American Lung Association Report Shows 2007 Shaping Up to be a Banner Year for Tobacco Control Policies.
cigarette smoking has been identified as the number one preventable cause of morbidity and premature mortality worldwide. Smoking is responsible for approximately one in five deaths in the United States. From 1997 to 2001, smoking killed an estimated 438,000 people in the United States each year. This includes an estimated 259,494 male and 178,404 female deaths annually. Among adults, the three leading specific causes of smoking attributable deaths were from lung cancer (123,836), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (90,582) and ischemic heart disease (86,801).
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses * U.S., 1997-2001. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) 2005; 54(25); 625-628.
These statistics alone ought to be reason enough to warrant strong tobacco control laws such as cigarette tax increases and increased funding for tobacco prevention programs, but every year new studies show that the harmful effects of smoking not only effect the smoker, but also the workers and general public exposed to secondhand smoke.
This website is home to the online version of State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues (SLATI), which tracks state tobacco control laws, such as state restrictions on smoking in public places and workplaces and state tobacco taxes, on an ongoing basis. It is the only resource of its kind in tobacco control today providing up-to-date information on tobacco control laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. You can learn more about SLATI here.
Below is a list of just some of the reports and information on tobacco control laws and policy found on this site. Please explore the various areas and learn how to get involved in the important fight for strong tobacco control laws and policies. As many of the inspirational people who are living with lung disease will tell you, it’s a fight we cannot afford to lose.
Click here for more information.
DavidTan
http://www.articlesbase.com/quit-smoking-articles/cigarette-smoking-responsible-for-1-of-5-deaths-742801.html
Do you think tobacco companies should be held responsible for cigarette-related deaths?
Like, if my wife died of lung cancer from cigarettes, should I be able to sue the company who manufactured the cigarettes?
Also, do you think people make a conscious choice to smoke or not smoke, or do tobacco companies make it nearly impossible for them to quit after they pick up the habit?
I don’t have a wife, lol, I was just trying to illustrate my point. Thanks though.
no because your "wife" or whoever bought them so she is held responsible. Everybody knows smoking is bad for you and causes all sorts of diseases…
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i am sorry for your loss, my friend. however, it was her choice to start smoking, not the tobacco companies. therefore, the companies really should not have any responsibility.
cigarrettes are difficult to quit on, that is undisputed. however, it is not impossible. my dad actually used to smoke alot back when cigarette packs were like a quarter and he realized the harmful effects of it and quit on his own. Nicotine patches and gums do not work, you just have to have a ton of stamina.
edit: haha, i know you dont but i was just telling you exactly what i would say if you did lose your wife…just to clarify.
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no, they should not be held responsible because of the "warning" on the boxes. although now all they read is "quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health" lol, i love how they put in the "now" like it didn’t before.
but people definitely make a conscious choice to smoke. when i started i didnt really like it and couldnt get the hang of it, but if you keep trying (which is definitely a conscious choice) then you’ll start to get into it and thats when the bad habit part comes in. but tobacco companies have nothing to do with us quitting. cigarettes are getting more and more expensive which is always one of my main reasons to cut back. it’s more of your personal disposition that determines whether you quit or continue.
as kurt vonnegut once wrote: "smoking is a fairly sure, fairly acceptable form of suicide."
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yes did those basterds{lol} not add something extra to make them more addicting yes, so screw them they should be held responsible
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No I don’t.
If your hypothetical wife died of lung cancer, tragic as it would be, nobody shoved a cigarette in her mouth and made her smoke it. Tobacco companies do hold some responsibility, sure, but ultimately it’s a person’s conscious decision whether they smoke or not.
Although, I understand that in the US cigarettes are well marketed and advertised, like Camel cigarettes up until quite recently? Then, yes I blame the tobacco companies more, because those ads are clearly aimed at children/young people.
As long as tobacco isn’t advertised [that's completely banned here, and I believe that's how it should be], and the warnings are made evident, then, the people who smoke it must take the blame themselves.
I know that sounds kind of harsh, I’m a smoker myself and know how addictive they are, but meh.
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