

There are 5 million annual tobacco-related deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

That toll is expected to rise to 8 million annual tobacco-related deaths by 2030, according to the WHO report released today to coincide with World No Tobacco Day, which is held annually on May 31.

Not only is tobacco use increasing, according to the WHO report, but it's increasing, especially among women. Although women account for only about 20 percent of the world's smokers, the WHO found female smoking rates on the rise, “suggesting that tobacco companies might be targeting this group."

The tobacco industry spends tens of billions of dollars annually on direct and indirect advertising, according to the WHO. Cigarette use among Americans, after declining for decades, has remained virtually unchanged for five straight years, the CDC announced in 2009, with nearly 21 percent of the US's adult population being regular smokers.

The greatest increases in smoking in recent years are in poor and developing countries. According to the WHO, only 26 countries have implemented comprehensive bans on direct and indirect tobacco advertising, and many do not have high levels of compliance.

What nations smoke the most?

The WHO says the following countries have the highest percentages of daily smokers:

   1. Lebanon, 58.8
   2. Guinea, 57.6
   3. Nauru, 48.2
   4. Kiribati, 42
   5. Bulgaria, 39.7
   6. Lesotho, 39.3
   7. Tuvalu, 37.9
   8. Ukraine, 37.4
   9. Andorra, 36
  10. Laos, 35.7

America's Doctor, Dr. Oz (featured regularly on the Oprah Show), has a theory along with what I'm sure loads of other people in America are figuring out - and that is depression and/or anxiety is at the base of many cigarette smokers life-long habits.

Consider the group of friends that begin experimenting with smoking at 13 or 14 years of age. What is the difference between the kids who puff to look cool a couple of times vs. the kids that pick up the habit quickly and continue it for 20, 30, 40 years?

There has always been the theory that some people are just more prone or have a predisposition for addiction. And I'm sure that is still very true. But what I think you may also find, is that many people who are long-time smokers suffer from an undiagnosed or untreated case of depression/anxiety disorder.

Smoking like alcohol, narcotics, and even food - is a drug, and is used as a drug - to self medicate. What are the typical reasons we self-medicate, because often we are depressed or anxious and don't know how to manage those feelings.

No one ever taught us.

What I like about Dr. Oz's treatment plans for kicking the habit of smoking is that he included and factored in the mental health piece of battling a smoking addiction. And he includes some strategies in his treatment plan which include the possibilities of using an antidepressant such as Wellbutrin (on a short-term basis) to work through the depression/anxiety while you kick the habit of smoking. The reason for this is that it may be very difficult to kick the habit of smoking without addressing the reasons why you do it.

Is smoking a dangerous act? Do cigarettes affect your health? In modern days society the answers to these questions is known if not by every body then by a majority of the population. Yes, cigarettes are bad for a persons health and the inhalation of tobacco smoke may cause different disorders including cancer, bronchial constriction and many others.

So as the population becomes more educated on the topic of smoking dangers the percentage of people who want to stop smoking increases significantly. Some of them firstly decrease the quantity of cigarettes consumed in a day and then start completely avoiding them. To completely stop smoking the person should eliminate the mental and physical addiction that may be formed. Although the smoking withdrawal syndrome is not as severe as for some other types of substances, however the desire to smoke starts to overcome people who are trying to quit. In order to ease the smoking cessation different medicines have been introduced to the market. Among them are Zyban, Tabex, Chantix and etc.

Stop by at on-line store http://alotofdrugs.com/stop-smoking.html that currently provides Zyban for the treatment of smoking addiction. The preparation contains the active ingredient called bupropion which was firstly used as an atypical antidepressant. However it was registered that in lower dosages of 1mg the preparation eases the smoking withdrawal syndrome. So the two main effects of the preparation are: decrease in withdrawal symptoms or there complete elimination and mood elevation.

Stay healthy!

The E-Cigarette is a smokeless electronic cigarette alternative to tobacco so called Green smoke cigarettes.

