Health

Rant

Cigarettes: The Smoking Gun

Posted 9 months ago|42 comments|1,026 views
Who is really pulling the trigger?
VIDEOS
Written by
"People who smoke cigarettes are all drug addicts. We all know that. Nicotine is the gateway drug to cocaine. Smoking cigarettes is similar to smoking a crack pipe. Nicotine takes 8 seconds to get to the brain from the lungs. Once it is in the brain, it binds itself to brain cells that are responsible for the release of dopamine. Nicotine and cocaine both releases dopamine. Dopamine affects what is called the brain's reward and pleasure circuit, which are structures within the organ involved with learning, appetite, memory function, and pleasurable feelings."
http://hubpages.com/hub/Nicotine-more-da...

We all know the dangers of smoking and how addictive they are... so I won't bore you with the nauseating statistics. But when discussing nicotine, other drugs like cocaine have less negative effects, and that should tell you something. This whole industry is a cash-cow for the tax dept. and like other "sin taxes" they are designed to bet on the slave staying addicted. I though slavery was abolished... CHEMICAL SLAVERY

If you have ever smoked you will understand that wanting to quit is a fallacy, that will take more than your will... and like a scene from the exorcist, you can expect some very "bad things" to happen on your way to deliverance. Who dreamed this stuff up? Like diabolical lab-demons... these practitioners of sorcery deliver their most prized possession to date... IS CIGARETTES

Without getting into the whole Greek lessons, the word describing pharmaceuticals "pharmakeia" literally means "to administer drugs" ...and was used also to describe witchcraft and sorcery. And so with such a sinister product in nicotine, it is not the administration of medical necessities that is questioned, rather the use of this mind altering drug. Meds can be used both by self administration and by the pharmaceutical industry... but to determine which one the negative aspects of drug use is associated with cigarettes, one has to look no further than that of the results.
So let's dig a bit deeper into THAT HUMANITY

"Soul" and psyche can be treated synonymously... the very soul of a person can effect the entire body by mood and emotion or by will and determination... it is at this level that such insidious drugs such as nicotine create the imbalance toward full-scale addiction. The studies are in, and interesting enough, the results seem to mirror the biblical adage from years gone by... "What a man thinks... so he is." It is this connection... thinking... that fools the addict to believe that he/she cannot be free... and why would they want to? Knowing that each "hit" produces euphoric pleasure... as if to say "I love this stuff!" Because it is the delivery of chemical pleasure to the brain, that brings the "host" of this demon into submission... to witch it IS CRAVING

I am not even kidding, like a voice from the past, echoed by those who have gone before, all have intimated the same struggle... while trying to quit... a voice inside would say... "Why should I? I love smoking" ...I was wondering if "they" shouldn't just put those words on each pack of smokes, so that the user would know where those words originated. As this demon clutches the very mind and soul of a person... the addiction claims another victim ...3000 teens take up the habit of smoking cigarettes every day in the U.S. alone.... plenty of new souls to sacrifice FOR TEMPORARY PLEASURE

As a counselor, I have found the best tool against any addiction is the God given mind. By retraining the mind with truth and fact... exposing of the lie comes naturally. This is why the Bible says in order to overcome this worlds entrapment's "be transformed by the renewal of your mind" ...and to run from youthful lusts or desires that "war against your soul" or mind. Psychologists will tell you the greatest battles we face are in our minds... not in our bodies. Knowing this, and with all the medical, financial and psychological prowess of our reigning authorities... one can only assume that this entire pharmaceutical dependence is their brain-child for HUMAN DESTINY

As a triune creature, made in the image of it's Triune Creator... mankind has a much overlooked facet of their own existence. Some have dabbled and practiced with it's power and transcendent abilities, to overcome this world and it's trappings. It alone can control the mind; it alone can overcome the body and it's cravings, pain, anxiety. In the face of death it can be impervious to treat and torture...
for it does not belong to the body nor the soul, for it IS SPIRITUAL

God "has put eternity into man's heart" ...we literally live like there will never be an end to our existence... because there won't be. We are much more than what meets the eye; and much more than what can be determined from an MRI. It has been my experience that there is nothing that we cannot overcome... from disability to addiction, when we tap into the purpose we were created with. The best rehab programs are those who acknowledge that there is a God, one who is both interested and more powerful than our circumstances or predicaments that we get ourselves into. The potential of human existence is phenomenal... AND HIGHLY UNDER-RATED

"Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city." (Proverbs 16:32)

I would like to blame those who have laid traps for our feet, and the feet of our children... but there is another answer, and that is to discover our created purpose, and our eternal destiny. Once that is established, other things that beset us will be just as temporary as the physical chapter of our narrative. There is hope, if not now, in eternity where all will be free from their illusions. So as a former dead man to one about to be resurrected with purpose and potential... AND CAN ONLY BE FILLED WITH ONE GOD!

UPDATE - 9 months ago
"Tobacco Companies Sue Over Labels
Five tobacco companies have sued the FDA to overturn a law requiring graphic health warnings on cigarette packages. The companies argue that the new labels, which cover 50 percent of packages and include images of dead bodies and rotten teeth, will make customers "depressed, discouraged, and afraid" of their products. "The government can require warnings which are straightforward and essentially uncontroversial, but they can't require a cigarette pack to serve as a mini-billboard for the government's anti-smoking campaign," a tobacco lawyer said. The law is set to take effect in September 2012."
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2011...
UPDATE - 1 month ago
"Don't Waste Your Life" - by John Piper
http://dwynrhh6bluza.cloudfront.net/reso...
EMAIL|FLAG THIS POST
COMMENTS
9 months ago: Is coffee next on the "Hit List"?
9 months ago: TCG,

Just Starbucks !:]
Altruist
Altruist
Eugene, OR
9 months ago: Good Commentary till you got to the preachy part.

You are right that cigarettes are terribly addictive, but i think the "Sin Taxes" have been more effective than anything else we have tried. Also there is a real social stigma now and smokers have to huddle in the snow or heat at least 30 ft. from the opening of their buildings, shunned by the vast majority.

I don't understand why young kids start up the habit since smoking is probably the biggest turn off of any other vice.

Kids are also addicted to video games and sometimes to running or other physical activities, because those activities trigger the same dopamine and pleasure centers. Try to get the kids off tobacco and into sports or physical activities and the transfer will be better than going cold turkey.l

People who smoke also have a weakness for other drugs, but I don't know if it is a real gateway drug. Smokers have to have a cig with their caffeine in the morning and with their alcohol at night, and it makes them more prone to smoke weed and then coke and the harder stuff.

A lot of kids abuse their parents prescription drugs now thinking them safer, so the best thing for a parent to do is stop smoking before they have a kid and then minimize other drugs.

We have been in a "drug war" for 50-60 years and we are clearly loosing. Mexico thinks we should legalize drugs in this country because that would cut the profit from the drug lords who often have more money and armaments than the host country.

I agree we should legalize drugs with escalating taxes according to how bad the drugs are. We should also ban the importation of the drugs and interdict all of the drugs coming into the country, and then give those drugs away free to the addicts if they agree to get into a drug program to wean them off. The free drugs should have some drugs added which help ease the withdrawal and possibly make the addict sick if they resort to other sources of the drug.
9 months ago: Al? Add some drugs to the drugs that will make them sick? Hey buddy. Has your compassion been thrown out the window?
9 months ago: Al,

So, do you support the efforts to enslave people into addictions, that they are forced to pay higher taxes just to accommodate? Knowing that youth are targeted for that enslavement?
TheLegendTomWing
TheLegendTomWing
 Administrator
Philadelphia, PA
9 months ago: What if I like smoking?
9 months ago: Tom, don't think too long and hard about this. The government wants you to smoke for a couple of reasons.

