Joel: You have it wrong. You forgot that these are international discussion lists. Your 400,000+ annual number for tobacco deaths and other statistics are for the U.S. only. God only knows what the numbers are worldwide. And to add a diving thrust. We have those folks who think it's a good idea to soak their hemoglobin with carbon monoxide from cigarette smoke BEFORE doing a technical dive. Too stupid for words. -Kent- > -----Original Message----- > From: Joel Markwell [mailto:joeldm@mi*.co*] > Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2000 4:27 PM > To: Techdiver; Cavers > Subject: Smoking and Diving > > > There's been a discussion here on Techdiver about drug testing and how in > some cases random drug testing nets a lot of divers in the commercial diving > industry. But there's another drug we should consider. > > One thing that I never expected when I started scuba diving was the large > number of divers, especially instructors, who smoked cigarettes. When I took > up cave diving it was even more stunning to me how many smoked. > > Last year my Mother died of lung cancer. It took her two years to die and > many dozens of hours sitting in a chair with an IV in her arm being infused > with toxic chemicals, but not so much toxicity that it would kill her before > it killed her cancer. As a result of those chemicals, she lost all of her > hair and couldn't eat. She also got irradiation treatment and the procedure > burned her skin and made her sicker. In the last months my Father became > desperate to find someone who could save her. He changed treatments and she > lived a little longer. She always smiled, she rarely complained--you'd think > she wasn't sick. She died a little over a year ago - of a cancer related to > cigarette smoking. > > My Father lived another nine months and died on New Year's eve. He was > victim number two even though he didn't smoke, but he'll never show up on a > smoking death statistic. > > 470,000 people die each year from tobacco use. This compares to 1,000 deaths > due to alcohol abuse or 10,000 deaths due to murders. The annual death count > due to tobacco use is equivalent to two jumbo jets crashing EVERY DAY with > no survivors. Imagine. > > The chemicals found in tobacco are so toxic that you can't dump them in a > landfill. > > 3,000 kids become regular smokers each day ... one MILLION each year. > Year-to-date, 110,000 kids have become daily smokers. Smoking before the age > of 15 versus the age of 25 puts them at TEN TIMES more risk to get cancer. > 82% of adults who smoke started before the age of 18. My Mother smoked most > of her life. > > Smoking racks up $50 Billion a year in direct medical costs. > > The tobacco industry spends more than $6 Billion annually in advertising > programs directed at getting new smokers - targeting children, women, and > minorities. > > How? Movies, advertising outside schools (targeted billboard campaigns), > free gifts, and misleading advertising stating that smoking is healthy, > "cool" and fun. > > The tobacco industry uses science to obfuscate the truth and generate > controversy. They hide and lie to the public about the dangers of tobacco > use and nicotine addiction. They put profits ahead of public health and > safety. They have lead an advertising campaign that arouses their addicted > millions to believe that somehow the effort to educate them about cigarettes > and to make smoking in public more difficult is somehow a civil rights > issue. They want you to believe that smokers who die from cigarette smoking > deserve what they get because, hey, it says it right there on the pack: > Cigarette Smoking May be Harmful to Your Heath. > > All those happy, smoking people who die unknown in the privacy of their > beds. They just disappear. It isn't like an airline disaster, it's quiet and > private. And because of that it's just a part of the scenery . . . nothing > to get upset about. > > We all have the right to kill ourselves so long as we are endangering no one > else. But if no adults smoked and there was no market for it do you think > that any children would start? If there was no cigarette money for > advertising and sports endorsements and for all those colorful clothes and > bags and belt buckles, would kids still know how "cool" it was? > > As long as we are discussing the impact of drugs on sport, specifically > diving, and the potential for injury and death, I wonder if smoking > shouldn't be included in that discussion? How many people died last year > from marijuana? I couldn't find any statistics anywhere, even in the usually > paranoid and slanted government literature. The pro-pot pages say "0." The > picture I have is of a railroad driver who got stoned and ran into a busload > of kids. I don't know if it's true, but that's how they say pot kills you. I > smoked pot from the time I was 18 until my son turned 11. I didn't want him > to use me as an excuse to smoke pot. None of the joints I smoked gave me > half the pleasure and satisfaction that diving does. > > Drugs alter your perceptions and that could be fatal to a diver given that > diving itself can alter your perceptions. Death could certainly follow in > stressful situations. So sure, pot could kill. > > But what kind of numbers are we talking about here? 10? 100? How does that > compare to 470,000 annually? I wonder how many divers around the world have > died from smoking related illnesses? My guess is that it would eclipse by > many, many times the deaths from all other causes. > > In the last weeks as the cancer consumed my Mother she weighed almost > nothing. Her eyes were sunken in her head, her skin discolored. She stopped > wearing the wig she had bought to hide her baldness. She had to sit in a > chair to sleep because the cancer prevented her from breathing when lying > down. Every breath was a wheezing effort and every breath caused her pain. > On March 12th, early in the morning, she asked my Father to lie with her on > the bed and with his arm around her that is where she died. She died from > smoking those satisfying cigarettes that she just couldn't quit. > > Enjoy. > > JoeL >
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