Hang It Before It Hangs You

 

TOBACCO

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines. It is most commonly used as a recreational drug, and is a valuable cash crop for countries such as Cuba, China and the United States.

In consumption it most commonly appears in the forms of smoking, chewing, snuffing, or dipping became popularized as a trade item and a recreational drug. This popularization led to the development of the southern economy of the United States until it gave way to cotton. Following the American Civil War, a change in demand and a change in labor force allowed for the development of the cigarette. This new product quickly led to the growth of tobacco companies, until the scientific controversy of the mid-1900s.

There are more than 70 species of tobacco in the plant genus Nicotiana. The word nicotiana (as well as nicotine) is in honor of Jean Nicot, French ambassador to Portugal, who in 1559 sent it as a medicine to the court of Catherine de Medici.

Because of the addictive properties of nicotine, tolerance and dependence develop. Absorption quantity, frequency, and speed of tobacco consumption are believed to be directly related to biological strength of nicotine dependence, addiction, and tolerance.The usage of tobacco is an activity that is practiced by some 1.1 billion people, and up to 1/3 of the adult population. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports it to be the leading preventable cause of death worldwide and estimates that it currently causes 5.4 million deaths per year. Rates of smoking have leveled off or declined in developed countries, but continue to rise in developing countries.

Tobacco is cultivated similarly to other agricultural products. Seeds are sown in cold frames or hotbeds to prevent attacks from insects, and then transplanted into the fields. Tobacco is an annual crop, which is usually harvested mechanically or by hand. After harvest, tobacco is stored for curing, which allows for the slow oxidation and degradation of carotenoids. This allows for the agricultural product to take on properties that are usually attributed to the "smoothness" of the smoke. Following this, tobacco is packed into its various forms of consumption, which include smoking, chewing, sniffing, and so on.

TYPES OF TOBACCO

There are a number of types of tobacco including, but are not limited to:

• Aromatic fire-cured, it is cured by smoke from open fires. In the United States, it is grown in northern middle Tennessee, central Kentucky and in Virginia.

• Fire-cured tobacco grown in Kentucky and Tennessee are used in some chewing tobaccos, moist snuff, some cigarettes, and as a condiment in pipe tobacco blends. Another fire-cured tobacco is Latakia, which is produced from oriental varieties of N. tabacum. The leaves are cured and smoked over smoldering fires of local hardwoods and aromatic shrubs in Cyprus and Syria.
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• Bright leaf tobacco, Brightleaf is commonly known as "Virginia tobacco", often regardless of the state where they are planted. Prior to the American Civil War, most tobacco grown in the US was fire-cured dark-leaf. This type of tobacco was planted in fertile lowlands, used a robust variety of leaf, and was either fire cured or air cured. Most Canadian cigarettes are made from 100% pure Virginia tobacco.

• Burley tobacco, is an air-cured tobacco used primarily for cigarette production. In the U.S., burley tobacco plants are started from palletized seeds placed in polystyrene trays floated on a bed of fertilized water in March or April.Cavendish is more a process of curing and a method of cutting tobacco than a type. The processing and the cut are used to bring out the natural sweet taste in the tobacco. Cavendish can be produced from any tobacco type, but is usually one of, or a blend of Kentucky, Virginia, and burley, and is most commonly used for pipe tobacco and cigars.

• Criollo tobacco is a type of tobacco, primarily used in the making of cigars. It was, by most accounts, one of the original Cuban tobaccos that emerged around the time of Columbus.Dokha, is a tobacco originally grown in Iran, mixed with leaves, bark, and herbs for smoking in a midwakh.

• Turkish tobacco, is a sun-cured, highly aromatic, small-leafed variety (Nicotiana tabacum) that is grown in Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Macedonia. Originally grown in regions historically part of the Ottoman Empire, it is also known as "oriental". Many of the early brands of cigarettes were made mostly or entirely of Turkish tobacco; today, its main use is in blends of pipe and especially cigarette tobacco (a typical American cigarette is a blend of bright Virginia, burley and Turkish).Perique, a farmer called Pierre Chenet is credited with first turning this local tobacco into the Perique in 1824 through the technique of pressure-fermentation. Considered the truffle of pipe tobaccos, it is used as a component in many blended pipe tobaccos, but is too strong to be smoked pure. At one time, the freshly moist Perique was also chewed, but none is now sold for this purpose. It is typically blended with pure Virginia to lend spice, strength, and coolness to the blend.

• Shade tobacco, is cultivated in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Early Connecticut colonists acquired from the Native Americans the habit of smoking tobacco in pipes, and began cultivating the plant commercially, even though the Puritans referred to it as the "evil weed". The industry has weathered some major catastrophes, including a devastating hailstorm in 1929, and an epidemic of brown spot fungus in 2000, but is now in danger of disappearing altogether, given the value of the land to real estate speculators.White burley, in 1865, George Webb of Brown County, Ohio planted red burley seeds he had purchased, and found that a few of the seedlings had a whitish, sickly look. The air-cured leaf was found to be more mild than other types of tobacco.

• Wild tobacco, is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, and parts of South America. Its botanical name is Nicotiana rustica.

• Y1 is a strain of tobacco cross-bred by Brown & Williamson in the 1970s to obtain an un usually high nicotine content. In the 1990s, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used it as evidence that tobacco companies were intentionally manipulating the nicotine content of cigarettes.

