Trying to stop smoking? Is there a safe alternative that doesn't require you to give up smoking completely?

Tobacco companies were loath to admit in public that they knew the dangers posed by their product; however, in a sideways concession to tobacco foes, they produced what were advertised as "safer" filtered cigarettes.

In the 1958 a scientist working for Philip Morris went so far as to admit publicly that, "Evidence is building up that heavy smoking contributes to lung cancer." He cleverly suggested that this admission could be turned into a "wealth of ammunition" to attack the competition by suggesting that Philip Morris, unlike its competitors, made cigarettes with filters to screen out the toxins.

In 1986 the CEO of British American Tobacco, Patrick Sheehy, had a different opinion, and wrote that, "in attempting to develop a "safe" cigarette you are, by implication, in danger of being interpreted as accepting the current product is unsafe, and this is not a position that I think we should take."

However much tobacco executives attempted to hide the dangers of their product from the public, increasing market demand eventually forced all cigarette companies to develop some filter systems for their cigarettes. Filtered cigarettes accounted for only 1 percent of cigarette purchases in 1950, but this had soared to 87 percent by 1975.

However, the development of filtered cigarettes met two hurdles, one medical and the other a matter of personal taste. Because smokers are nicotine addicts, they will smoke until their craving for nicotine is satisfied.

A filter which removes nicotine will simply prompt them to inhale more deeply or smoke more cigarettes. A filter which removes the tar components of tobacco will remove the taste and smoking sensation to which smokers have become accustomed, and consumers find such a product lacking in "flavor".

Due to compensatory behavior by smokers, the amount of toxins consumed is not significantly less than from an unfiltered cigarette, and there is no proof filtered cigarettes are less of health risk.

Still, tobacco companies persist in their efforts to develop better filters. Often they are hampered not by lack of technical knowledge but by consumer behavior.

Where and when did cigarettes become popular? Today millions smoke, and of those thousands are trying to stop smoking. In the past we didn't know the dangers of smoking, and it became popular to smoke as soon as Europe first found out about it.

Tobacco was initially used by pre-Columbian Native Americans, who smoked it in pipes and even used it for hallucinogenic purposes in shamanic rituals. Christopher Columbus was given tobacco by natives and introduced it to Europe when he returned from North America.

However, tobacco did not become widely used in Europe until the middle of the 16th century, when explorers and diplomats such as France's Jean Nicot (for whom nicotine was named) popularized its use.

Tobacco was introduced to France in 1556, Portugal in 1558, Spain in 1559, and England in 1565.

Initially, tobacco was produced for pipe smoking, chewing and snuff. Cigarettes were made in a crude, hand-rolled form since the early 1600s, but did not become popular in America until after the civil war.

Cigarette sales surged with introduction of the cigarette rolling machine by James Bonsack in 1883, in a contest sponsored by tobacco company Allen and Ginter, who promised $75,000 to the first person to invent a fast cigarette-rolling machine. This facilitated industrialized production and widespread distribution of cigarettes.

Since then, nicotine addiction has become a public-health concern in virtually every nation on Earth.

Warnings about the health risks of smoking were muted until the 1950's and 1960's, when a series of unsuccessful lawsuits forced the issue into the public eye. Not until the 1990's would a lawsuit be won by the plaintiff. However, the American Surgeon General first demanded that warning labels be placed on cigarette packages started in 1966.

The next post is going to include a list of the dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes, a list which should encourage every smoker to quit smoking as soon as possible.

Both the tar and nicotine in cigarettes are toxins, each its own way; and that's without mentioning the poisonous substances such as arsenic used in the curing process. Nicotine is as addictive as heroin or cocaine, and has long-lasting effects on the brain's dopamine systems.

The "tar" which filters attempt to remove falls into four categories of substances: nitrosamines, widely held to be the most carcinogenic of all the agents in tobacco smoke; aldehydes, created by the burning of sugars and cellulose in tobacco; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which form in the cigarette behind the burning tip; and trace amounts of heavy metals from fertilizers used to grow the plant.

With all these poisons in each cigarette, why start to smoke? It's no wonder that in any given day there are thousands around the world try to stop smoking.

Everyone is well aware of the dangers that smoking can bring. It is highly addictive since it contains nicotine, which is very addictive.

Like heroine or any other recreational drugs, both the body and mind can quickly become used to the nicotine in cigarettes — a substance that eventually becomes necessary to ingest to make a smoker feel good. A lot of people smoke regularly, for a variety of reasons.

Peer pressure, curiosity, and family members who smoke can expose a young adult to cigarettes and smoking. Little do they know about the harsh effects that smoking can bring to a person's health, especially to the lungs.

Statistics have shown that nine out of ten tobacco users started smoking before the age of eighteen. Most adults who started smoking during their teen years would never expect to become addicted. This fact is not known by all smokers or for people who would want to try smoking. Naturally, if a person starts smoking, their lifestyle slowly changes, bringing in smoking as one of their pastimes.
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