Related topics: cigarettes , smokers , nicotine , tobacco , pregnancy
Smoking
hideSmoking is a practice where a substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for absorption through the lungs. It can also be done as a part of rituals, to induce trances and spiritual enlightenment. The most common method of smoking today is through cigarettes, primarily industrially manufactured but also hand-rolled from loose tobacco and rolling paper. Other smoking tools includes pipes, cigars, hookahs and bongs.
Smoking is one of the most common forms of recreational drug use. Tobacco smoking is today by far the most popular form of smoking and is practiced by over one billion people in the majority of all human societies. Less common drugs for smoking include cannabis and opium. Most drugs that are smoked are considered to be addictive. Some of the substances are classified as hard narcotics, like heroin and crack cocaine, but the use of these is very limited as they are often not commercially available.
The history of smoking can be dated to as early as 5000 BC, and has been recorded in many different cultures across the world. Early smoking evolved in association with religious ceremonies; as offerings to deities, in cleansing rituals or to allow shamans and priests to alter their minds for purposes of divination or spiritual enlightenment. After the European exploration and conquest of the Americas, the practice of smoking tobacco quickly spread to the rest of the world. In regions like India and Subsaharan Africa, it merged with existing practices of smoking (mostly of cannabis). In Europe, it introduced a new type of social activity and a form of drug intake which previously had been unknown.
Perception surrounding smoking has varied over time and from one place to another; holy and sinful, sophisticated and vulgar, a panacea and deadly health hazard. Only recently, and primarily in industrialized Western countries, has smoking come to be viewed in a decidedly negative light. Today medical studies have proven that smoking tobacco is among the leading causes of many diseases such as lung cancer, heart attacks and can also lead to birth defects. The well-proven health hazards of smoking have caused many countries to institute high taxes on tobacco products and anti-smoking campaigns are launched every year in an attempt to curb tobacco smoking.
For more information about Smoking, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with smoking
Vaccine being developed to help smokers quit
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 20, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (16) |
10
(PhysOrg.com) -- Glaxo-SmithKline has joined forces with Nabi Pharmaceuticals to produce a vaccine to help smokers give up their addiction permanently.
The herbal remedy: Teens use cannabis for relief, not recreation
Apr 22, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (15) |
24
When legal therapies let them down, some teens turn to cannabis. A new study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Substance Abuse, Treatment, Prevention and Policy suggests that around a third of teens who sm ...
Study links smoking with most male cancer deaths
Jan 21, 2009 |
4 / 5 (8) |
3
The association between tobacco smoke and cancer deaths — beyond lung cancer deaths — has been strengthened by a recent study from a UC Davis researcher, suggesting that increased tobacco control efforts could save more lives ...
Study raises concerns about outdoor second-hand smoke
Nov 18, 2009 |
1.7 / 5 (6) |
21
Indoor smoking bans have forced smokers at bars and restaurants onto outdoor patios, but a new University of Georgia study in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that these outdoor smoking ...
US adult smoking rate rises slightly
Nov 12, 2009 |
3 / 5 (1) |
1
(AP) -- Cigarette smoking rose slightly for the first time in almost 15 years, dashing health officials' hopes that the U.S. smoking rate had moved permanently below 20 percent.
Developmental delay could stem from nicotinic receptor deletion
Nov 08, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
0
The loss of a gene through deletion of genetic material on chromosome 15 is associated with significant abnormalities in learning and behavior, said a consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine in a report ...
Dendritic cells spark smoldering inflammation in smokers' lungs
Oct 28, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Inflammation still ravages the lungs of some smokers years after they quit the habit. What sparks that smoldering destruction remained a mystery until a consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine found that ...
Canadian tobacco firm destroyed evidence: researchers
Oct 16, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
6
Researchers said Thursday they uncovered evidence that a Canadian tobacco company destroyed scientific data it had decades ago showing that cigarettes were addictive and caused cancer.
Smoke on the water -- and in the microphone?
Sep 23, 2009 |
3.2 / 5 (5) |
2
(AP) -- What do you get if you combine a smoke machine, some tubing, a laser pointer, a fan and a piece of toilet paper? Answer: a microphone unlike any other.
Doctors fear asking mentally ill to quit smoking
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Sep 09, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
People with mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety are the heaviest smokers in the country, but their doctors are afraid to ask them to quit. They assume that if their patients try to quit smoking, their mental disorders ...
Growing evidence of marijuana smoke's potential dangers
Aug 05, 2009 |
2.3 / 5 (29) |
18
In a finding that challenges the increasingly popular belief that smoking marijuana is less harmful to health than smoking tobacco, researchers in Canada are reporting that smoking marijuana, like smoking ...
Both good/bad movie characters who smoke influence teens to do the same
Jul 01, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
5
Dartmouth researchers have determined that movie characters who smoke, regardless of whether they are "good guys" or "bad guys," influence teens to try smoking. The study, published in the July 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics, is tit ...
D'oh! Simpsons may promote smoking: Australian researcher
Jun 01, 2009 |
1.8 / 5 (10) |
3
Long-running US cartoon show "The Simpsons" may inadvertently promote smoking with its frequent depictions of the habit and references to cigarettes, Australian research has found.
WHO: Get more graphic with smokers
May 29, 2009 |
not rated yet |
6
(AP) -- Cigarette packages should include images of sickness and suffering caused by tobacco, along with written warnings, the World Health Organization said Friday.
Allergy season: Cigarettes to the rescue?
May 14, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
3
Everyone knows that smoking can kill you, but did you know that it may help with your allergies? A new study shows that cigarette smoke can prevent allergies by decreasing the reaction of immune cells to allergens.
