Objections to Smoking on Health Grounds

dangers฀of฀tobacco฀use฀and฀misuse฀ [22] .฀As฀a฀result,฀smoking฀perceptions฀have฀undergone฀ a฀complete฀transformation฀–฀the฀“sophisticated”฀habit฀of฀the฀1930s฀is฀a฀lethal฀addiction฀in฀ the฀ new฀ millennium.฀ What฀ was฀ considered฀ an฀ appropriate฀ social฀ behaviour,฀ frequently฀ endorsed฀by฀the฀medical฀profession฀cf.฀Fig.฀ 1.4 ,฀has฀now฀been฀established฀as฀an฀antisocial฀ behaviour.฀Nevertheless,฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀unrestrainedly฀advertised฀its฀products฀in฀the฀ medical฀journals฀cf.฀Fig.฀ 1.4 ฀and฀among฀young฀people฀who฀were฀very฀soon฀familiar฀with฀ all฀the฀major฀cigarette฀brands฀Fig.฀ 1.5 . In฀ 1821,฀ the฀ physician฀ Posselt฀ and฀ the฀ chemist฀ Reimann฀ described฀ a฀ milky฀ distillate฀ obtained฀from฀fresh฀and฀dried฀tobacco฀leaves฀ [24] ฀and฀in฀1828,฀they฀isolated฀nicotine฀as฀the฀ principal฀alkaloid฀of฀tobacco฀ [8,฀25] .฀Trommsdorff฀also฀studied฀extracts฀from฀tobacco฀plants฀ [26] ,฀but฀his฀research฀was฀not฀as฀fruitful฀as฀that฀of฀Posselt฀and฀Reimann.฀At฀that฀time,฀this฀ poisonous฀alkaloid฀fuelled฀numerous฀debates฀about฀the฀harmfulness฀of฀smoking,฀based฀on฀ evidence฀from฀various฀experiments฀on฀animals฀with฀nicotine฀dating฀back฀to฀the฀seventeenth฀ century฀ [8] :฀Conrad฀Gesner฀had฀observed฀that฀dogs฀vomited฀when฀they฀were฀administered฀a฀ small฀quantity฀of฀powdered,฀dried฀tobacco฀leaves.฀The฀irst฀Bocarme฀poisoning฀trial฀before฀ a฀Belgian฀court฀in฀1850฀attracted฀great฀interest,฀particularly฀when฀the฀chemist฀Stas฀detected฀ the฀alkaloid฀nicotine฀in฀the฀corpse฀ [8] .฀This฀case฀prompted฀numerous฀animal฀experiments฀ with฀nicotine฀to฀permit฀further฀elucidation฀of฀its฀effects.฀The฀animal฀experiments฀described฀ by฀Tiedemann,฀working฀in฀conjunction฀with฀the฀anatomist฀Bischoff฀in฀Gießen,฀were฀con- ducted฀in฀frogs,฀rabbits,฀and฀dogs฀after฀he฀had฀received฀nicotine฀base฀from฀Dr.฀Merck฀of฀ Darmstadt฀ [8] .฀These฀experiments฀described฀the฀high฀toxicity฀and฀rapid฀onset฀of฀poisoning฀ followed฀by฀the฀death฀of฀animals.฀In฀a฀letter฀to฀Theodor฀Zwinger,฀Conrad฀Gesner฀described฀ the฀pattern฀of฀poisoning฀following฀excessive฀tobacco฀consumption฀in฀the฀following฀terms:฀ “folii฀particula฀fumum฀haurientem฀subito฀inebriat,฀ut฀ipse฀non฀semel฀expertus฀sum”฀ [8] . Concepts฀such฀as฀acute฀and฀chronic฀nicotine฀poisoning฀were฀introduced.฀Symptoms฀ described฀in฀humans฀included฀agitation,฀stupor,฀cough,฀accelerated฀breathing,฀nausea,฀and฀ vomiting฀etc.฀ [8] .฀Long-term฀damage฀chronic฀glossitis,฀pharyngitis,฀tonsillitis,฀and฀cancer฀ of฀the฀tongue฀was฀already฀being฀reported฀as฀early฀as฀150฀years฀ago฀ [8,฀27] . By฀1927,฀more฀than฀50฀of฀the฀tobacco฀users฀in฀the฀USA฀were฀already฀smoking฀ciga- rettes฀97,000฀million,฀rising฀to฀106,000฀million฀in฀the฀following฀year,฀Table฀ 1.1 ;฀even฀ then฀such฀consumption฀was฀associated฀with฀illness฀on฀a฀fairly฀large฀scale.฀Statistics฀on฀the฀ incidence฀of฀lung฀cancer฀were฀collected฀in฀Great฀Britain฀as฀early฀as฀1920.฀At฀that฀time฀it฀ was฀still฀unclear฀whether฀a฀third฀genetic฀factor฀was฀involved฀alongside฀smoking฀and฀lung฀ cancer.฀Despite฀evidence฀to฀the฀contrary,฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀continued฀to฀dispute฀this฀fact฀ into฀the฀1950s฀ [28] .฀The฀tobacco฀industry฀did฀not฀shy฀away฀from฀advertising฀its฀products฀ even฀when฀diseases฀caused฀by฀cigarettes฀were฀reported฀Fig.฀ 1.6 .

1.6 Women Won Over by the Cigarette

In฀the฀nineteenth฀century,฀smoking฀was฀the฀exclusive฀privilege฀of฀men.฀Even฀today,฀cigar฀and฀ pipe฀smoking฀are฀still฀considered฀to฀be฀a฀predominantly฀male฀attribute.฀Before฀the฀1920s,฀ciga- rette฀was฀not฀considered฀to฀be฀the฀dominant฀tobacco฀product.฀The฀image฀it฀projected฀was฀not฀ Fig. 1.4 ฀฀฀Cigarette฀advertisement฀seeming฀to฀indicate฀physician’s฀approval฀ [23] .฀Philip฀Morris฀฀ Co.฀advertises฀with฀four฀articles฀for฀their฀products