Rant #2,061: When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Today is January 11, 2018, the 11th day of the year.

This day is also a historic anniversary, one that has impacted us all in this country.

Fifty-four years ago today, in 1964, the Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Luther Terry, published the landmark report that exposed smoking for what it was, a habit that could lead to not only sickness, but death.

The report, "Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States," stated that smoking may be hazardous to one's health, and when it came out, it was labeled as pretty controversial for its time.

This was a different time in our country, when smoking was as ubiquitous as eating a hamburger was.

It seemed that a rite of adulthood was to light up a cigarette, and few thought twice about doing so.

Even doctors were lighting up, and promoting smoking through television commercials and newspaper and magazine ads.

But the report brought up that such a habit could lead to various maladies, and none of them good or life sustaining.

The report signaled the first move away from this practice, looking at smoking at what it was: a habit that could kill.

But it was a long and difficult road to get the public to buy into this belief, but it was one step in the right direction.

For instance, it took a full seven years after the report was issued for television smoking ads to be banned from the airwaves.

Some of the most memorable commercials were those pushing one cigarette after another, and heck, even The Flinstones pushed smoking in the ads on the cartoon show.

But this report was the first step to changing the public's perception of smoking--cigarettes, cigars and pipes--from that of pleasure to one of prohibition.

Remember, in those days, you could smoke just about anywhere if you were of age--in a restaurant, in a movie theater, in an arena or stadium--really, anywhere.

It was simply accepted.

So this report was truly a game changer, because it pointed out that while some might have believed that smoking was pleasurable, it was killing smokers while they were having their pleasure.

I saw my grandfather literally smoke himself into the ground, by going from cigarette to cigar to pipe, seemingly in one fell swoop.

As a young child, I once asked him why he smoked, and if he could stop.

His reply to me was, "I can't."

Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs on the planet. It has a pull that snatches you and doesn't let go.

My father was a smoker at one time--he has not smoked since before I was born, giving it up cold turkey--and he has said numerous times that even though he has not smoked for more than 60 years, yes, he does yearn for a cigarette from time to time.

We all know how addictive nicotine is today, but back then, it was almost like penny candy--it was there, it was cheap, it was available, so why not partake in it?

Smoking a cigarette, in particular, was portrayed as sexy if you were a female, and smoking a cigar and pipe was thought to be such a manly gesture back then.

But the report changed all that; what it did was that it forced the public to look at smoking seriously, and when that was done, one could see how potentially dangerous the habit could be.

Now, several states are legislating recreational marijuana use, and I just have to think that they are opening up a can of worms that this more than 50 year old report warned us about.

No, the report did not get into pot smoking, but it did bring up that smoking was a dangerous habit.

I can't believe that smoking--whether nicotine or marijuana--can be a smart, safe thing to do.

Quite frankly, the smoking of anything can't be a good addition to a healthy lifestyle, but with more states jumping on the pot bandwagon, only time will tell if another similar report is needed to warn us of the dangers of smoking marijuana.

Nicotine or marijuana--neither smells too good to me.