Single Cigarette Takes 20 Minutes Off Life Expectancy, Study Finds

THE GUARDIAN: Figure is nearly double an estimate from 2000 and means a pack of 20 cigarettes costs a person seven hours on average

Smokers are being urged to kick the habit for 2025 after a fresh assessment of the harms of cigarettes found they shorten life expectancy even more than doctors thought.

Researchers at University College London found that on average a single cigarette takes about 20 minutes off a person’s life, meaning that a typical pack of 20 cigarettes can shorten a person’s life by nearly seven hours.

According to the analysis, if a smoker on 10 cigarettes a day quits on 1 January, they could prevent the loss of a full day of life by 8 January. They could boost their life expectancy by a week if they quit until 5 February and a whole month if they stop until 5 August. By the end of the year, they could have avoided losing 50 days of life, the assessment found.

“People generally know that smoking is harmful but tend to underestimate just how much,” said Dr Sarah Jackson, a principal research fellow at UCL’s alcohol and tobacco research group. “On average, smokers who don’t quit lose around a decade of life. That’s 10 years of precious time, life moments, and milestones with loved ones.” » | Ian Sample, Science editor | Monday, December 30, 2024

Such NONSENSE! Such TOSH! Were this to be true, with the number of cigarettes I smoked throughout my life (before I quit), I should have died probably before I was ever born! These people don’t know what cr** to come up with next in order to frighten people into giving up the very, very pleasurable habit — NOT ADDICTION! — of smoking.

Are these so-called scientists totally unaware that the obesity across the western world that we can observe today, and the horrendous rates of type-2 diabetes, are probably caused in no small part because people have been brainwashed into thinking that cigarette smoking is the cause of all ills, the Devil incarnate, the bête noire of our times. IT IS NOT!

I do not advocate cigarette smoking. Not at all! It is always generally better not to smoke than to do so. However, it is not the root cause of all health issues. I smoked for almost all of my adult life, yet I still have a full head of hair in its natural colour, a full mouthful of teeth, unwrinkled skin, excellent eyesight — I can read a book to this day WITHOUT the aid of spectacles when I want to — my gums are healthy, I do not suffer from type-2 diabetes, either. And my hearing is excellent!

I quit smoking nearly three years ago. And the ONE THING I have noticed since quitting is that I have gained weight. And this, despite NOT eating more. In fact, if anything, I eat less. Moreover, I have an excellent diet: I eat few carbohydrates and virtually no sugar, only perhaps as the odd treat.

Are these so-called “scientists” not aware that people who smoke, or people who have been smokers, are far less likely ever to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease? There is also some evidence — though it is kept very quiet for obvious reasons — that smokers are far less likely to contract Alzheimer’s disease!

Furthermore, are these “scientists” oblivious to the life-enhancing effect(s) of getting some pleasure in life? If you want to shorten a man's life, deprive him of all pleasures!

So please, Y’all! Quit the CRAP! – © Mark Alexander

The Countries Banning Smoking and Taking On 'Big Tobacco' | 60 Minutes Australia

Dec 26, 2019 • What a fight it's become as governments around the world line up against Big Tobacco to outlaw smoking. Liz Hayes travels to California and Norway where they believe at last they're starting to win the war with tough new laws that say no ifs, no buts, no smoking - full stop.

The world is full of meddlesome people! They are not very consistent, either. At the very same time as the world is clamping down on cigarette-smoking, it is relaxing laws on the smoking of cannabis and other substances. How sensible, or logical, is that?

Furthermore, doctors and medical people are encouraging e-cigarettes and vaping; yet we don’t know the long-term consequences of that habit. Many a young person has suffered from “popcorn lung” because of vaping; some have even died.

Smoking cigarettes is not a healthy habit. That we know. But so many other habits are not healthy either. Moreover, are Americans today that much healthier than they used to be when they smoked a lot? I would say that they aren’t. Diabetes and obesity are huge problems in the States, indeed in the West in general. Diabetes, in particular, leads to cardiovascular disease just as smoking tobacco does. I would therefore posit that by making it difficult, and often virtually impossible, to smoke tobacco, we have merely traded in one set of illnesses for another, namely tobacco-related illnesses for sugar-related ones.

