Smokers, please read.

[deminks]

(I am an ex-smoker, 18 months).

U.S. report: More nicotine in cigarettes

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060830/ap_on_he_me/increasing_nicotine

BOSTON - The level of nicotine that smokers typically consume per cigarette has risen about 10 percent in the past six years, making it harder to quit and easier to get hooked, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Department of Health.

The study shows a steady climb in the amount of nicotine delivered to the lungs of smokers regardless of brand, with overall nicotine yields increasing by about 10 percent.

Massachusetts is one of three states to require tobacco companies to submit information about nicotine testing according to its specifications and the only state with data going back to 1998.

Public Health Commissioner Paul Cote Jr. called the findings "significant."

The finding means that health care providers trying to help smokers quit may have to adjust the strength of nicotine replacement therapies like nicotine patches and gums, according to Department of Public Health Associate Commissioner Sally Fogerty.

(end snip)

How lucky for the companies since these levels have been rising for the last 6 years (how convenient that Smirky got in office), that the levels are set to outdo any replacement therapy, and that the law suits recently blamed Big Tobacco but did not fine them. /sarcasm off

[Poll_Blind]

1. That is truly fucking dark-sided shit. n/t

PB

[Poll_Blind]

2. Time to learn about Fumo louco/ Y-1, folks.

I remember reading about this 10 years ago- found some information you may find useful. You just know these shit-breath tobacco companies have been using genetically-modified tobacco since Bush came into office- the gates are open, boys, try anything you want:

From the Associated Press, circa 1997:

SANTA CRUZ DO SUL, Brazil (AP) -- Freakish tobacco plants that explode from the soil in this remote river valley grow huge leaves on stalks as thick as Louisville Sluggers. The growers here call it fumo louco -Crazy tobacco.

Crazy not just because it grows so big and so fast. Crazy because it has been genetically altered by one of the world's largest tobacco companies to pack twice the nicotine of other commercially grown leaf.

The farmers of Brazil's southernmost state are growing it by the ton for the world market, The Associated Press has found, though it could not be learned for certain which countries are importing the nicotine-rich leaf.

Fumo louco -- the farmers' generic term for several related strains of high- nicotine tobacco -- is the offspring of a genetically altered plant created in U.S. laboratories for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., the third largest U.S. cigarette maker. The seed was then secretly shipped to Brazil in violation of U.S. export law.
--snip--

  Damn...

PB

[mntleo2]

7. RYO Smoker Here

RYO = Roll Your Own.

I smoke about 10 cigarettes a day and I have also been addicted since the early '70's. Loose tobacco is not as expensive (it is taxed less) and it is easier to not smoke as much, one reason being because you cannot pack a cigarette tube as full as they do with commercial cigarettes with the less expensive machines you use. I still smoke a filtered cigarette but they much cheaper, about 1.50 a pack. The tobacco I choose has no additives like commercial cigarettes do. It is a Danish company that makes it and I can readily buy it at a local tobacco shop. One can makes about 2 cartons for me and costs $25.00. A box of 200 tubes costs $2.00 and the machine, which lasts for about a year, costs around $8.00.

I am not saying this is healthier because I do not know if it is. However I cough less, I smoke less and I pay much less, and those things matter to me. I also make sure to go outside to smoke even in my own home.

My 2 cents

Cat In Seattle

[Poll_Blind]

10. Oh, tell me it's DRUM! That is my favorite tobacco, ever.

Drum is, if I can wax poetic about a carcinogenic agent, not the well-coiffured, up-tight, jewelery-adorned girlfriend that you have no fun with- it is the tousel-haired, peasent-dress wearing woman with a book under her arm who is willing to stay up all night playing Scrabble and sipping beer on a warm summer night with.

  And, from my experience in Amsterdam, you can roll a spliff par excellence with the stuff.

  Sorry, it's been ages since I rolled a DRUM. Now that the weather is cooled off and cloudy (the last few days) your message got me thinking that I would fairly kill for a DRUM cigarette and a hot cup of chai in the courtyard of a little coffee shop near the University of Oregon, where I live.

PB

[DemInDistress]

3. I'm smoking Camels since April 1 1971. I am a slave to nicotine

started smoking in 1962/63 without any breaks in between. I will go to hell somking a Camel.

I'm hooked I tell ya, hooked..

[movie_girl99]

4. father in law rolled his own

and mom in law smoked a big brand. They both quit 2 months ago and my FIL is not have nearly as hard of a time as she is. They had they carbon monoxide/dioxide (cant' remember which one it is) levels tested and his were significantly lower that hers.

[G_j]

9. our government supports drug pushers

on many levels.

nice thought eh?

[mmonk]

5. I heard about that.

Shameful. I'm already addicted, why add more?

[peekaloo]

6. I saw this story on CBS last night.

Marlboro and Kool were singled out since their brands are marketed to,respectively, young whites/blacks.

I'm a smoker, half pack a day, but I swear I find myself reaching for one more often lately.

:-(

[Kazak]

8. I quit smoking (tobacco) about six years ago...

:)

[Poll_Blind]

12. I don't think I noticed this before- but your handle....it's from...

...Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan, isn't it? Kazak, the hound of space, correct?

  That's my favorite Vonnegut book, even over Slaughterhouse 5.

PB

[Kazak]

15. Correct!

:)

Kazak even has a camio in Breakfast of Champions, and a pooch by the name Kazakh appears in Galapagos. I <3 KV!!

[lonestarnot]

11. I must have been dreaming something about this last night,

as I woke up thinking about it this a.m.

[RB TexLa]

13. Good I like the nicotine

[windbreeze]

14. I quit...cold turkey....after 29 years of smoking 1 to 1 1/2 packs...

a day, last November...however...lately, I have really been craving a cigarette...I have faced the fact that it's an addiction that I will always have....I tell myself it's ok to want one, as long as I don't give in...I also gave up coffee drinking at the same time...although I had been drinking coffee for about 20 years before I started smoking...and I really want a cup of coffee...but I think if I do...then the cigarette is going to be next...and I might add...even though I tried to psych myself out in regards to gaining weight....it didn't help...(but now I understand why I kept smoking more and more...Marlboro was my brand)
windbreeze

[Ron Green]

16. Big Tobacco's biggest offense is marketing to children, even as they claim

not to do so. The simple fact is that if their business is to survive, they must get kids to start smoking. After all, grownups don't generally decide to start, and several hundred thousand customers die every year from the product itself. Therefore, hooking kids on cigarettes is essential for the tobacco companies, and they spend LOTS of money doing it.

edit to correct tpyo.