1) Tax Revenue
2) Shorter life span (less payouts)

If they were so concerned about your addiction why does the government not use the tax collected to setup cesation programs. Really. It would be the tax money you already paid. Oh, forgot. It's a government sanctioned program that is never ending. Just like one that would include any new addictions. Once they see the money cow. They can't ween themselves off the teet.
9 months ago: TCG... EXACTLY!
9 months ago: Tom,

You wouldn't "like" smoking if you weren't addicted. IF indeed you do smoke... remember when you first started? It wasn't pleasurable... that is, until you became addicted. We first must get past the repulsiveness of smoking, before we can get it's deceptive high.
9 months ago: Tom,

Funny though...
you asked the question most hard-core addicts ask all the time.
TheLegendTomWing
TheLegendTomWing
 Administrator
Philadelphia, PA
9 months ago: haha, it was more of a joke. However, I don't actually mind the habit, currently. I'm aware of what it does and how it does it, but at this point in my life I just don't want to quit.
Out Of The Box
Out Of The Box
 Moderator
9 months ago: Hopefully you are one of the few that doesn't become dependent on tobacco. My brother is one, and he can smoke heavily for months on end, and then just stop with no ill effects.

I, on the other hand, am a hardcore addict. And unluckily for me, I never had the morning cough, the raspy throat, the decreased respiratory function that convinces many others to quit. So I've been sucking that poison into my lungs for over thirty years. I even did the exercise program P90X while smoking, although I did cut back a bit.

But I'm starting to feel it a bit now, a tightness in my chest and getting out of breath a bit. So I'm quitting smoking now, now that the inside of my lungs probably look like an oily rag. The fact that I've burned over $100,000 worth of tobacco wasn't enough to make me want to quit. Neither was the stained teeth and mustache, or the smelly clothes and car upholstery. But I have a child that's eight years old, who is depending on me to be here for her.

I can't imagine how it would feel to be a child of a parent who deliberately killed himself and left that child alone in this world. That's exactly what it amounts to, knowing what we know about smoking. So as I write this, I'm taking my last puff and grinding out my last cigarette butt.

I expect to see some personality changes over the next few weeks. One of the main reasons the government, especially the military, pushed tobacco is that it makes people more docile and compliant.
9 months ago: Box,

I was a drug pusher at one point in my life... but I was nothing like the Government, most of what I sold was a lot less addictive... and nothing to school kids. It doesn't make it right, but what I see of the forced slavery on the public, makes me question guys like Al that seem to think that an entire generation will be enslaved for money... and money that the public will never see... why? ...because they will be out getting a second or third job to pay for their habits... like my aged mother in-law.

I was powerless to quit... Jesus delivered me... one could say I cheated. My prayer is that for you... deliverance! I am so grateful and better for it. I judge no one by this post... I hope everyone knows that... we have all been duped into the lies that it is our choice to continue smoking... there is over 4000 chemicals in cigs... it creates an chemical imbalance in our brains and bodies... what was slavery then is slavery now... only diff is that we are all slaves... no matter the color.... but still the effects against African Americans far worse than Whites.

Tobacco - Roots of Slavery Video Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ij_yMyWv...

Tobacco - Roots of Slavery Video Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBnMGTNn2...


Altruist
Altruist
Eugene, OR
9 months ago: The reason people smoke so much is that the tobacco companies spend about $12 billion a year in advertising and other promotion. Once hooked as Truthberry said it is hard to quit because of the chemicals they add.

I would be in favor of adding something like antabuse that makes addicts sick. There are drugs that prohibit the pleasure center of the brain from getting the high that makes tobacco users "Like Smoking". Yes sometimes having compassion means the tough love of making people sick to save their lives. http://www.livestrong.com/article/167766...

OOTB Congratulations on deciding to quit! I hope you stick with it.

For every 10% in taxes there is a reduction of 4% in use. Originally tobacco taxes were to go to cessation programs and for health programs to care for all of the extra cancer cases.

But then because of budget problems, states started using these popular "sin Taxes" to fund schools and for general revenue. Because the number of tobacco users keeps going down, the nonsmokers are more willing to raise them to pay for everything, because it is no skin off their noses.

This has been a bad thing to base a state's budget on however because more and more smokers are quitting and dying off and Tax revenue from tobacco has been going down, just as health costs are exploding.

It is a lot like relying on gas taxes to fund highways and then requiring cars to get good gas mileage. The revenue dries up but the needs increase.

