Cigarette Smoking and Disease in Smokers: There is an overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and other serious diseases in smokers. Smokers are far more likely to develop serious diseases, like lung cancer, than non-smokers. There is no "safe" cigarette. These are and have been the messages of public health authorities worldwide. Smokers and potential smokers should rely on these messages in making all smoking-related decisions.
For more detailed information from public health authorities on cigarette smoking and disease in smokers:
Click on the year indicated for highlights and conclusions from the following U.S. Surgeon General's reports: 1964, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984 and 1994.
For further information, click on the links below, which take you to:
The 1998 U.S. Surgeon General's Report The World Health Organization The U.S. Centers for Disease Control The American Cancer Society
Cigarette Smoking and Addiction: Cigarette smoking is addictive, as that term is most commonly used today. It can be very difficult to quit smoking, but this should not deter smokers who want to quit from trying to do so.
BUT
As a responsible cigarette manufacturer, we believe in the principle of adult choice. Although the particulars of the public policy issues regarding our product may differ from place to place and from time to time, Internet technology has now given us the opportunity to assemble, in a convenient and easily accessible format, overviews and ideas (many of them competing) about a number of issues concerning smoking and health.
These include issues that have been widely discussed in societies around the world, such as "secondhand" smoke, tar and nicotine, addiction and disease. In addition, there are many aspects of modern cigarettes and tobacco regulation that may interest you: the ingredients that are added; the differences between "full-flavor" and "light" brands; and quitting smoking are just a few examples. We've attempted to organize these pages so as to give you easy access to a wide range of information and opinion about these topics.
Cigarettes are a legal product that many adults enjoy, notwithstanding the serious health issues surrounding smoking. Although it is appropriate for governments and health authorities to encourage people to avoid risky behaviors, we don't believe that they should prohibit adults from choosing to smoke. The decision as to whether or not to smoke should be left to individual adults.
Chris Burford
London