Tobacco

            Needless to say, smoking can kill you. We all have learned that lung cancer, 90 percent of which led by smoking tobacco, is the largest cause of cancer deaths in the United States (est. 150,000 per year). Not only that, it can cause developing cancers of the mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney, cervix, breast and pancreas. It is also believed to cause about 15 percent of leukemia. Despite these facts, however, people still smoke because of its addictiveness. In addition, many of teenagers, 27 percent of seniors in high school in America, are still smoking. Have you wondered why? What might be a good solution for this problem?.
             The history of tobacco is well known to almost everyone. A century before Columbus sailed to America; Native Americans discovered the dried leaves of the tobacco plant can produce mild, flavorful smoke. Two members of Columbus' crew, Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres, saw this tobacco and introduced this Pandora's Box to Europe. Soon it became popular in Spain, and tobacco growing and trading became very profitable in British American colonies. Inventions from the Industrial Revolution were made for the mass production of tobacco in 1881, producing 120,000 cigarettes a day per each machine. Prices fell, and since then tobacco companies competed much more actively. Major events in the world that increased its production even more were, however, wars. Since the World War I, free cigarettes were handed out to U.S. servicemen to relax during combats. Cigarettes became symbol of patriotism and were even encouraged by some doctors and government policies. In 1936, Dr Alton Ochsner of St. Louis found out that most of lung cancer afflicted patients were men who smoked heavily since the World War I. This led other similar studying about smoking in 1950's, and President John F. Kennedy assigned his surgeon general to conduct an extensive study of the issue in 1962.