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In the Parliament of Georgia hardened combat smoking
As Nino Burjanadze said if the parliament will not smoke in areas specially designated for smoking, will penalize violators.
According to the Committee on Health and Social Affairs George Tsereteli, it is necessary to prompt the involvement of tobacco control law because "no other in the world of a country where in the quantities sold cigarettes."
According to him, in the adult population accounts for only 40% of smokers, the others - children and adolescents
Unclear Link Between Cigarette Ads And Adolescent Smoking
The question, however, is not so much whether the authors’ definition of "youth targeting" makes sense as why anyone should care whether youth targeting, however defined, goes up or down. The authors assert that "cigarette advertising has been shown both to attract adolescents to smoking and to establish smoking as a social norm." In fact, the evidence that advertising increases overall cigarette consumption—as opposed to consumption of particular brands—is highly equivocal. Every time a study purports to show that people smoke because of advertising, a close examination reveals that it actually shows something else.
The study that Chung, Garfield, and colleagues cite as "a representative example" illustrates that point. John Pierce and his colleagues did not show that advertising makes people more likely to smoke. Indeed, they did not even measure exposure to advertising. Rather, they found that adolescents who rated high on "receptivity to tobacco advertising and promotional activities" were more likely to start smoking or to consider it. All this suggests is that people with positive (or less negative) attitudes toward cigarettes are more inclined to smoke—not exactly a revelation.
Assuming that advertising does play an important role in the decision to smoke, that would not be the end of the matter, notwithstanding the authors’ casual call for an "absolute ban" on cigarette ads. Freedom of speech would have no meaning if it applied only to forms of persuasion universally recognized as harmless.
Why Do We Smoke Cigarettes?
from
The Psychology of Everyday Living
by
Ernest Dichter
1947
None of the much flaunted appeals of cigarette advertisers, such as superior taste and mildness, induces us to become smokers or to choose one brand in preference to another. Despite the emphasis put on such qualities by advertisers, they are minor considerations. This is one of the first facts we discovered when we asked several hundred people, from all walks of life, why they liked to smoke cigarettes. Smoking is as much a psychological pleasure as it is a physiological satisfaction. As one of our respondents explained: "It is not the taste that counts. It's that sense of satisfaction you get from a cigarette that you can't get from anything else."
Cigarettes Help Us to Relax
One shortcoming of our modern culture is the universal lack of adequate relaxation. Many of us not only do not know how to relax, but do not take time to learn. Smoking helps us to relax because, like music, it is rhythmic. Smoking gives us a legitimate excuse to linger a little longer after meals, to stop work for a few minutes, to sit at home without doing anything that requires effort. Here is a nostalgic comment contributed by a strong defender of smoking: "After a long day's work, to get home and sit in a chair and stretch my legs 'way out, and then to sit back and just smoke a cigarette and think of nothing, just blow the smoke in the air - that's what I like to do when I've had a pretty tough day." The restful effect of moderate smoking explains why people working under great stress use more tobacco.
"I Blow My Troubles Away"
In times of high tension, cigarettes provide relief, as indicated by the following typical comments of one of our respondents: "When I have a problem, and it comes back and back, warningly saying, 'Well, what are you going to do about this?' a cigarette almost acts like a consolation. Somehow it relieves the pressure on my chest. The feeling of relief is almost like what you feel in your chest after you have cried because something has hurt you very much. Relaxing is not the right kind of word for that feeling. It is like having been in a stuffy room for a long time and at last getting out for a deep breath of air." That man's explanation comes very close to stating the scientific reason why smoking brings relief. Worry, anxiety, depress us not only psychologically but also physiologically. When a person feels depressed, the rhythm of his breathing becomes upset. A short and shallow breath creates a heavy feeling in the chest. Smoking may relieve mental depression by forcing a rhythmic expansion of the breast and thus restoring the normal pace of breathing. The "weight on the chest" is removed.
This connection between smoking and respiration accounts for the common expression, "Smoking helps us to let off steam." When we are enraged, we breathe heavily. Smoking makes us breath more steadily, and thus calms us down.
