Smoking

Introduction and Prevalence of Smoking

• Smoking is the practice of combusting a substance and inhaling the resulting smoke.
• The most common substance used for smoking is dried tobacco leaves rolled into cigarettes.
• Other forms of smoking include smoking pipes and bongs.
• Smoking is primarily used as a route of administration for psychoactive chemicals.
• Active substances inhaled through smoking include nicotine, THC, morphine, and cocaine.
• Smoking is one of the most common forms of recreational drug use.
• Over one billion people globally practice tobacco smoking.
• The majority of smokers are in developing countries.
• Less common drugs for smoking include cannabis and opium.
• Cigarettes are the most popular form of smoking, followed by pipes, cigars, bidis, hookahs, and bongs.

Health Effects of Smoking

• Smoking has negative health effects on various physiological processes.
• Smoking tobacco is a leading cause of diseases such as lung cancer, heart attack, COPD, erectile dysfunction, and birth defects.
• Diseases related to smoking cause approximately half of long-term smokers to die prematurely.
• Second-hand smoke is responsible for 600,000 deaths globally among non-smokers.
• Many countries have implemented measures to discourage smoking, such as high taxes, anti-smoking advertisements, and support for quitting.

History and Perception of Smoking

• Smoking dates back to at least 5000 BCE for shamanistic rituals.
• Ancient civilizations used incense burning for religious rituals.
• Smoking tobacco and hallucinogenic drugs were used for achieving trances and spiritual contact.
• Smoking was introduced to Sub-Saharan Africa through trade routes and was practiced using water pipes.
• The perception of smoking has varied over time and across different cultures.
• Smoking was initially associated with religious ceremonies and spiritual enlightenment.
• In the last decade of the 20th century, smoking began to be viewed negatively in Western countries.
• Smoking has been seen as both sophisticated and vulgar, holy and sinful, and a panacea and a deadly health hazard.
• The negative perception of smoking has led to measures to discourage its use in many societies.

Tobacco Control and Increase in Lung Cancer Rates

• Increased reporting and improved methods of diagnosis contributed to the awareness of the harmful effects of smoking.
• Research in the 1950s and subsequent reports confirmed the link between smoking and lung cancer.
• Smoking rates in the United States declined over time, while tobacco consumption continues to rise in developing countries.
• Russia, Indonesia, Laos, Ukraine, Belarus, Greece, Jordan, and China are among the top consumers of tobacco.
• Increase in lung cancer rates was noted in the UK and US by the 1930s, and the cause was confirmed in the 1950s.

Other Substances Smoked and Health Effects

• Crack cocaine became popular in the 1980s, and recent years have seen an increase in the consumption of vaporized heroin, methamphetamine, and PCP.
• Psychedelic drugs such as Changa, DMT, 5-Meo-DMT, and Salvia divinorum are also smoked.
• Smoking is one of the leading preventable causes of deaths globally, causing over 8 million deaths annually.
• Second-hand smoke is responsible for 1.2 million deaths annually, including non-smokers.
• Smoking-related diseases have a significant impact on public health, including lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
• Smoking is strongly associated with periodontitis, low birth weight babies, preterm birth, and oral cancer.

Smoking Mentions

Smoking Data Sources