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June 18, 2010 By Fred C. Wilson III.
THE PUFF THAT KILLS
Last week we covered birth control, abor tion, and the Philippine’s need for so cial change. This week we’ll do the evils of smoking; brace yourself, get comfortable, turn the TV down, and PUT OUT THAT DAMN CIGARETTE! WARNING! Smoking KILLS! Taking those toxic tokes (puffs) will kill you. Reader, whenever you take that first hard draw (puff) of the morning here’s what you’re risking:
• Bronchitis • COPD • Emphysema • Heart Disease • Lung Cancer • Acetone • Other Cancers (throat, lip, face, etc.)• Acute myeloid leukemia • Pneumonia • Reduced bone density • Peripheral vascular disease • Complications from diabetes • Post surgical wound infections • Erectile dysfunction (men)• Reproductive complications (women) *PREMATURE DEATH!
I was a chain smoker and used to smoke cigars, pipes, other substances I won’t talk about. I smoked for 25 years. Aforementioned in an earlier article I quit ‘cold turkey’. I kicked the habit during Lent though my beloved wife’s constant ‘verbal persuasion’ helped some. Smokers inhale some pretty nasty stuff. Each time you light up (smoke) you inhale : Ammonia, arsenic, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, nicotine (the drug that hooks ‘ya!), that nasty tar.
So why am I telling you this? Shouldn’t you already know about this stuff? Maybe so; consider this article your ‘refresher course.’ We Americans/Canadians are aware of the awful effects of smoking. We’re quitting in record numbers Praise GOD! New legions of ex-smokers have put the once all powerful tobacco industry on defense. Their deadly grip has loosened. The U.S. tobacco industry has hooked (addicted) users for centuries. Countless billions of dollars and deaths are attributable to tobacco use. The thought of having all that money, time, and effort flushed down the toilet was more than they could bear so the vultures transferred their customer base to the PHILIPPINES and other ASIAN countries.
Reader, visit any Asian country (Take your pick.); back home, China, Muslim nations, Thailand, any of them and you are constantly bombarded by people coughing their lungs out struggling for air. Hospitals back home (other Asian too but this the column reads: Philippine Adventures not Asian Adventures though we at Mega Scene care deeply about our other Asian brothers/sisters.) are bursting to overflowing with people suffering and dying from smoking related illnesses (Source: ‘Smoking Kills-Avoid It’). Smoking is killing Filipinos in droves the number is rising especially among young people prime targets for frustrated American/Filipino tobacco moguls.
SOME SMOKIN’ STATISTICS
According to IRIN the on line humanitarian organization, smoking causes the premature deaths of over 90,000 Filipinos per year. Despite the Tobacco Control Act more Filipino youth are smoking. Maricar Limpin executive director of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP) said that despite government warnings on the dangers of smoking a global youth tobacco survey stated that smoking among young Filipinos has jumped from 15% to 22%. This survey was taken three years ago. The percentages of young Filipino smokers are undoubtedly much higher.
Case in point: In past articles I’ve mentioned my taking religious retreats, holidays, and such in the Philippines. I said it not to brag but to inform you that I know about the countries I’m writing about. When I make my retreats in the States they’re as QUIET as they should be. Back home they’re noisy not because Filipinos can’t do silent retreats but the constant hacking noises made by smokers (mostly young attendees) drive me crazy! The ‘hack-hack’ noises of my f e l l o w r e t r e a t a n t s fighting for breath make concentration difficult. During my smoking years I used to shop at this elegant kiosk in the Manila Hotel and buy boxes of some of the most ‘delicious smoke’ (cigars) I ever puffed. I used to love those Philippine cigars! As a former tobacco aficionado (I once belonged to the Thompson Cigar Company a smoker’s gourmet club) I was a connoisseur of some ‘mean smokes’ (fine cigars/pipe products). When I smoked at home I’d lay back in my Lazy Boy recliner, listen to whatever music suited my mood at the time cigar/pipe in hand and get ‘zooted’ (high). I was in Puffers Paradise; having a hit (bottle) of Mr. Smirnoff’s best nearby only heightened the effect. Ah the thought of those halcyon (pleasant) nights. I puffed with the best of ‘em but not anymore. Do I miss it; nope not in the least bit. Reader, if you smoke you’re gonna’ DIE…quit.
MEAND MY MONKEY
Why do governments continue to support the tobacco lobby>$$$$. Reader didn’t I tell you in a previous article that the primary motive of all governments is to stay in business at YOUR expense? Here’s a little something from a Mr. David Lloyd George so you won’t forget: “All down history nine tenths of mankind have been grinding corn for the remaining tenth and have been paid with husks and bidden to thank god [GOD] they had the husks.”
The tobacco czars/lobbyists ‘grease the palms’ of your elected officials to turn the other way despite all the scientific evidence to the contrary. There’s a legion of celebrities who died from tobacco products : Nat King Cole the great 1950’s singer, Rod Sterling of ‘The Twilight Zone,’ baseball greats Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, the actress Lee Remick, the list is LONG (Check: ‘List of Diseases Caused/by Smoking Cigarettes.’). But what do you do when the Philippine Presidentelect chain smokes to help him make it through his busy day? Talking about poetic justice the infamous Marlboro Man died from lung cancer. After all that’s been said and you’re still not convinced that smoking will send you to an early grave, then I can’t help you. All I can say is good luck. That’s it for this week’s Mega Scene; next week Philippines Adventures will try to present you with a more lighthearted bill of fare. All my best, GOD bless, and PUT THAT DAMN CIGARETTE OUT!!