We need to generate new revenue sources. A transaction tax on the harmful and risky financial speculation that caused the economic collapse is like a "Sin Tax" because it discourages harmful behavior, because regular people wouldn't feel it and because it would generate trillions.
sunny2
sunny2
Content Removed by sunny2
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: I'm lucky I never smoked, but I was one of the few who didn't. It starts out in grade school when everyone is trying cigarettes to impress each other. They get hooked from then on. I've seen older people push cigarettes on underage people to get them started. Even up to two years ago on a job, the group of people that hung out together outside the door....it was by invitation only to those who smoked. They tried to get me to started. I'm not stupid that's for sure, but I suppose I am anti-social. Who cares.
9 months ago: Addressing your update...

Actually they are correct. While you might not like the product. How can you force a legal product to submit to such? Imagine if you will...

Every soda with 50% of its package covered by obese people with diabeties.
Or, every snack, cookie, ice cream, frozen pizza, adult beverage, bread and not to mention all of the fast food restaurants.

Where will it stop? Green Energy VS. Coal dust eating miners?
9 months ago: TCG,

Good point... the FDA has no business allowing the sale of something so diabolical and should just ban it... but the tax money is soooooooooooo good.
9 months ago: YEP ! That is what they are working to TAX...

Every soda with 50% of its package covered by obese people with diabeties.
Or, every snack, cookie, ice cream, frozen pizza, adult beverage, bread and not to mention all of the fast food restaurants.
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: How much more are they going to take from the people. They are starving this Country already. Kids are living in more poverty than ever with not enough to eat. So this is where they will go for tax money....the food.
I can't take it. I hear Obama talk, and it is the same old thing that people must sacrifice. He is also waiting on the job fix when he gets back from his vacation but not until September. Boy, we can wait for that while he is enjoying himself, and sure it will be fixed. Right. Put a tax on something, and he won't say a word to oppose it or say enough to look good.
sunny2
sunny2
Content Removed by sunny2
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: : Truth...Speaking of the FDA .Look at the medicines out there that have warning labels on them. People think the medicine helps them, and it is doing the reverse.
Parmaceutical Drug Companys are big business. Anything for money. It takes 20 years for the FDA to find that it is safe or unsafe for public consumption. Meanwhile the drugs do their damage.
Many medicinal drugs that were manufactured in this Country originally, and after years on the market, they were made illegal for sale in this Country, but they are legal in Europe. Between drugs and addictive substances, nobody is watching the store.
9 months ago: Sunny I totally hear you. Here is a rant I wrote back a bit on the Pharmaceutical Holocaust...
http://www.rantrave.com/Rant/Pharmaceuti...
sunny2
sunny2
Content Removed by sunny2
9 months ago: Are you getting all this Al?
Soon they will be taxing the air we breathe... good news huh?
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: Truth...I watched my 2 Uncles, 2 Aunts, and a Father-in-Law die from lung cancer brought on my cigarettes. these were vibrant people who died in younger years. Lost their voice boxes, lungs, and the cancer spread to their brains. They lost limbs. I have a woman relative that smokes 3 packs a day but can't afford anything else and complains. This smoke makes your lungs black and brittle inside, and it causes pulmonary conditions. They don't get it. I know someone else that said she gave up cigarettes but hangs out with smokers so she gets the second hand smoke and then smokes stoggies on the side thinking that is okay. As far as diet soda, for years it contained harmful addititves. It makes your insides like plastic. These things are a death wish to indulge in. Their excuse is other people smoke all their lives and they are healthy. That's not true. It will get you in the end. It is rough talking about it, but it is the truth.
9 months ago: Sunny,

Either we quit smoking or it quits us!
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: It does effect everyone who is around it.
I never smoked. I'm a person that doesn't like to be controlled by anything. Didn't like the way cigarettes smelled and clug on to clothing and the habit itself.
I just don't think it is that easy to say to people QUIT.
They have to find out for themselves. That is just the way it is.
All you can do is bring it to their attention. Unless the Government does do something, it isn't going to stop people. They did put restrictions on where a person can smoke. Did you ever leave an office building and have to pass the area where smokers hang out every day? It makes me want to throw up from the old, stale stench. I don't know what more the Gov. can do without stepping on people's rights. They tax it, the prices are raised, but it doesn't stop people from getting the money to buy it. Unless, of course, they band the processing of tobacco and forbid growing it.
Perfect Horizon
Perfect Horizon
Chicago, IL
9 months ago: While smoking is bad for your health, I'm not sure why its anyone's business what I do with my body.