TRENDS

Production of tobacco leaf increased by 40% between 1971, during which 4.2 million tons of leaf were produced, and 1997, during which 5.9 million tons of leaf were produced.  According to the Food and Agriculture organization of the UN, tobacco leaf production was expected to hit 7.1 million tons by 2010. This number is a bit lower than the record high production of 1992, during which 7.5 million tons of leaf were produced. The production growth was almost entirely due to increased productivity by developing nations, where production increased by 128%.During that same time period, production in developing countries actually decreased. China’s increase in tobacco production was the single biggest factor in the increase in world production. China’s share of the world market increased from 17% in 1971 to 47% in 1997.This growth can be partially explained by the existence of a high import tariff on foreign tobacco entering China. While this tariff has been reduced from 64% in 1999 to 10% in 2004, it still has led to local, Chinese cigarettes being preferred over foreign cigarettes because of their lower cost.

Every year 6.7 million tons of tobacco are produced throughout the world. The top producers of tobacco are China (39.6%), India (8.3%), Brazil (7.0%) and the United States (4.6%).

HEALTH RISKS OF SMOKING OR SMOKELESS TOBACCO

Data from The Lancet suggests tobacco is ranked the 3rd most addictive and 14th most harmful of 20 popular recreational drugs.

Many smokers come to depend on the positive effects of nicotine, such as boosting their mood, improving short-term memory and concentration, and producing a sense of well-being.

There are many more reasons to quit using tobacco. Knowing the serious health risks may help motivate you to quit. When used over a long period, tobacco and related chemicals such as tar and nicotine can increase your risk of many health problems.

• Heart and blood vessel problems:
• Blood clots and aneurysms in the brain, which can lead to strokes
• Blood clots in the legs, which may travel to the lungs
• Coronary artery disease, including angina and heart attacks
• High blood pressure
• Poor blood supply to the legs
• Problems with erections because of decreased blood flow into the penis
• Cancer (especially in the lung, mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, and cervix)
• Poor wound healing, especially after surgery
• Lung problems such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis, or asthma that is harder to control
• Problems during pregnancy, such as babies born at low birth weight, premature labor, miscarriage, and cleft lip
• Decreased ability to taste and smell
• Harm to sperm, which contributes to infertility
• Loss of sight due to an increased risk of macular degeneration
• Tooth and gum diseases
• Wrinkling of the skin 
• Smokers who switch to smokeless tobacco instead of quitting tobacco completely still carry a number of health risks:
• Increased risk of mouth or nasal cancer
• Gum problems, tooth wear, and cavities
• Worsening high blood pressure and angina

HEALTH RISKS OF SECONDHAND SMOKE

Those who are regularly around the smoke of others (secondhand smoke) have a higher risk of:

• Heart attacks and heart disease
• Lung cancer
• Sudden and severe reactions, including those involving the eye, nose, throat, and lower respiratory tract
• Infants and children who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke are at risk of:
• Asthma (children with asthma who live with a smoker are much more likely to visit the emergency room)
• Infections, including virus-caused upper respiratory infections, ear infections, and pneumonia
• Lung damage (poor lung function)
• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

THE BENEFITS OF QUITTING

• You will notice many benefits of quitting right away:
• Your breath, clothes, and hair will smell better
• Your sense of smell will return and food will taste better
• Your fingers and fingernails will slowly appear less yellow
• Your stained teeth will slowly become whiter

• Your home, work, and social life will also improve immediately:
• Your children will be less likely to start smoking themselves
• It will be easier and cheaper to find an apartment
• You will miss fewer work days, or you may have an easier time getting a job
• The constant search for a place to smoke when you're out will be over
• Friends will be more willing to be in your car or home
• Your dating prospects will become much wider, because 80% of the population does not smoke
• You will have more money available (one pack per day smokers spend around $1,800 per year on cigarettes) 

Some health benefits begin almost immediately too, but every week, month, and year without tobacco use only improves your health.

• Within 20 minutes of quitting - your blood pressure and pulse rate drop to normal and the temperature of your hands and feet increases to normal.
• Within 8 hours of quitting - your blood carbon monoxide levels drop and your blood oxygen levels increase, both to normal levels.
• Within 24 hours of quitting - your risk of a sudden heart attack decreases.
• Within 48 hours of quitting - nerve endings begin to regenerate and your senses of smell and taste begin to return to normal.
• Within 2 weeks to 3 months of quitting - your circulation improves and walking becomes easier; your lung function increases by up to 30%.
• Within 1 to 9 months of quitting - your overall energy typically increases and symptoms like coughing, nasal congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath improve. You will have fewer illnesses, colds, and asthma attacks. You will gradually no longer be short of breath with everyday activities.
• Within 1 year of quitting - your risk of coronary heart disease is half that of someone still using tobacco.
• Within 5 years of quitting - your lung cancer death rate decreases by nearly 50% compared to one pack per day smokers; your risk of cancer of the mouth is half that of a tobacco user.
• Within 10 years of quitting - your lung cancer death rate becomes similar to that of someone who never smoked; precancerous cells are replaced with normal cells; your risk of stroke is lowered, possibly to that of a nonsmoker; your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas all go down.

Like any addiction, quitting tobacco is difficult, especially if you are acting alone. There are a lot of ways to quit smoking and many resources to help you. See: Smoking - tips on how to quit

Family members, friends, and coworkers may be supportive or encouraging.

Talk to your doctor about nicotine replacement therapy and smoking cessation medications.

If you join smoking cessation programs, you have a much better chance of success. Such programs are offered by hospitals, health departments, community centers, and work sites. See: Stop smoking support programs

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