Absolutely new, revolutionizing idea in the tobacco smoking industry the Electronic Cigarette is one of the latest development of Japanese scientists. Electronic cigarettes were invented and patented by the Honkong company Ruyan Group Ltd. (former. Golden Dragon Group Ltd.) in 2003 year. Since that year electronic cigarettes have undergone constant development and improvement.

 

The Electronic cigarette at the present time is classified as and electronic imitator of tobacco smoking, functioning as a steam generator without burning components. Based on modern microelectronic technologies, it performs the function of a generator that produces cold steam from a cartridge inserted into the device.

The purpose of the electronic cigarette implementation is to replace the traditional cigarettes, in this way the quantity of nicotine can be controlled and reduced to the minimum. One of the most significant motivating factors in its development is the ability to “smoke” in the places where the smoking of traditional cigarettes is strictly prohibited.

Electronic cigarette represents difficult device, developed with the use of the new technologies in microelectronics. It comes in 3 main pieces: the battery unit , the atomizer unit and the cartridge.

 

 

The cartridge - Contains the E-liquid / E-cigarette-liquid

The atomizer unit - Creates the vapor .

The battery unit   - Supplies the power needed by the atomizer.

When a user breathes through the device, air flow is detected by a sensor, which turns on the atomizer and vaporises a nicotine solution stored in the mouthpiece.

Cartridges are divided into 5 types according to the density of nicotine :

- Extra High density of nicotine: 24 mg nicotine, which is equivalent to Extra Strong Cigarettes.
- High density of nicotine: 16 mg nicotine, which is equivalent to Regular Strength Cigarettes.
- Medium density of nicotine: 11 mg nicotine, which is equivalent to Light Strength Cigarettes.
- Low density of nicotine: 6 mg nicotine, which is equivalent to Ultra Light Strength Cigarettes.
- Non density of nicotine: 0 mg nicotine, which is equivalent to No Nicotine. 

One cartridge can replace 4-6 usual cigarettes, but this quantity may vary depending on the e-cigarette type.

Cartridges can vary according to the “taste”. At the present time there are cartridges with pure nicotine and cartridges that contain natural aromas such as: apple, lime, vanilla etc

The basis substance in which nicotine and aromatic materials are dissolved may be glycerin, propylene glycol or polyethylene glycol.

The Replaceable cartridge consist of an inhalator and a container with the aroma and nicotine liquid. Nicotine cartridges contain refined nicotine. The Inhalator and the container with aroma/nicotine liquid are good for one use only.

 

E-cigarettes Benefits

* The smoking process of electronic cigarette is the total imitation of the traditional smoking cigarette. This product fully satisfies the needs of the smoker, reduces and in time eliminates nicotine dependence.

* Complete elimination of tars and carcinogen plus more than 4000 harmful some 2000 chemical components that have been identified in cigarette smoke.

* You wont disturb people if you decide to smoke right at your work place, at home near the children or in the public place.

* Electronic cigarettes don't fall under the tobacco prohibition, that should make them very popular in Europe and China.

An anti-smoking campaign that some claimed likened the consumption of tobacco with sexual submission is causing an uproar in France.
The three ads show teenagers on their knees with cigarettes between their lips, their faces at a man's waist, looking submissively into his eyes. The advertising slogan says, "Smoking means being a slave to tobacco."

"We noticed that the traditional anti-smoking campaigns no longer got across amongst the youth. We thus had to use another way in order to raise awareness," Remi Parola, head of the Non-Smokers' Rights Association that is behind the campaign, told ABC News.

"We were surprised by the extent of the media buzz," Parola admitted. "But it's above all a message of public health that got across," he said.

But not everyone agrees. 

