Cigarette Conspiracy

35  2014-11-26 by les_bijoux

So I've come across a few articles lately that have made me rethink cigarettes completely. I think most of us understand big-tobacco is not here for our health so what I'm about to lay out is not too far out there.

The first article is this: http://themindunleashed.org/2014/10/nicotine-are-we-wrong.html and describes a whole host of benefits from nicotine, and goes on to say it's especially good for people with Alzheimer's, depression, and schizophrenia. It says of course that cigarettes are unhealthy but that could mostly be due to A.) additives and B.) the fact that it is standard to use phosphate fertilizer for tobacco crop causing radioactive material in the leaves. WTF?!

The second article I read (actually I can't find it back, but it is similar to this one): http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/06/23/3451935/big-tobacco-hooked-cigarettes/ describes how tobacco companies have made cigarettes more addictive. Specifically that they add sugar to the cigarettes so that when they are burned it produces acetaldehyde which makes the nicotine way more addictive. The article I read suggested that nicotine by itself is not addictive at all. Even if that last bit isn't true, there is some shady shit going on here. Cigarettes are way more sinister than I thought they were.

Remember how doctors even recommended cigarettes way back in the day and now we look back at them and think what idiots they were? Well maybe back in the day, you could actually get a health benefit from smoking. My suspicion is that once it became popular and mainstream, TPTB found a way to poison population and get them addicted to yet another substance.

Maybe I am wrong in my conclusions or have some of my facts wrong (I'm curious when phosphate fertilizer became the norm), but please take a look and come up with your own conclusions and tell me what you think. I for one, plan to grow some of my own tobacco next year.

30 comments

I have said it before, The natives considered tobacco a gift from the great spirit. Tobacco without all the pollutants is fine and does have benefits. Though everything in moderation. There is plenty of articles out there showing pubmed study's that reflect benefits. You just have to look.

Correct. Let just add also, that burning any kind of organic plant material and inhaling it is carcinogenic and unhealthy. Bit to say there aren't benefits, like weed, but it's just the way it is.

That's interesting about the natives and not really surprising at all. And the point about moderation is definitely true even if they would be healthy in a better world. Before I read the articles above I was already wondering if one of the primary reasons cigarettes are unhealthy is because they inhibit the flow and thus uptake of oxygen on the lungs. I'm in to meditative breathing and have read there is a whole host of health benefits just from taking full breathes. Airways filled with tar would affect that, but if not for the above "modifications" to cigarettes I think that would be the only real danger.

I've heard of benefits from tobaco by noit smoking it, but eating it and/or eating it/drinking a tea of it, or something similar.

thanks for this

remember our wonderful diet of bread which is now poisoning us??

well its exactly the same thing there

since the mid 90's bread is loaded with gmo rape seed oil (canola)

that gmo is destroying our gut poisoning our liver and kidney!

it starts with leaky gut syndrome leads then leads to liver and kidney failure

plus brain disease then to cancer eventually

dairy is the same story too

Resistant starch heals the leaky gut...so there's that. :)

Source? GMOs aren't automatically bad for you, in fact when tested properly, they can be better for you.

To clarify, I'm asking for a source specifically on the grape seed oil being bad for our health

Okay, Monsanto.

It's sad that I'm being downvoted for asking for factual validation by a subreddit that claims to be open minded.

Maybe not entirely to the point, but I used to smoke and now I vape (vaporize nicotine juice). Not even close to being as addictive as cigarettes. I've gone a week without vaping just fine, whereas half a day without cigs and I'd be at someone's throat. This was smoking American Spirits, marketed as additive-free, but still at least had neoprene in the paper as a flame retardant. Anecdotal, yes. But I'd still say tobacco is more addictive than nicotine itself.

Never made the switch to pure organic tobacco and papers so I can't be sure, but there are other chemicals in pure tobacco than nicotine, and combustion has an effect, too. Vaping I'm sure has side effects, but I'm definitely healthier now than smoking. Try growing the organic stuff yourself though, it's certainly an improvement.

And try vaping if your interested, just get the refillable tanks which you can guarantee the ingredients. Tobacco companies have been buying up the prefilled cartridge ones that look like cigarettes, and may have the same additives as regular cigarettes.

I also quit smoking cigarettes and started vaping 2 weeks ago and I can confirm the addiction of pure nicotine is nothing compared to what are in tobacco cigarettes. I wake up and think "hey, a vape would be nice" when before I would wake up and think "holy shit I need a cigarette I feel like hell." I've actually been thinking of just quitting nicotine entirely at this point, but I do enjoy vaping and I'm afraid of relapsing back to cigarettes if I quit entirely (although I doubt that would happen at this point since they've became pretty disgusting to me). There's also the studies coming out that are showing that nicotine could actually be beneficial.

There's a lot of shit in cigarettes, but I suspect the MAOIs (found in anti-depressants) are a huge cause of the addiction.

There are thousands of chemicals other than nicotine constituents in cigarette smoke, of which one, or several, may affect mood in much the same way as a group of antidepressant medications called monoamine oxidase inhibitors or (MAOIs). These MAOIs effectively increase levels of specific neurotransmitters involved in the regulation of mood. Smoking, therefore, may be a way for depressed individuals to self-medicate depressive symptoms. Consequently, healthcare professionals who offer smoking cessation programs should offer depression screening and be prepared to address underlying mood disorders as part of a comprehensive smoking cessation program.

http://psychcentral.com/library/depression_smoking.htm

That article focuses on depression, but MAOIs can also be prescribed for anxiety.

I've had problems with anxiety all my life, but these last couple of weeks since I've quit smoking have been absolute hell. Like, I had a panic attack so bad a couple nights ago that I almost called 911. I've most likely been unknowingly self-medicating with cigarettes for years. I'm actually going to see my doctor about it today.

