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Smoking
*Cigarettes were first created in the 18th century when beggars from Spain took the remains of tobacco, put them in paper and smoked them.
*Cigarettes were introduced to the public through three famous paintings in Spain:
--La Cometa(the kite)
--La Merienda en el Manzanares(picnic by the river Manzanares)
--El Juego de la Pelota a Pala(the ball and paddle game)
:::ALL WERE PAINTED BY FRANCISCO DE GOYA:::
TOBACCO
*Tobacco the main ingredient in cigarettes
*Tobacco is a crop plant grown in 120 countries.
*People first started growing tobacco in 600 B.C. in the the Americas.
*It wasn't introduced to Europe until Christopher Columbus brought some back from one of his adventures.
*Today, tobacco plays an important cultural and economic roole for many countries, such as Cuba, Mexico, India, Brazil, and Europe.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF CIGARETTES
*The distribution of cigarettes first began in World War I and World War II to soldiers.
*In the 1940s and early '50s, cigarette smoking became more commonplace due to advertising.
*Cigarette ads usually featured people of a higher class or soldiers and groups laughing and having fun.
*People were also permitted to smoke anywhere they wanted, including nurse stations in hospitals, salons, barbershops, cafes, and the grocery store.
*In the beginning, nobody knew about the connection between smoking and cancer.
*In 192, the Surgeon General issued the first report on smoking and health announcing that, "Cigarette smoking is the major single cause of cancer mortality in the US."
*According to the American Cancer Society, smoking can also cause stroke, heart disease, emphysema, bronchitis, and premature death.
*Instead of wrapping tobacco inpaper by hand, huge factories have taken on the task.
*First, the tobacco is processed, then rolled into cigarettes and tested for quality control.
*If they pass quality control, they are sent for packing.
*Gigantic industrial machines produce 16,000 cigarettes a minute.
*Cigarettes are known to be addictive because of the nicotine inside of the tobacco.
*This addictive component stimulates nerves in the brain, which cause feelings of pleasure and a sense of clarity.
*The nicotine causes blood pressure to rise and this is described as a "kick."
*Nicotine is also in nasal sprays and patches to help people stop smoking gradually.
*At first, little was known about the risks of cigarettes and cigarette smoke.
*On April Fool's Day(April 1st)1970, President Richard Nixon signed The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act. This act required cigarette companies to put labels on their packages warning people of the health hazards of smoking.
*He signed another bill banning cigarette advertisements on TV.
*Eighteen years later, in 1988, the law was expanded. Now it is illegal to sell cigarettes to minors under the age of 18. In some states, the age is 19.
*The American Health Association lists American Indians/Alaska Natives as the ethnic group with the highest percentage in smoking(32.7%), based on their 2003 National Health Interview Survey.
*Thiis is followed by Caucasians(non-Hispanic 24.0%), African Americans(non-Hispanic 22.3), Hispanics(16.7%), and Asians(12.4%).
*25.5 million men and 21.5 million women are smokers.
*In addition, teenagers are the most common group of smokers in the US.
*According to the Center for Disease Control, almost 3,000 teenagers become regular smokers everyday and many of them continue to smoke as adults.
*Currently, 1 in 5 teens smoke cigarettes.
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