CIGARETTES, THE POWER OF THE IMAGE I

One reason smoking is so prevalent today is that it has become a well-established part of our culture. When cigarette manufacturing first became a major industry at the turn of the century, the typical smoker was a middle-class working man. But during the 1920s men of all professions and backgrounds turned to the cigarette. Fashionable young women joined them; perhaps they thought smoking made them seem more sophisticated. By the beginning of the 1940s, advertising had started to build shining images for cigarettes.

Smokers seemed to be the heroes of the day-fighter pilots, soldier in the foxhole, tank driver, good-looking doctors, pretty nurses-and the word was trumpeted on the radio, in the newspapers and on billboards across the country. Then, after World War II, came the visual suggestion that cigarettes smokers were the good guy. The smoker was a tough, hand some private detective in a trench coat. The right cigarette became a sexual lure, attracting sweater-girl pinup beauties into the waiting arms of handsome young men. One cigarette advertiser even conferred a kind of medical certification on smoking, claiming that more doctors smoked their cigarettes than any other leading brands.

CIGARETTES IN AMERICAN CULTURE

One reason smoking is so prevalent today is that it has become a well-established part of our culture. When cigarette manufacturing first became a major industry at the turn of the century, the typical smoker was a middle-class working man. But during the 1920s men of all professions and backgrounds turned to the cigarette. Fashionable young women joined them; perhaps they thought smoking made them seem more sophisticated. By the beginning of the 1940s, advertising had started to build shining images for cigarettes.

Smokers seemed to be the heroes of the day-fighter pilots, soldier in the foxhole, tank driver, good-looking doctors, pretty nurses-and the word was trumpeted on the radio, in the newspapers and on billboards across the country. Then, after World War II, came the visual suggestion that cigarettes smokers were the good guy. The smoker was a tough, hand some private detective in a trench coat. The right cigarette became a sexual lure, attracting sweater-girl pinup beauties into the waiting arms of handsome young men. One cigarette advertiser even conferred a kind of medical certification on smoking, claiming that more doctors smoked their cigarettes than any other leading brands.

Excuses For Smoking/Reason For Quiting

For many smokers, smoking has become such a deeply ingrained habit and has worked itself so thoroughly into their behavior patterns that they have developed many excuses for continuing to smoke. Some of these excuses are in the smokers conscious little or no basis in fact.

"IF I quit smoking, I'll gain weight"
This is a common fear: According to the US Public Health Service, 60 percent of women and 47 percent of men say they continue to smoke because they're afraid of gaining weight. Studies have indicated, however, that most smokers do not gain weight when they quit. "On the average, only about one third of ex-smokers gain weight, one third remain the same, and one-third actually lose weight because they incorporate their quiting into a total self improvement program."

"But I Really Enjoy Smoking, I like The Taste"
The question here is, how many moments are truly enjoyable, and how many are just so-so? Is it real enjoyment the smoker is getting, or just satisfaction for the physical craving? After a day particularly haeavy smoking, almost every smoker can remember cigarettes tasting terrible the next morning.

"IF I Quit Smoking, I'd be Too Nervous, Smoking Help me Relax"
The truth here is that nicotine is actually a stimulant, not a depressant, it is not a substance that tend to make people relax. After the first few days of trying to quit, when ex-smokers may find themselves feeling nervous because they have nothing to do with their hands, most people find they have better self control and are actually find they have better self control and are actually less nervous than they were when they smoked.

HISTORY OF SMOKING

Smoking refers to the inhaling of smoke from the burning tobacco in a pipe, a cigar, or most commonly, a cigarette. Tobacco contains nicotine, a highly addicting drug. A number of diseases have been linked directly to smoking, and tobacco use kills 420, 000 smoker a year in united state, as well as 53, 000 non smokers a year, who die from diseases related to the passive inhalation of secondhand smoke.

History.

American Indians smoked pipes, and European explorers had carried the practice home by the early 1500s. By the late 1800s tobacco use was widespread, but people used only small amount. This change with the advent of the cigarette manufacturing machine, and in the 20^th century, as people smoked more, parallel increases in the rates of lung cancer and hearth disease occurred.

In 1964 a committee headed by the U.S. surgeon general issued a report concluding that most lung-cancer death are caused by cigarette smoking.

Health Effect.

Beside nicotine, cigarette smoke contains over 4,700 compounds, including carcinogens and industrial solvents, which cause heart disease, strokes, lung disease, and cancer.

Inhaling the hot, toxic fumes of tobacco smoke burns the linings of of air passages, impairing the respiratory system, which in turn, among other ill effects, reduces the smoker’s ability to fight of disease. The large particle in smoke form a corrosive tar that collects in the lungs, exposing the smoker to its dangerous constituent chemicals. A pregnant woman who smokes passes the toxic chemicals to her fetus low birth weight and spontaneous abortions have been linked to such behavior.

Chemical in burning tobacco (which include arsenic, cyanide, and carbon moxide) also pollute the air as secondhand smoke, which, according to a 1986 surgeon general’s report, is harmful in inhaled by nonsmokers. A1992 environmental Protection Agency report confirmed this and concluded that secondhand smoke annually causes 3,000 lung-cancer deaths in nonsmokers and up to 26,000 asthma cases in children. And in 1992 the American Heart Association reported that secondhand smoke kills about 37,000 people a year through heart disease.