One of the infamous supposed lies from BT. Don't get me wrong. I am not claiming BT
are any thing close to being paragons of virtue. The fact of the mater is nicotine in and of
itself hasn't been of any real heath concern since the 1964 Surgeon Generals Report on Smoking
said as much.
"
page 41
The habitual use of tobacco is related primarily to psychological and
social drives, reinforced and perpetuated by the pharmacological actions
of nicotine.
Social stimulation appears to play a major role in a young person’s early
and first experiments with smoking. No scientific evidence supports the
popular hypothesis that smoking among adolescents is an expression
rebellion against authority. Individual stress appears to be associated more
with fluctuations in the amount of smoking than with the prevalence of smoking.
The overwhelming evidence indicates that smoking-its beginning,
habituation, and occasional discontinuation-is to a very large extent psychologically
and socially determined.
Nicotine is rapidly changed in the body to relatively inactive substances
with low toxicity. The chronic toxicity of small doses of nicotine is low
in experimental animals. These two facts, when taken in conjunction with
the low mortality ratios of pipe and cigar smokers, indicate that the chronic
toxicity of nicotine in quantities absorbed from smoking and other methods
of tobacco use is very low and probably does not represent an important
health hazard. "
http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/access/nnbbmq.pdf
We now know that what the BT representatives were attesting too was more or less
true. If not technically 100% true, it was true enough for a reasonable person
to conclude they were not perpetuating a lie.
http://www.formindep.org/The-myth-of-nicotine-addiction.html
I am all for making reasonable comparisons concerning health claims as it pertains
to smoking v vaping however, perpetuating myths alleging the supposed lies of
BT will ultimately backfire. Personally having smoked for 38 years and having
to live through the humiliation and, forced segregation imposed on me by my
own government I am acutely aware of the consequences that arise from what
is essentially a misrepresentation of fact used to promote social and political
outcomes.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike
