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Tale of Two Toxins

The use of tobacco goes back in human history hundreds of years and was part of the fabric and culture of many societies as a social for of relaxing with friends. It can be seen in old movies as an acceptable social practice. In fact, when someone in the old war movies was fatally injured the last scene would depict his buddies giving him a cigarette before he died.

In the 1950's, smoking was actually thought of as a calming influence and advertised as such in the media. Its wider acceptance in the community created a frenzy among cigarette manufacturers to make a better tasting cigarette. Some added menthol, others tried to up the quantity of nicotine in each cigarette for a stronger taste, and of course they were not filtered.

At the same time cigarette scientists who were working on a "better formula", had some disturbing information they chose not to disclose. (This later would come back to haunt them in the future litigation.) They knew that nicotine and carbon monoxide accumulated in the body, in particular in the lungs. This interfered with the metabolism of many tissues, especially the lung tissue.

In the next ten years, however, something happened. Honest scientists committed to health, started speaking out proclaiming that there was a clear and present danger in the uncontrolled use of tobacco and its negative physical effects on the people that smoked it. We all know the obvious symptoms - coughing, phlegm, shortness of breath, fatigue, and later the devastating effects of cancer itself.

It was on or about the 1960s that the bad reputation of smoking caught... continue

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