Hey man, I quit smoking cold turkey last year and I shared the same experience as you. I had a panic attack so bad my heart rate was insane. The ER had to basically knock me out with drugs to get me to calm down.

I'm back to vaping occasionally and smoking a light cig once in a while.

Thankfully, I've been panic attack free but something about quitting smoking cold ticket set off a strange emotional response, it felt like I was tripping out on weed, couldn't control my paranoia. I also would concentrate too much on my body, like monitoring my heart beat to the point of obsession.

it felt like I was tripping out on weed, couldn't control my paranoia. I also would concentrate too much on my body, like monitoring my heart beat to the point of obsession.

Yup, I'm like this all the time. Whenever there's something slightly "wrong" about me, I start thinking I'm going to die (which is a self-fulfilling prophecy since anxiety kinda feels like you're dying). I've never liked sleeping since willfully becoming unconscious seems strange to me and I feel like there's no guarantee that I'll wake up. I've been wondering if I don't have some form of OCD.

Yeah, I'm not a doctor so I'm glad you're seeing one if you're having panic attacks. You can scale down the nicotine till you're just vaping 0mg with flavoring, and I've known some people to quit that too and keep the vape around only if they need it, like with drinking. That's interesting about the MAOIs being one of the chemicals in cigarette smoke. I'll definitely look into that. I wonder whether that's natural in tobacco or one of the many additives.

Congrats and try to keep up not smoking. It was crazy how quick I went from half pack a day to finding the thought of a cigarette disgusting. There are ways to treat anxiety without smoking, I wish you good luck in finding a solution that works for you and doesn't kill your lungs.

Vaping is an effective alternative for me and I'm healthier as well. If you still struggle with anxiety before going on any prescription meds I'd suggest taking magnesium and l-theanine. Grab some kava kava as well . Very effective for anxiety. You can also make a drink out of it that's way more fun than alcohol as well and doesnt have the same hangover effect. It's hella fun. Check it out http://www.nakamalathome.com/buy_kava/home.php?cat=

Wow, an actual conspiracy theory on /r/conspiracy . And a good one at that

Interesting. Well now I feel even better about smoking organic additive free cigarettes. Most expensive around, but I coughed up mucus when I switched, just like quitting. And smell/taste got better too. Hmm, this is something to keep in mind for sure.

I think you'll really like this blog, 'Velvet Glove Iron Fist'. This guy really packs a libertarian punch and takes the nanny science to task. He's Brit. Pretty sure he's a smoker.

Here's his latest post "The myriad lies of 'public health'"

http://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.com/

Isn't also so amusing that everybody is all so gung-ho onboard with legalizing marijuana, but many of these same pro-pot people are all in favor of stamping out tobacco smoking?

It is a schizophrenic world we live in folks.

Cool thanks. Everyone suddenly gung-ho about marijuana is another issue entirely and completely crazy to me. I'm certainly in favor of it being legalized (well all drugs and without even the restrictions of Colorado), but the fact that nearly everyone in politics has suddenly flip-flopped on this issue so quickly is painfully obvious proof that our politicians are bought and paid for. Sure there are more studies on it's benefits lately but they've been around a long time, so that is not what is convincing them. Our prison population is booming, but it's been rising for a couple generations. I don't think they care too much about that. The other point is the obvious fall out from our failed war on drugs, but just the legalization of pot isn't enough to change that when there is cocaine. There's no way all these people just individually decided to change their minds on their stance on weed. It's like someone said "OK guys, this is how we're gonna go about this marijuana thing from now on..."

I think tobacco has its place in society. It gets used in various visionary rituals. Good luck growing it, I hear it destroys the soil.

Pure nicotine, such as that found in nicotine replacement therapies, is not concerning for long term use or as addictive, per FDA. (Links to studies in their ruling)

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/04/02/2013-07528/modifications-to-labeling-of-nicotine-replacement-therapy-products-for-over-the-counter-human-use

A side note: Pure Nicotine, as found in ecigs, should also be deemed unconcerning.

Also I wanna point out something, the most ironic thing about tobacco is that "dip" says it is not a safe alternative to smoking and guess what. YES IT FUCKING IS. Now I dont expect any of you too agree but there is a book called "For Smokers Only" and it exposes the lies about dip causing lip cancer etc. Here is quite a decent but long video about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTOooWc0dsI

Edit: also dip used to be a billion times more common than smoking, why do you think they had to advertise smokes but not dip? Till this day dip is like an underground movement since they do not use T.V. ads. Only online and mail delivery. Just interesting things people should look into.

I actually read somewhere recently that the specific reason why all of that shit is added to cigarettes (like formaldehyde and arsenic and tar and all that shit) is to disguise the benefits nicotine and tobacco have on the human body. Still not sure if it's definitely true but I thought it was an interesting idea nonetheless.

Probably why the Gov. and Big Tabacco hate e-Cigs so much. It's easy to make e-juice yourself, and I've gotten down to not using nicotine and treating e-cigs the same way I would a flavored beverage. I still have some Nicotine e-Juice, but I just don't need nicotine to get my enjoyment out of these things. So, I agree, nicotine by itself is probably not that addicting.

Come on folks - if the gov'n want people to stop smoking by banning it practically every where and making it v expensive there is a reason - you think they care about your health? I long thought that by smoking tobbaco (I smoke loose and roll my own) protects against atmospheric poisons among other things.

The government makes more money off of a pack of cigarettes than do tobacco companies, so there's that.

You clearly haven't been to r/electronic_cigarette where we all hate cigarettes and know that they are made of nothing but evil.

I swear I've read this same thread/comments before, word for word. What the fuck.