People do unhealthy things in their lives, its not my business or yours.
9 months ago: PH,

Isn't protecting the new generation our business? It is up to us to combat the things in our society that enslave our families...
Perfect Horizon
Perfect Horizon
Chicago, IL
9 months ago: A little less than 20% of American's smoke. It's our business to protect the planet for the next generation. It's up to you/us on a personal level...not at the Government level. The government is designed to protect liberty. Try and convince your family to not smoke, that's a good thing...but what other people do isn't your business.
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: It is difficult missing those that you lose to smoking. Maybe if I made it my business they would have lived. Did I mention they said the same thing: "its nobodies business?" Apparently, the Government puts strict regulations on it; therefore, somebody doesn't feel that it is only the smokers business what they do to their bodies and others. I think we care more about what the second-hand smoke does to non smokers that have to be subjected to choking on it and breathing it in. You can do what you want so I have no argument with you. It's okay with me. I'm tired of trying to convince people how it kills.
Perfect Horizon
Perfect Horizon
Chicago, IL
9 months ago: I am sorry for your loss.

But as I said to Truthberry, attempting to stop people from smoking is something people need to do personally, not legislatively.

I live in Illinois, the government took steps to protect other people from second hand smoke by banning smoking inside public buildings. That is an appropriate legislative step to protect other non-smokers, but it is not appropriate for the government to stop people from smoking.
9 months ago: Sorry for budding in... PH,

We all have certain influence in our circles... if all we do in writing is merely egotistic and effects no one else... what is the point? I don't know about you, but I am going to change the world!
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: Thank you, but I live with that every day when I look at their photos.
I think that it was such a waste, and I miss them.
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: Hey, good for you.
It's easier than you think, and it works.
Today I heard from our friend in Africa. Things have gone so well in his Community that his learning experiences have spread into other areas and Communities helping them to progress. He learned well. I'm very proud of him. All it took was a little helping hand and someone to care. Good will and making a difference spreads like wild fire when someone steps up to it. I think getting people to stop smoking is more difficult.
Perfect Horizon
Perfect Horizon
Chicago, IL
9 months ago: The idea of allowing people to have liberty would be a drastic change.

Liberty must be protected against all else. It is not the government's job to tell an adult what he/she can or cannot do.
9 months ago: PH,

Why isn't Cocaine legal? OR any other contraband substances? Because they are deadly and destructive to our society... causing deaths and health problems.
9 months ago: One man's "liberty" is another man's prison!
Perfect Horizon
Perfect Horizon
Chicago, IL
9 months ago: Cocaine along with all other "contraband substances" should not be regulated at the federal level, period.
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: But, Perfect, how would you suggest regulating it.
It can't run rampid on the streets and in the schools.
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: Did you ever see what smoking does to hair? Most people have their hair fall out. Not so nice when that happens.
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: I had a sister-in-law who was a smoker. Her father was put into the hospital and they cut out his voice box. He was told not to smoke. His daughter continued to smoke with him in the room until he died of being exposed to it.
She was dumber than dumb. You're right it is nobodies business what a smoker does until they kill others.
sunny2
sunny2
Content Removed by sunny2
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: My early impression was passing acres and acres of tobacco fields which were growing to be harvested for cigarettes. People didn't know back then what effects cigarette smoking would have on their health. Also, our environment today is filled with pollution that wasn't there years ago back in the 40s, 50s, and 60s which probably adds to the critical conditions of smoking today. If you look at some of the old movies, you will see the actors taking one cigarette after another and having one drink after another. They really didn't set much of an example.
sunny2
sunny2
9 months ago: My feelings about the Government is also LEAVE ME ALONE and DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO while I am still living my life free but under law.
I'm an American, and I want to be independent and a free thinker.
Everything comes at a price, and with the climate in Washington changing everytime you turn around, we are paying a price.
At this point, with terrorism threats and the bad economy staring down at us all the time, we are moving away from our rights. Government has a big hand in everything lately and they are controlling what our future will become. This goes far beyond the right to smoke. They might stop the sale of cigarettes one day altogether. People will be upset. We never know what they will do next. Obama smokes so that means smokers are safe for a while.

Post a Comment
Sign in or sign up to post a comment.