Early Smoking Stunts Life

Men who had begun smoking cigarettes by late adolescence had much shorter lives than their non-smoking peers, a prospective study found.

Among a cohort of men enrolled at Harvard University between 1916 and 1950, those who reported smoking at age 18 had a 30% increase in all-cause mortality , according to G. David Batty, PhD, and colleagues from University College London in England.

And for deaths from smoking-related cancers, the hazard ratio reached 95% , Batty and colleagues reported online in a research correspondence in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

“Cigarette smoking in adolescence is common and continues to increase. Policymakers […]

Study finds tobacco taxes reduce smoking

Raising tobacco prices through taxes could help reduce tobacco consumption in low and middle-income countries, a study published in the Tobacco Control journal has found.
During the study, researchers compared cigarette prices in 15 low and middle-income countries, including bidis (small, hand-rolled cigarettes in India and Bangladesh). They found large price differences – indicating opportunities to raise tobacco prices through tax adjustments.

A uniform high excise tax ensures a higher price for tobacco products and can reduce the range of tobacco prices available in countries. It’s been found that higher-priced tobacco products result in less tobacco consumption.

Key findings from the study are:
• […]

The Tobacco Plant

Tobacco is a plant of the nightshade family. The term is applied also to the cured and processed leaves of certain varieties of the plant, which are used in the manufacture of cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff. Nicotine, an alkaloid contained in tobacco, is used for medical purposes and as an insecticide. Tobacco is one of the most important commodities in world trade, and is of major importance in the economy of the United States.
China is by far the world’s leading tobacco producer, with the United States ranking second. Most of the United States crop is produced […]

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