Slander.

Negative points of view, propaganda…that’s all we ever hear. From the moment we can comprehend what smoking is, we’re told not to endeavor. We watch videos about the negative affects, attend funerals of those who smoked, see charred lungs on display at fancy museums, hell even the cigarette manufacturers tell us not to do it.

But who stands up for the cigarettes and the tobacco themselves? Shouldn’t these “instruments of death” have an opportunity to share their stories? Perhaps if we really looked into this natural plant wrapped in thin paper that have been resting in the pockets of men for generations, we will see a brighter side?

Today I take my stand.

Below I’ve listed just a selection of the benefits to smoking that I’ve found, stashed away under a trunk of old sweaters in the basement of the internets. I think the world will have start thinking twice before bashing our old pal Ciggy and his brother Bacco.

Put these in your pipe and smoke it:

Smoking lowers Parkinson’s disease risk
A new study out adds to the previously reported evidence that cigarette smoking protects against Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, the new research shows a temporal relationship between smoking and reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease. That is, the protective effect wanes after smokers quit.
(March 6th issue of Neurology)

Severe Gum Recession, Less Of A Risk For Smokers
Smokers are actually at lower risk from gum disease. There is more scientific evidence from other sources about oral health and smoking than we could possibly imagine.
(“Gingival recession in smokers and non-smokers with minimal periodontal disease”,Journal of Clinical Periodontology)

Carbon Monoxide May Alleviate Heart Attacks And Stroke
Carbon monoxide is a by-product of tobacco smoke.  This report indicates very low levels of carbon monoxide may help victims of heart attacks and strokes.  Carbon monoxide inhibits blood clotting, thereby dissolving harmful clots in the arteries.  These fine researchers focused on carbon monoxide’s close resemblance to nitric oxide which keeps blood vessels from dilating and prevents the buildup of white blood cells.
(Dr. David Pinsky, an associate professor of medicine at Columbia University.)

Smoking Prevents Rare Skin Cancer
A researcher at the National Cancer Institute is suggesting that smoking may act as a preventative for developing a skin cancer that primarily afflicts elderly men in Mediterranean regions of Southern Italy, Greece and Israel.  Keep in mind, Dr. James Goedert is quick to assure what is important is not that smoking tobacco may help to prevent a rare form of cancer but that there is finally an admission by one of those fanatical researchers at the National Cancer Institute that there are ANY benefits to smoking.
(Dr. James Goedert, chief of the viral epidemiology branch of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md)

Smoking Reduces The Risk Of Breast Cancer
Another study reports that carriers of a particular gene mutation (which predisposes the carrier to breast cancer) who smoked cigarettes for more than 4 pack years (i.e., number of packs per day multiplied by the number of years of smoking) were found to have a statistically significant 54 percent decrease in breast cancer incidence when compared with carriers who never smoked.
(Journal of the National Cancer Institute, May 20, 1998)

Alzheimer’s Disease Is Associated With Non-Smoking -
A statistically significant inverse relation between smoking and Alzheimer’s disease was observed at all levels of analysis, with a trend towards decreasing risk with increasing consumption.
(Smokers’ Rights Action Group, P.O. Box 259575, Madison, WI 53725-9575, Phone: 608-249-4568) Give ‘em a call and ask.

If this doesn’t satisfy your craving for…knowledge, I’ve found the website of another enlightened individual. Perhaps we shall form a club.

http://www.mendhak.com/102-smoking-is-good-for-you.aspx

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