                                                 

There are all sorts of products out on the market made to wean smokers off a dangerous habit—the patch, the lozenge, and the gum, for example. Yet, what about the e-cigarette? Though it's marketed as a "safer" alternative to cigarettes, and not necessarily a smoking-cessation device, unlike the other nicotine delivery products, e-cigarettes—battery-operated devices that supposedly work by heating up a liquid nicotine substance which "e-smokers" inhale as vapor—aren't regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In fact, according to the American Medical Association, on January 14, a federal judge ruled that e-cigarettes should not be subject to FDA regulation because they are merely an alternative to traditional cigarettes, which are readily available. Medical experts counter that, though they may be marketed as alternatives to traditional cigarettes.  - read more

The cigarettes consist of 3 parts: a battery, a vaporizer (with microchip) and a mouthpiece (nicotine or nicotine-free cartridges with different flavours). The electronic cigarette uses advanced microelectronic atomization technology to vaporize the nicotine, producing a harmless vapor-like smoke.

The battery, cartridge and atomizer are assembled very easily. The cigarette is non-flammable, and works as soon as you draw on it – there is no on/off switch. The battery is rechargeable and lasts for approximately 10 hours. The duration of one cartridge is comparable with 12 “normal” cigarettes. Apart from being an attractive alternative to traditional smoking, electronic smoking is up to 60% cheaper!

South Carolina State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex proposed on Feb. 1 a cigarette tax increase that he says would resolve some of the state’s short-term education needs and long-term health concerns.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate called for raising the state’s tax — the lowest in the nation — to improve health care and offer more access to smoking-prevention programs. In the more immediate future, Rex would like to use some of the additional tax revenues to prevent the mandatory five-day teacher furloughs under consideration by the General Assembly. Ultimately, all the additional money raised by the tax would go toward health care, Rex said.

Generally, no one wants to push too hard for higher taxes. That’s true even for tobacco products, which are known for causing cancer, high death rates and runaway medical costs

Rex’s suggestion is a creative way to patch a gap in the education budget, but it also could stop adults, youths and children from smoking if it’s implemented smartly.

Ideally, a higher cigarette tax gradually would make itself obsolete. If smoking-prevention programs work, people should stop buying cigarettes, and the state would collect less tax revenue. But that would be fine, because the health problems caused by smoking — along with the high medical costs associated with the habit — would decrease.

We can see how world is struggling for the healthy lifestyle.

What about you? What is your reaction to the cigarette tax increase?

If you are the smoker and at the same time free person, as we live in a democraticve society, Would't you think that the Government artificiality forces you to lead healthy lifestyle? Are these good methods?

 

MIAMI -- A Homestead man has been sentenced to two years in prison for smuggling more than a million packs of cigarettes out of the United States.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami reports that 57-year-old Roman Vidal, who was sentenced Friday, avoided paying more than $5.6 million in customs and tax duties. The cigarettes were sent to accomplices is Spain, Great Britain, Ireland and Germany. On four separate occasions between December 2001 and April 2008, Vidal reportedly smuggled 2,702 master cases - totaling more than 27 million individual cigarettes - out of the Port of Miami.

Vidal reportedly produced false documents that only declared cover load materials, so that custom duties and taxes were based only on the falsely declared cargo and not on the cigarettes.

Let me remind you about this Bill 

"On March 23, 2009, a Bill was introduced in the the House of Representatives by Congressman Anthony D. Weiner of New York, which was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
HR 1676 would prevent tobacco smuggling and ensure the collection of all tobacco taxes.
With a few exceptions, all cigarettes and smokeless tobacco would be deemed non-mailable and would not be deposited in or carried through the United States Postal Service mails. Currently FedEx, UPS and DHL have voluntarily agreed not to ship cigarettes.
Failing to comply with state tax laws by any seller making a sale via telephone, the mail, or the Internet would be a federal offense."

Government continued to rise taxes that lead to the online cigarettes business. So this case proof us that people are not going to just accept the Government rules.

Here are some reasons why people still struggle  against the taxes:

Inteferring with the  personal liberties.

What about the AMERICAN PEOPLE and LIFE, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness? Its all about taxes and don't let them fool you

Unemployment?

The Pact Bill 1676 will cost many jobs in the private sector as well as in the public sector. This bill will put at least another 15000 folks out of work. What will be next? Whatever the government chooses. I thought we were trying to fix unemployment not create more.

Huge loss of business (potentially hundreds of millions of dollars) for the Postal Service, which is already in a crisis.


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