cigarettes

A cigarette is a tobacco product manufactured out of cured and finely cut tobacco leaves, which are rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder (generally less than 120 mm in length and 10 mm in diameter). The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder for the purpose of inhalation of its smoke from the other (usually filtered) end, which is inserted in the mouth. They are sometimes smoked with a cigarette holder. The term cigarette, as commonly used, refers to a tobacco cigarette but can apply to similar devices containing other herbs, such as cannabis.

A cigarette is distinguished from a cigar by its smaller size (hence the name), use of processed leaf, and paper wrapping; cigars are typically composed entirely of whole leaf tobacco. Cigarettes were largely unknown in the English-speaking world before the Crimean War, when British soldiers began emulating their Ottoman Turkish comrades, who resorted to rolling their tobacco with newsprint.

History

The cigarette was born some time in the 18th century: beggars in Seville began to pick from the ground the cigar ends left by the señoritos (rich young men), wrapped the tobacco remains with paper and smoked them. The first attested use of this habit can be seen in three 18th century paintings by Francisco de Goya: La cometa (The kite), La merienda en el Manzanares (Picnic by the river Manzanares) and El juego de la pelota a pala (The ball and paddle game).

The use of tobacco in cigarette form became increasingly popular after the Crimean War. This was helped by the development of tobaccos that are suitable for cigarette use. During World War I and World War II, cigarettes were rationed to soldiers. During the second half of the 20th century, the adverse health effects of cigarettes started to become widely known and severe health warnings became commonplace on cigarette packets.

The cigarette has evolved much since its conception; for example, the thin bands that travel transverse to the "axis of smoking" (thus forming circles along the length of the cigarette) are alternate sections of thin and thick paper to facilitate effective burning when being drawn, and retard burning when at rest. Synthetic particulate filters remove some of the tar before it reaches the smoker.

Sale

Before the Second World War many manufacturers gave away collectible cards, one in each packet of cigarettes. This practice was discontinued to save paper during the war and was never generally reintroduced, though for a number of years Natural American Spirit cigarettes included "vignette" cards depicting endangered animals and American historical events; this series was discontinued in 2003. During the Second World War they gave out free cigarettes to the soldiers and citizens. On April 1, 1970 President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, banning cigarette advertisements on television in the United States starting on January 2, 1971. However some tobacco companies attempted to circumvent the ban by marketing new brands of cigarettes as "little cigars"; examples included Tijuana Smalls, which came out almost immediately after the ban took effect, and Backwoods Smokes, which reached the market in the winter of 1973-1974 and whose ads used the slogan, "How can anything that looks so wild taste so mild".

Beginning on April 1, 1988, the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors under 18 is now prohibited by law in all fifty states of the United States. The legal age of purchase has been additionally raised to 19 in Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey, Utah, and Nassau and Suffolk Counties in New York, and legislation was pending as of 2004 in some other states, including California to raise the age to 19 or even to 21. In Massachusetts, parents and guardians are allowed to give cigarettes to minors, but sales to minors are prohibited.

Similar laws exist in many other countries. In Canada most of the provinces require smokers to be 19 years of age to purchase cigarettes (except for Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, where the age is 18). However the minimum age only concerns the purchase of tobacco, not use. Alberta, however, does have a law which prohibits the possession or use of tobacco products by all persons under 18, punishable by a $100 fine. Australia and India both have a nation-wide ban on the selling of all tobacco products to people under the age of 18.

In the UK, cigarettes can legally be sold only to people aged 16 and over. However it is not illegal for people under this age to buy (or attempt to buy) cigarettes, which means that only the retailer is breaking the law by selling to people under the age of 16.

Most countries in the world have a legal smoking age of 18. Four exceptions are Switzerland, Austria, Germany and The Netherlands, where the age is 16. Surprisingly in Turkey, which has one of the highest percentage of smokers in its population, has a legal age of 18. Another curiosity is Japan, one of the highest tobacco consuming nations, which requires purchasers to be 20 years of age. However, due to the prevalence of cigarette vending machines in the most public of places the effectiveness of an underage ban is in doubt.^{citation needed]} In other countries, such as Egypt, it is legal to use and purchase tobacco products regardless of age.

Some police departments in the United States occasionally send an underaged teenager into a store where cigarettes are sold, and have the teen attempt to purchase cigarettes, with or without a "fake" ID. If the vendor then completes the sale, the store is issued a fine.

Online cigarette stores

Online stores have recently appeared that offer foreign cigarettes to internet buyers. As many jurisdictions place high taxes on tobacco sales, these could be seen as an effort to avoid paying duty or taxes.

