Community Chat

[mistriTsquirrel]

On 3/11/2014 sidsmom said:

On 3/11/2014 kittymomNC said:

On 3/11/2014 sidsmom said:

Smoking is definitely an anomaly. No other legal substance, that's socially accepted, causes immediate injury the 1st time it's used & hurts others around them. Food, alcohol, drugs all have residual harm that's long term, but nothing like tobacco.

I have to differ with you somewhat on whether or not alcohol causes immediate injury. If you have an alcoholic drink, 20% of the alcohol hits your brain within ONE MINUTE. The rest ends up in the liver, which can only process a certain amount, so what it can't process circulates through the blood stream. The alcohol impairs judgement, reflexes, raises blood pressure, affects the heart, and every other organ in the body. It may not hurt your body a lot with the very first drink, but what if someone who never drank before goes to a bar, has a drink, then maybe one or two more, and gets in a car to drive???

Long term, alcohol can contribute to heart disease, chronic diseases such as liver cirrhosis (damage to liver cells); pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas); various cancers, including liver, mouth, throat, larynx (the voice box), and esophagus; high blood pressure; and psychological disorders. So, in my opinion, its just wrong to say that alcohol and other drugs are not as bad as tobacco long term.

True...but check out the ingredients of a cigarette vs a bottle of beer. Cigarettes will have hundreds & hundreds of toxic, man-made materials, but while beer is toxic as the body processes it, the ingredients are "natural'...hops, grains, yeast.

Whether the ingredients are natural or not is irrelevant. They are harmful when ingested in alcohol form.

Hemlock is natural, but that doesn't make it safer than chemicals.

[focksie]

I didn't know much about e-cigarettes and their effect on the person who smokes them as well as others, so I googled it. Here are a few links:

http://www.prevention.com/health/healthy-living/should-you-worry-about-second-hand-e-cig-vapors#.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/314896/lifestyle/healthandwellness/fda-second-hand-smoke-from-...

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304448204579184052293918312

Public health officials (CDC) have deemed e-cigs as being less toxic than cigarettes, but carcinogens have been identified that can harm not only the smoker, but non-smokers too, particularly indoors. They said there is no guarantee that e-cigs won't kill you like regular cigarettes are known to do. E-cigs are currently unregulated and are being marketed like cigarettes were marketed in the 1960's. Not enough is known about them.

Remember how things were back in the 50's/60's before it was determined how harmful cigarettes were? It was cool to smoke, actors lit up in every movie making it even more glamorous to smoke. That's what I see happening with e-cigs. The sad thing is, I think it will encourage young people to start smoking under the illusion of it not being harmful.

ETA: Sorry, the links didn't update when I hit submit. Chrome is giving me problems. You can just highlight the link and open it.