The Medical Use of Tobacco in the Nineteenth Century

properties฀in฀a฀comprehensive฀monograph฀that฀is฀still฀available฀ [22] .฀He฀was฀also฀one฀of฀ the฀irst฀clinicians฀to฀publicise฀the฀connection฀between฀smoking฀and฀the฀development฀of฀ bronchial฀carcinoma฀in฀his฀numerous฀lectures,฀a฀state฀that฀he฀described฀in฀detail฀in฀his฀ book.฀His฀demands฀at฀the฀end฀of฀the฀book฀for฀stemming฀the฀consumption฀of฀tobacco฀are฀ understandable฀even฀today,฀with฀one฀exception฀cultivation฀of฀low-nicotine฀tobacco฀variet- ies฀Table฀ 1.2 .฀Because฀of฀the฀Second฀World฀War,฀German฀research฀into฀the฀causal฀rela- tionship฀between฀smoking฀and฀the฀development฀of฀bronchial฀carcinoma฀ [36–40] ฀could฀not฀ be฀shared฀with฀the฀international฀scientiic฀฀community,฀and฀was฀also฀ignored฀after฀the฀end฀ of฀the฀war.฀The฀text฀of฀the฀article฀by฀Schairer฀and฀Schöninger฀was฀not฀published฀in฀English฀ translation฀until฀2001฀when฀it฀appeared฀in฀the฀International฀Journal฀of฀Epidemiology฀ [41] ,฀ together฀with฀several฀commentaries฀ [42,฀43] . All฀ countries,฀ irrespective฀ of฀ the฀ prevailing฀ form฀ of฀ government,฀ “encouraged฀ and฀ promoted฀in฀every฀conceivable฀way฀their฀people’s฀passion฀for฀smoking฀simply฀for฀the฀ sake฀of฀the฀national฀purse”฀ [7] .฀Following฀the฀failure฀of฀the฀bans฀on฀smoking฀in฀the฀USA฀ in฀the฀1920s,฀with฀Kansas฀the฀last฀state฀to฀lift฀such฀prohibition฀in฀1927,฀the฀European฀ countries฀never฀seriously฀considered฀similar฀regulations;฀in฀the฀view฀of฀those฀in฀power,฀ such฀action฀might฀have฀an฀adverse฀if฀not฀disastrous฀effect฀on฀the฀economic฀and฀political฀ situation.฀ After฀ the฀ Second฀ World฀ War฀ this฀ attitude฀ continued,฀ with฀ cigarettes฀ being฀ rationed฀on฀“stamps”฀for฀the฀many฀smokers฀in฀Germany฀see฀ Chap.฀14 .฀In฀the฀immediate฀ post-war฀period,฀the฀Americans฀offered฀aid฀in฀the฀form฀of฀the฀Marshall฀Plan,฀but฀at฀the฀ same฀time฀they฀gave฀the฀Germans฀97,000฀tons฀of฀tobacco฀ [44] ฀–฀a฀gift฀with฀immense฀ potential฀for฀harm. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 10 20 30 40 Frequency Age [years] Boys Girls 50 60 70 Fig. 1.7 ฀฀฀Age฀distribution฀ for฀cigarette฀consumption฀ among฀1,058฀students฀ attending฀higher฀educational฀ establishments฀data฀from฀a฀ 1933฀survey฀ [22] Ban฀on฀tobacco฀consumption฀for฀young฀people฀below฀the฀age฀of฀18 Strong฀warnings฀against฀tobacco฀consumption฀by฀women Cultivation฀of฀nicotine-free฀or฀low-nicotine฀tobacco฀for฀“less฀toxic฀smoking” Protection฀of฀non-smokers Creation฀of฀counselling฀centres฀for฀tobacco฀addicts฀in฀major฀cities Government-sponsored฀information฀campaign Government฀support฀for฀the฀“German฀League฀to฀Combat฀the฀Dangers฀of฀Tobacco”฀funded฀by฀ revenue฀raised฀from฀tobacco฀duty Table 1.2 ฀฀฀Lickint’s฀demands฀in฀1939฀for฀the฀regulation฀of฀tobacco฀consumption฀[21]