Cigarette Taste Has to Be Acquired
Most people like the smell of tobacco but dislike the taste of a cigarette. Frequently we were reminded that "a cigarette never tastes as good as it smells. One usually very much dislikes his first cigarette. Taste for cigarettes must be acquired slowly. And whenever a smoker tries out a new brand, with a lightly different taste, he finds that he has to repeat this process of becoming accustomed to the taste. Often smokers who say they do not like the taste of certain brands really mean that they are not accustomed to it. Few advertisers of cigarettes realize that it takes time for a smoker to change his taste habits. No matter how pleasant the taste qualities of a brand may seem to be, at first the unaccustomed taste will be disliked. One of our respondents made the following interesting comment on this point: "I went to Bulgaria once and was forced to smoke Bulgarian cigarettes. I tried one brand after another till I had gone through five brands. Finally, the sixth brand seemed to be perfect. I discovered much later that any of the other brands might have become my preferred brand if only I had tried it in the sixth place. It just took me that long to learn to appreciate Bulgarian tobacco."
How Many a Day?
Despite all the millions spent on comparing the potentially harmful effects of different brands of cigarettes, our respondents seemed very little concerned about this matter. But all of them, even those who do not smoke excessively, worry abbout the quantities they smoke. Scientific and medical studies on the physiological effects of smoking provide a confused picture: Some conclude that smoking is harmful; others deny it. This same confusion prevails among smokers themselves. Nevertheless, all of them worry about smoking too many cigarettes, as shown by the fact that nearly everyone has tried, at one time or another, to "cut down on" smoking. "I'll tell you something I do," one smoker confided. "I give up smoking cigarettes every year for one month, and I say to myself that I'll prove to myself I can still do without them." Periodic abstemiousness of this kind indicates an underlying feeling of guilt. Such individuals really think that constant smoking is not only harmful, but also a bit immoral. Efforts to reduce the amount of smoking signify a willingness to sacrifice pleasure in order to assuage their feeling of guilt.
The mind has a powerful influence on the body, and may produce symptoms of physical illness. Guilt feelings may cause harmful physical effects not at all caused by the cigarettes used, which may be extremely mild. Such guilt feelings alone may be the real cause of the injurious consequences.
The First Cigarette
Much of this guilt feeling can be traed directly to one's first cigarette, which the older generation remember as a forbidden and sinful thing. Their fathers considered the habit an educational problem, whereas many parents nowadays have adopted a "modern" attitude toward smoking. Here is what one such father said: "I told my son I thought he was a little young... He is seventeen. It might not do him any harm to wait another year or two. Then I remembered my own first cigarette and what awful stuff I had to smoke in secret. In a way, my son is lucky to be able to start with a good cigarette without running the danger of ruining his health. I gave him a pack of the brand I smoke."
Most of us remember vividly the first cigarette we smoked. "I certainly remember my first cigarette," said one of our respondents. "We were a bunch of boys on our way to a football game. I had trouble lighting my cigarette, and at that moment a man passed by and yelled at me: 'Throw that cigarette away, you rascal!' I was so shocked and frightened that I obeyed his command without hesitation. But only a few minutes later, I lighted another one just to demonstrate to myself that I was not afraid.
"No, Thanks, I'll Smoke My Own"
This is the reply of most smokers when they are offered a brand different from their own. Brand loyalty among smokers is strong and persistent. Individuals smoke one brand consistently, so that they become identified with it. A guest who discovers that his host smokes the same brand considers this a personal flattery. If a young lady changes to the brand of an admirer, he understands that he has surely made an impression. Here is the experience of one young man, and his interpretation of it: "I was very fond of a girl. She was giving a farewell party before leaving the country. I didn't have any idea how I stood in her affection. The only clue was that at her party she had my brand of cigarettes. I always felt that that was in deference to me." "My brand" has a special significance, as if it were a part of the smoker's credo and personality.
A Package of Pleasure
A new pack of cigarettes gives one a pleasant feeling. A full, firm pack in the hand signifies that one is provided for, and gives satisfaction, whereas an almost empty pack creates a feeling of want and gives a decidely unpleasant impression. The empty pack gives us a feeling of real frustration and deprivation.
