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Even before
man could control fire, people
understood that the products of combustion can not be consumed. Once
burned, edible
plants and animals were no longer palatable and the hot smoke cast down
wind of
a flame was avoided by men and animals alike. Therefore, long before
there were
warning labels on cigarette packs, people knew that inhaling the
concentrated
smoke of burning leaves (or any other inhalational substance), like
many other activities
that may be briefly pleasurable, carries with it some avoidable risk.
Smoking
causes, contributes to, or accelerates many different forms of ailments
like heart
disease, vascular and circulatory insufficiency, stroke and
neurological deficit,
lung and pulmonary failure, and of course, cancer. They say that one
can fall
victim to any of these problems without smoking. That is true. They
also say
that it can never be too late to stop smoking. That is not true.
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