The Truth Is Scary

Posted: June 3, 2014 | tobacco | big tobacco, dangerous, smokers, smoking, tobacco | 0 Comments

It’s funny, not “funny ha-ha” but “funny-odd,” that so many smokers still don’t fully understand what they’re inhaling into their body. Sure, everyone and their mother knows that smoking is dangerous and that it can (and likely will, eventually) kill you but according to a new study as many as half of smokers aren’t aware of what big tobacco does to keep them hooked on a deadly product.

In 2006, a federal judge ordered big tobacco to start including warning statements on packs of cigarettes to inform smokers about some of the more deceptive practices of to tobacco business. Big tobacco is, of course, appealing the ruling so we haven’t seen those warning labels implemented quite yet but we likely will soon. A recent study found that 33% to 50% of smokers weren’t aware of some (or all) of the facts that the federal ruling is attempting to make big tobacco print on their packs and advertisements.

Upon learning some of these facts, many of the smokers involved in the study expressed anger and a newfound desire to quit after feeling manipulated by what they just learned. This would be bad news for big tobacco, which is exactly why they’re fighting the ruling.

Here’s a short rundown of just a couple of the facts:

–       “Cigarette companies intentionally designed cigarettes with enough nicotine to create and sustain addiction.”

–       “Cigarette companies control the impact and delivery of nicotine in many ways, including designing filters and selecting cigarette paper to maximize the ingestion of nicotine, adding ammonia to make the cigarette taste less harsh, and controlling the physical and chemical make-up of the tobacco blend.”

–       “‘Low tar’ and filtered cigarette smokers inhale essentially the same amount of tar and nicotine as they would from regular cigarettes.”

–       “More people die every year from smoking than from murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes, and alcohol, combined.”