If you truly want a healthier population, find a way to encourage people to quit smoking (voluntarily) without those people taking up other bad habits to compensate for their loss of pleasure from smoking. But the fact remains that people throughout the ages have always got their fun, pleasures and kicks from something or other. If you take one source of pleasure away from them, they will find something else to replace it, something else to fill the void. And that ‘thing’ might yet turn out in the long-term to be unhealthier than smoking ever was! – © Mark

New York Plans to Ban Smoking Outdoors
THE TELEGRAPH: New York City officials have announced a plan to ban smoking outdoors.

City officials said that the new legislation would outlaw smoking in parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks and pedestrian plazas throughout the American city.

That means no smoking in Central Park or on the Coney Island boardwalk.

People who break the ban could be issued with quality-of-life summonses by the parks department. >>> | Wednesday, September 15, 2010

NYC Will Pursue Smoking Ban in Parks, Beaches
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Broad extension of city’s smoking ban would mean no smoking in Central Park, on Coney Island boardwalk

New York City wants to take its tough smoking ban outdoors.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other officials announced Wednesday that they will pursue a broad extension of the city's smoking ban to parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks and pedestrian plazas throughout the city.

That would mean no smoking in Central Park, no lighting up on the Coney Island boardwalk and putting the cigarettes away if you're lounging on the traffic-free Broadway pedestrian plaza in Times Square.

Officials said they are basing the proposed law on claims that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can pose health risks.
“The science is clear: prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke, whether you're indoors or out, hurts your health,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement. “Today, we're doing something about it.” >>> Sara Kugler Frazier, New York , The Associated Press | Wednesday, September 15, 2010

How do New Yorkers put up with Bloomberg? He’s a despicable little tyrant. And I mean little. At 5’6” he’s diminutive! But that means he’s just the sort to have a Napoleonic complex.

This man is tyrannical, arrogant, and self-righteous.

Many years ago, I remember reading that he used to be a chain-smoker. He decided to give up. That was good for his health. Unfortunately, at the same time as he decided to quit, he decided that the whole world should quit smoking along with him. Ex-smokers are often like that. By the way, Google seems to have been purged of all reference to Michael Bloomberg having been a heavy smoker. I wonder why?

I am an ex-smoker; and I have successfully quit. I derived years of pleasure from smoking; but the time came to stop; and I did so. But at the same time, I promised myself that I wouldn’t become an insufferable ex-smoker. That means to say, an ex-smoker who cannot tolerate other people’s smoking faiblesse. In fact, even though I have given up smoking, I am quite happy to be in the company of smokers: it gives me great pleasure to see others enjoying themselves, and feeling relaxed. Unlike Mayor Bloomberg, I am not a killjoy.

I like to think that I take a balanced view of the evils of smoking. Of course it’s not a healthy habit. But then so many things in life aren’t healthy either. Is it healthy to have tattoos? Is it healthy to have piercings? Is it healthy to eat a lot of saturated fat, or salt, or cholesterol-rich foods? Is it healthy to walk for a long period on the sidewalks, or pavements, with vehicles belching out exhaust fumes? What is Mayor Bloomberg going to do about the pollution from the traffic in New York? Surely that is far more injurious to the health of New Yorkers than a small amount of second-hand smoke, sitting next to someone on a park bench in Central Park!

Come to think of it, what is Mayor Bloomberg doing about the infestation of bedbugs there in New York city? I can’t imagine anything more important for him to tackle than bedbugs. I certainly think he’d be better advised to tackle that problem first. The problem is acute.

I remember visiting the Big Apple when times were very different. In those days, not so long ago actually, prior to Bloomberg becoming Mayor of the city, one could enjoy oneself there. Really enjoy oneself. Even though I am a non-smoker, I really can’t imagine getting much enjoyment from a trip to that once great city now. It would be far, far too restricting and oppressive for me. I think I’ll wait for Mayor Bloomberg to be ejected from office before my next visit. Surely it can’t be that much longer before New Yorkers get the great idea of ridding their wonderful city of such a mean-spirited, domineering character. – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: New York smoking ban: a lot of huff over not much puff – New York's proposed smoking ban is a bad idea, argues Jenny McCartney. >>> Jenny McCartney | Saturday, September 18, 2010

Barack Obama as a College Freshman
Photo of the cigarette-smoking Obama as a college freshman courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: Cigarette clamped between thumb and finger, a louche Barack Obama leans back with playful eyes and draws smoke deep into his lungs.

When he agreed to model for an aspiring photographer’s portfolio, the prospect of this image re-emerging 28 years later as he prepared to enter the White House as president probably never crossed his mind. >>> Tom Baldwin in Washington | December 17, 2008

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