During the seventeenth century, religious leaders and statesmen in many countries condemned the use of tobacco. Smokers were excommunicated by the Church and some of them were actually condemned to death and executed. But the habit of smoking spread rapidly all over the world. The psychological pleasures derived proved much more powerful than religous, moral, and legal persuasions. As in the case of the prohibition experiment in the United States, repressive measures seem to have aroused a spirit of popular rebellion and helped to increase the use of tobacco.
If we consider all the pleasure and advatnages provided, in a most democratic and international fashion, by this little white paper roll, we shall understand why it is difficult to destroy its power by means of warnings, threats, or preachings. This pleasure miracle has so much to offer that we can safely predict the cigarette is here to stay. Our psychological analysis is not intended as a eulogy of the habit of smoking, but rather as an objective report on why people smoke cigarettes. Perhaps this will seem more convincing if we reveal a personal secret: We ourselves do not smoke at all. We may be missing a great deal.
African American and Tobacco
· Each year, approximately 45,000 African Americans die from a smoking-related disease that could have been prevented.
· If current patterns continue, an estimated 1.6 million African Americans who are now under the age of 18 will become regular smokers. About 500,000 of those smokers will die of a smoking-related disease.
· Aggregated data from 1994 and 1995 show that current smoking prevalence rates were similar among African American adults (26.5%) and white adults (25.9%) in the United States.
· In 1995, about 5.7 million African American adults smoked cigarettes, accounting for approximately 12% of the 47 million adult smokers in the United States.
· In 1994 and 1995, African American men (31.4%) smoked at a higher rate than white men (27.6%), while African American women (22.7%) and white women (24.4%) smoked at a similar rate.
· Among African Americans, as seen in other U.S. populations, the prevalence of smoking declines as education increases. Smoking rates were higher among African Americans who had less than a high school education (34.8%) compared to those with a college education (16.7%).
· Among African American high school seniors, cigarette smoking declined from 1977 (36.7%) to 1992 (8.7%). However, smoking prevalence rates increased from 1992 to 1997 (14.3%).
· Among African American 10th-grade students, smoking prevalence increased by 94% from 1992 (6.6%) to 1997 (12.8%). For African American eighth grade students, smoking prevalence increased by 106% from 1992 (5.3%) to 1997 (10.9%). Although smoking prevalence among African American students continues to be lower than for white and Hispanic students, the rate of increase was substantially higher among African African students than for white and Hispanic students.
· The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data also show that the rate of past month cigarette smoking among high school students in grades nine through 12 are on the rise -- increasing by nearly a third from 27.5% in 1991 to 36.4% in 1997. The rate of cigarette smoking increased by 80% among African American students, climbing from 12.6% to 22.7% between 1991 and 1997. The most dramatic increase was observed among African American males, whose cigarette smoking prevalence doubled from 14.1% in 1991 to 28.2% in 1997.
· In 1997, there was no significant difference in current cigar use among racial/ethnic groups of high school students -- 22.5% of whites, 19.4% of African Americans, and 20.3% of Hispanics reported smoking cigars in the past month. Cigar prevalence was higher among males than females in all three racial/ethnic groups.
· In 1997, African American male high school students (3.2%) were less likely to use smokeless tobacco products than white male (20.6%) and Hispanic male (5.1%) high school students.
· Of current African American adult smokers, more than 70% indicated that they want to quit smoking completely. African American smokers are more likely than white smokers to have quit for at least one day during the previous year (48.7% vs 40.3%). African Americans (7.9%), however, are much less likely than whites (14.0%) to remain abstinent for one month or more.
· Prevalence of cessation (the percentage of persons who have smoked at least 100 cigarettes and quit) is higher among whites (50.7%) than African Americans (35.4%).
· A one-year study found that three major African American publications -- Ebony, Jet, and Essence -- had 12% more cigarette advertisements than widespread publications -- Newsweek, Time, People, and Mademoiselle.
· Studies have found a higher density of tobacco billboards in racial/ethnic communities. For example, a study conducted in Los Angeles, California found the highest density of tobacco billboards (the number of billboards per mile) in African American communities and the lowest billboard placement in white communities.
· Approximately 90% of the billboards in African American communities featured an African American as the central character, while in other ethnic communities whites were portrayed as the central characters.
· The tobacco industry attempts to maintain a positive image and public support among African Americans by supporting cultural events and by funding minority higher education institutions, elected officials, civic and community organizations, and scholarship programs