Some online cigarette stores exist to sell tax-free cigarettes inside their own country as well. The legality of these stores is being questioned currently in the United States. Federal lawmakers contend that these stores are clear tax evasions. Recently in Michigan, several online stores have been subpoenaed by the state for the names and addresses of customers. The state has reportedly been sending out fines for each package purchased, contending tax evasion over Michigan's $2-a-pack law.

This same action has also taken place[1] in Wisconsin after the Wisconsin Department of Revenue received a list of several thousand buyers in that state from an online cigarette merchant. However, the effort to collect on the taxes from the listed residents was stopped by order[2] of Governor Jim Doyle a few days later.

What complicates this issue is that many online tobacco shops are Native American owned and these stores are located on Native American territory. The Native American believe that they have the right of self-taxation. Because many tribes have Federal treaties giving them control over both property and sales tax on their land, the issue is at the Federal level. Without Federal intervention and a Supreme Court ruling that over turns these treaties, the States can do almost nothing to stop Native Americans from selling cigarettes via the Internet. Several laws are currently before Congress to specifically address this issue.

MasterCard and American Express have refused to allow online cigarette stores to accept payment by credit-card ^{citation needed]}.

Philip Morris Inc., USA [3] fights against selling cigarettes online. PM is concerned about trademark infringement, age verification, domestic taxation of their licensed tobacco products available through mail-order from duty-free shops overseas, and losing market share to low-priced generic cigarette brands available on the Internet. Philip Morris took possession of the web domain Yesmoke.com, [4]and claimed damages worth 548 million dollars in compensation for Yesmoke’s sale of PM's Marlboro cigarette brand. 548 million dollars is the highest request ever in the history of United States legislation, for compensation for the alleged offence of Copyright Infringement and Unfair Competition. It was later decided that 548 million dollars was a disproportionate request that Yesmoke would never be able to pay. The judge, Gerard E. Lynch of the Southern District of New York, on March 11th 2005, lowered the sum to be paid to Philip Morris to "only" 173 million dollars.

Contents and health effects

See also: Health effects of tobacco smoking and Health issues and the effects of cannabis

Smoking has been linked to lung cancer by medical research institutions throughout the world (through the use of observational studies). Smoking men are 22 times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smoking men and smoking women are 12 times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smoking women. Cigarette smoking increases the risk for many types of cancer, including cancers of the lip, oral cavity, and pharynx; esophagus; pancreas; larynx (voice box); lung; uterine cervix; urinary bladder; and kidney ^{citation needed]}. Recent findings by the World Health Organization suggest that U.S. white male smokers have an 8% chance of acquiring lung cancer at some point in their lives, as opposed to the 2% chance of acquiring lung cancer among U.S. white male non-smokers.

Certain other lung disorders, like emphysema, are also linked to cigarette smoking. Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, underweight, and deformed infants. Smoking also increases the chance of heart attacks and a variety of cancers^{citation needed]}. Long-term smokers tend to look older than nonsmokers of the same age, because smoking can increase wrinkling in the skin.

Nicotine, the stimulant and active ingredient in cigarettes, is highly addictive. Children and pets may be poisoned from eating cigarettes or cigarette butts.

For many years the tobacco industry presented research of its own in an attempt to counter emerging medical research about the addictive nature and adverse health effects of cigarettes. According to a 1994 prosecution memo written by Congressman Martin Meehan to former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, many of these studies were found to be flawed due to their strong bias and poor methodology. A 2001 peer-reviewed article in the American Journal of Public Health accuses tobacco companies of using front groups and biased studies to downplay the health risks of smoking and secondhand smoke.

Many countries and jurisdictions have instituted public smoking bans. In New York City, smoking is forbidden in almost all workplaces, although in rare cases this ban is not enforced in some small neighborhood bars, establishments caught allowing smoking face stiff fines. It is now commonplace for restaurants to ban smoking even in their outside seating areas, or near entrances, relegating most smokers to street corners or in front of private residences. Ironically, much like the illicit trade of alcohol during Prohibition, there is a growing underground market for cigarettes in New York, mainly facilitated through street sales and the internet. Following this trend, smoking is quickly being banned in restaurants and bars all across the USA. States from California to Delaware have adopted such a ban. Such bans are least popular in Southern states of the USA, such as Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, where tobacco continues to be a large part of the economy. In other states, these bans are extremely popular and seen as long overdue. Often smoking is allowed on the street (though in Delaware you must be 250 feet away from any public building), but in many locations of Japan it is against the law.^{citation needed]}

In 2004, smoking was outlawed in all public buildings in the state of Maine. Ireland became the first European country to institute an outright ban on smoking in workplaces in March, 2004.

