By Garth Rattray

THIS IS not my first article decrying the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and it certainly won't be my last. The topic of cigarette smoking reared its ugly butt once again last week Wednesday when the United States government did legal battle with the cigarette companies charging them with racketeering. In the opening salvo, charges and counter-charges were made regarding the wilful manipulation of nicotine and whether or not ammonia was added just to enhance the taste of the tobacco or to deliver a more potent and highly addictive nicotine 'hit'.

Arguments were proffered that the cigarette companies committed fraud because in the past they failed to adequately warn smokers of the addictive nature of nicotine and the health dangers of smoking. Although some health-conscious nations have wisely banned cigarette ads and others are considering doing the same, we display billboards that urge you to 'Make it happen' with words like 'Greetings!' and 'Yes!' About 25 per cent of our school children are either experimenting with or are already smoking cigarettes.

REBUTTED

The Letter of the Day (Monday February 2, 2004) by the eminent physician, Dr. Knox Hagley, ably rebutted the feeble argument which tries to challenge the danger of second-hand smoke. Smoking cigarettes causes so much pathology and deaths that advertising this potentially lethal product is irresponsible, callous and 'craven'. The small-print caveat: 'The Chief Medical Officer warns that smoking is dangerous to your health' neither adequately informs smokers of their risks nor absolves cigarette companies of their moral responsibility.

A high percentage of first-time smokers become hooked for life (or death, depending on how you look at it) and so cigarette companies continue to make a 'killing' (in every sense of the word). Smoking significantly increases your risk of mouth, upper and lower respiratory cancers, stomach and, bladder, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, strokes, heart attacks, dangerous clotting and other circulatory problems. Smoking also increases the risk of vulval and cervical cancers and causes a four-fold increase in breast cancer. Cigarettes reduce fertility in both males and females and it also decreases a man's chances of achieving a full erection. Second-hand smoke is potentially deadly and even residual smoke on clothing can trigger asthma attacks.

MASQUERADING

For years, cigarette smoking has been masquerading as a socially acceptable, relaxing and 'cool' adult pastime when in fact it does nothing but harm. Governments worldwide seem to think that the revenue from the cigarette tax is worth sacrificing the health and lives of their citizens. In Jamaica, cigarette distributors pay 245% duty and Carreras alone paid tax revenues of $3.273 billion last year. Although $734 million went to finance the National Health Fund, Jamaica also spends incalculable millions treating the victims of stroke, heart attack, emphysema and various cancers in cases attributable to cigarette smoking.

Aside from the obvious financial disaster, there can be no price placed on human suffering and lives. Some cigarette manufacturers have been accused of adding hundreds of secret ingredients to hasten the highly addictive nicotine 'hit'. Cigarettes contain acetone (the solvent used to remove nail polish), ammonia, benzene (a strong industrial solvent), cadmium (a poisonous metal), carbon monoxide (an odourless, poisonous gas), formaldehyde (the same stuff used to preserve dead bodies), hydrogen cyanide (a toxic chemical), lead, mercury and tar (which paralyse the cilia that clean and protect the lungs), just to name a few. More than 40 of the 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes are known to cause cancer in humans. Over 90% of smokers fail in their bid to quit permanently.

The true impact of smoking is indeterminable because current Death Certificates only require that attending physicians or pathologists state pre-morbid disease(s), antecedent causes and other significant conditions (maladies). Other causative factors, like cigarette smoking, even when implicated in diseases that lead to death, have no place on these forms. So the next time that you see 'Make it happen' on smoking ads, ask yourself what exactly 'it' is.

Dr. Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.