Can 1 Billion Tobbaco Deaths Be Prevented

Health officials have estimated that 1 billion people will die from their tobacco habit in the 21st century. Out of about 1.25 billion people with a tobacco habit right now, over half will die due to their tobacco habit.

www.cbsnews.com...

Tobacco alone is predicted to kill a billion people this century, 10 times the toll it took in the 20th century, if current trends hold

Public health officials also said Monday that the number of teenagers smoking is again on the rise, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi. For the first time in a decade the number of teen smokers grew — from about 21.9 percent in 2003 to 23 percent in 2005. Seffrin tells Alfonsi that this seemingly tiny increase is a big, red flag.

Should the government regulate the tobacco industry to make changes to the ingredients of their product to make it safer?

Or is it going to be the insurance companies, trying to cut their losses due to medical bills and life insurance policies who will end up lobbying for a safer tobacco industry.

I believe the insurance companies are going to be the ones that will try to change tobacco regulations or laws. I really don't see people in the future prohibiting the use of tobacco on their own.

[edit on 11-7-2006 by Keyhole]

More people in the 21st century will die from starvation, war, curable diseases, ect.

100% of people on earth will die from something. All this talk about preventing death from this or that does my head in. We are all going to die from something. The reaper doesn't miss anyone.

There is no such thing as a "premature death".

I wonder how "health officials" come up with their #'s?

Would Peter Jennings, an ex-smoker, who didn't smoke for 20 years be counted?

Would Christopher Reeves now deceased wife be counted? She died of lung cancer, even though she never smoked in her life?

Would someone that smoked 1 cigarette in their teens be counted? 10 cigarettes, 100, 200?

Whenever you see a story that starts with..."Health officials estimate"...you can guarantee it is bogus. Fear = more $, as in "grant money".

The problem is not that people are addicted to tobacco, The problem is that the government is addicted to tobacco money. Not only do they collect billions upon billions in taxes on tobacco, but the industry is quite generous to the politicians that support their cause.

I don't think they should eliminate cigarettes, I just think they should make nicotine a controlled substance. Tobacco companies could sell all the cigarettes they want as long as those cigarettes did not contain any nicotine. Nicotine free cigarettes are on the market now but I don't think they sell very well.

As long as the politicians are addicted to tobacco money, tobacco will be here to stay.

Just my thoughts on it,

wupy

[edit on 27-7-2006 by mrwupy]