The 2004 ban on smoking in bars and resturaunts in New Zealand met with initial resentment from some bar owners, but was widely welcomed by the public at large. Similar measures were successful in the Australian state of Queensland in July, 2006.

In 2005 in the state of Washington, smoking was banned in all business establishments, including bars and bowling alleys, and any place outdoors within 25 feet of a window, door, or ventilation intake.

On March 26, 2006, Scotland prohibited smoking in enclosed (more than 50% covered) public places, which as such, includes public buildings, workplaces, sports stadiums, bars and restuarants. Exemptions are in place to allow hotel guests to smoke in their own rooms. Unusually the law also bans smoking in bus shelters, phone boxes or older smoking shelters that are more than 50% enclosed. It also prohibits smoking in trucks and vans which are owned by a company whether or not the driver is the only person inside. In common with the response in New Zealand, the ban has been critised by certain publicans, cafes and bingo halls who claim that it is hurting sales and business, but this matter is contested by others who report increased sales. Public support in Scotland is in clear favour of the ban, and adherance is wide spread. It is reported that the National Heath Service in Scotland's Quit Smoking Line, has recieved an additional 50,000 calls from people wishing to give up in the 6 months since the ban was introduced.

In many parts of the world tobacco advertising and even sponsorship of sporting events is not allowed. The ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship in the EU in 2005 has prompted the Formula One Management to look for races in areas that allow the heavily tobacco sponsored teams to display their livery, and has also led to some of the more popular races on the calendar being cancelled in favour of more tobacco friendly markets. However pressure from fans has seen these decisions reversed, and Grand Prix such as the Belgian Grand Prix have re-appeared on the calender. .

Carcinogens

There are 19 known carcinogenic compounds in cigarettes.^[1] The following are some of the most potent carcinogens:

• Benzopyrene is a mutagenic compound which is highly carcinogenic. It is formed during the incomplete combustion of organic matter.

• Nitrosamine is a carcinogenic compound found in cigarette smoke but not in uncured tobacco leaves. Nitrosamine forms on flue-cured tobacco leaves during the curing process through a chemical reaction between nicotine and other compounds contained in the uncured leaf and various oxides of nitrogen found in all combustion gases. However, switching to indirect-fire curing has been shown to reduce nitrosamine to undetectable levels (less than 0.1 part per million).^[2]

Radioisotopes

Radioisotopes from the radon decay sequence are sometimes purported to be a cause of lung cancer. In particular, Polonium-210, an alpha emitter^[3], is sometimes claimed to be a causal agent for diseases such as liver and bladder cancer, stomach ulcers, leukemia, cirrhosis of the liver, and cardiovascular disease. In 1982, Winters et al. published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine which showed skeletons of cigarette smokers contained deposits of lead-210 and polonium-210. ^[4] In 1983 Martell published a follow-up paper in which he experimentally demonstrated that smokers who die of lung cancer have been exposed to 80-100 rads of radiation. ^[5]

Several other studies, however, suggest there is no correlation between levels of radioisotopes and smoking-related cancers. Moreover, others suggest there is not enough Polonium-210 in cigarette smoke to significantly impact lung cancer in smokers. (Bogden et al., 1981; Hecht, 1999)

Consumption

Approximately 5.5 trillion cigarettes are produced globally each year by the tobacco industry, smoked by over 1.1 billion people, which is more than 1/6 of the world's population.

A Change in Law

The UK has plans to raise to legal smoking age to 18 to put in line with alcohol in an attempt to decrease poor health amongst the youth.

References

• Bogden JD, Kemp FW, Buse M, Thind IS, Louria DB, Forgacs J, Llanos G, Moncoya Terrones I. (1981) Composition of tobaccos from countries with high and low incidences of lung cancer. I. Selenium, polonium-210, Alternaria, tar, and nicotine. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 66: 27-31.
• Hecht SS (1999) Tobacco Smoke Carcinogens and Lung Cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 91 1194-1210.

See also

• List of additives in cigarettes
• Chain smoking
• Famous cigarette smokers
• List of slang terms for cigarettes
• Lung cancer
• Oral cancer
• Luther Leonidas Terry
• Jeffrey Wigand
• Tobacco smoking

External links

• Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years' observations on male British doctors
• US Center for Disease Control - Smoking and Health Database
• Encyclopedia of Cigarettes
• GLOBALink
• INGCAT - International Non Governmental Coalition Against Tobacco
• National Clearinghouse on Tobacco and Health - Canada
• Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

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