Smoker Numbers Edge Close To One Billion

Although smoking is becoming less popular in many parts of the world, the total number of smokers is growing, global figures reveal.

In 2012, 967 million people smoked every day compared with 721 million in 1980, data from 187 countries shows.

The rise is linked to population growth, researchers told JAMA.

With the Earth's population having more than doubled in the last 50 years to seven billion, there are simply more people to take up the habit.

Several large countries, including Bangladesh, China and Russia, have seen increasing numbers of inhabitants take up smoking in recent years, the figures show.

Indeed, some of the highest smoking rates are now seen in the developing world, according to the JAMA report from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in the US.

But global smoking prevalence - the proportion of the world's population that smokes - has gone down.

Around three in 10 men (31%) and one in 20 women (6%) now smoke daily compared with four in 10 men (41%) and one in 10 women (10%) in 1980.

In terms of countries with the highest prevalence of tobacco use, East Timor tops the list with 61% of its population smoking every day.

To read the rest of the story, click HERE

E-cigarette Health Risks

E-cigarette health risks could potentially outweigh the risks of smoking regular cigarettes. The levels of nicotine in e-cigarettes can kill a child, its carcinogens can cause cancer in adults, and the unknown chemicals added to the nicotine-laced liquid solution are kept hidden from the consumer. Because of the e-cigarette health risks, “the French government has already vowed to extend existing legislation controlling the sale and consumption of tobacco to cover e-cigarettes,” reported EuroNews on Aug. 27, 2013.

The e-cigarette health risk warning has been issued after a French study discovered that e-cigarettes are not as harmless and without health risks as many e-cigarette smokers are led to believe.

“The vapours can contain almost the same amounts of the carcinogenic compound formaldehyde as in a conventional cigarette.”

*~*~*~*~*

Concerns about the health effects of e-cigarettes have prompted a California town to consider a moratorium on new shops hoping to sell them.

"The city [of Seal Beach, Calif.] wants more time to explore the health effects and any time you have a smoke related business you want to take careful consideration and figure out how it impacts the community," Seal Beach Community Development Director, Jim Basham, told My Fox LA.

*~*~*

Because they contain no tobacco, e-cigarettes aren't subject to U.S. tobacco laws, which means they can be purchased without proof of age, especially online. This raises concerns that e-cigs may be particularly appealing to kids and may encourage nicotine addiction among young people. And while manufacturers of the e-cigarette claim that it's the cigarette you can "smoke" anywhere, regulatory agencies around the world are taking a close look at these gadgets and instituting a range of restrictions on their use.

Sources:

Examiner.com:
http://www.examiner.com/article/e-cigarettes-health-france-fda-warns-of-health-risks-posed-by-e-cigarettes

UPI:
http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/08/27/E-cigarettes-still-contain-carcinogens-pose-health-risks-study-says/1981377654212/


Health: How Stuff Works

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/smoking-cessation/10-facts-about-e-cigarettes.htm