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Tobacco (Nicotiana spp., L.) refers to a genus of broad-leafed plants of the nightshade family indigenous to North and South America, or to the dried and cured leaves of such plants. Tobacco leaves are often smoked (see tobacco smoking) in the form of a cigar or cigarette, or in a smoking pipe, or in a water pipe or a hookah. Tobacco is also chewed, "dipped" (placed between the cheek and gum), and sniffed into the nose as finely powdered snuff. The Spanish word "tabaco" is thought to have its origin in Arawakan language, particularly, in the Taino language of the Caribbean, said to refer to a roll of these leaves (according to Bartolome de Las Casas, 1552) or to the "tabago", a kind of y-shaped pipe for sniffing tobacco smoke (according to Oviedo), but Sp. tabaco (also It. tobacco) was commonly used to define medicinal herbs from 1410, originating from the Arabic "tabbaq", reportedly since the 9th century, as the name of various herbs. The word might then be European, and later applied to this plant from the Americas.
Tobacco contains the alkaloid nicotine, a powerful neurotoxin that is particularly harmful to insects. All means of consuming tobacco result in the absorption of nicotine in varying amounts into the user's bloodstream, and over time the development of tolerance and dependence. Absorption quantity, frequency and speed seem to have a direct relationship with how strong a dependence and tolerance, if any, might be created. A lethal dose of nicotine is contained in as little as one half of a cigar or three cigarettes; however, only a fraction of the nicotine contained in these products is actually released into the smoke, and most clinically significant cases of nicotine poisoning are the result of concentrated forms of the compound used as insecticides. Other active alkaloids in tobacco include harmala alkaloids.
Tobacco smoking carries significant risks including the potential to develop various cancers as well as strokes, and severe cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. * Significantly shorter life expectancies have been associated with tobacco smoking. * Many jurisdictions have enacted smoking bans in an effort to minimize possible damage to public health caused by tobacco smoking. The substantially increased risk of developing cancer as a result of tobacco usage seems to be due to the plethora of nitrosamines and other carcinogenic compounds found in tobacco and its residue as a result of anaerobic heating, either due to smoking or to flue-curing or fire-curing. The use of flue-cured or fire-cured smokeless tobacco in lieu of smoked tobacco reduces the risk of respiratory cancers but still carries significant risk of oral cancer. * In contrast, use of steam-cured chewing tobacco (snus), avoids the carcinogenicity by not generating nitrosamines, but the negative effects of the nicotine on the cardiovascular system and pancreas are not ameliorated. *
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Tobacco :: Specific Substances
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RT @BannerGoodSam Banner Health facilities go tobacco-free Jan. 1. Media: Talk 2 Good Sam doctr abt smoking cessation; what he recommends.
rarmendariz (Becky Armendariz) Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:13:41 -0000
RT @BannerGoodSam Banner Health facilities go tobacco-free Jan. 1. Media: Talk 2 Good Sam doctr abt smoking cessation; what he recommends.
Banner Health facilities go tobacco-free on Jan. 1. Media: Talk 2 Good Sam doctr abt smoking cessation & what he recommends 4 employees/pts.
BannerGoodSam (BannerGoodSam) Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:13:03 -0000
Banner Health facilities go tobacco-free on Jan. 1. Media: Talk 2 Good Sam doctr abt smoking cessation & what he recommends 4 employees/pts.
Today's face melting happies comes from Tobacco (Tom Fec from Black Moth Super Rainbow) props to my bro @docpop for the discovery!
ekimtiki (Mike Hales) Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:11:28 -0000
Today's face melting happies comes from Tobacco (Tom Fec from Black Moth Super Rainbow) props to my bro @docpop for the discovery!
Tobacco retail pricng is up 27% while consumption is down 9%. Income for. Big 3 tobacco companies is up 12% Modi says on today's CSPN.
johncallanan (John Callanan) Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:11:19 -0000
Tobacco retail pricng is up 27% while consumption is down 9%. Income for. Big 3 tobacco companies is up 12% Modi says on today's CSPN.
The thought of this makes me ill: Cambodian women use chewing tobacco to cure (pardon the pun) morning sickness http://tr.im/GxZ2
RitaRubin (RitaRubin) Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:09:50 -0000
The thought of this makes me ill: Cambodian women use chewing tobacco to cure (pardon the pun) morning sickness http://tr.im/GxZ2
Your mission: in 24 hours email me all tobacco industry videos and pictures of them lying, testing on animals, and hating on us!
Phxalliance (Phoenix Alliance) Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:08:57 -0000
Your mission: in 24 hours email me all tobacco industry videos and pictures of them lying, testing on animals, and hating on us!
Tobacco Products Liablity Project - Information on tobacco trials for plaintiffs and attorneys; news and announcements; backgrounders for media and the public.
Williamson - Presents the case of Roland Maddox and the background of 50 years of tobacco industry conspiracy
19th Conference of the Tobacco Products Liability Project - Announcement of conference for plaintiffs and the public health community only, scheduled for November 22-24, 2002 in San Francisco.
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A Tobacco Lawsuit Primer - Article describes the different types of litigation outstanding against tobacco companies.
Meta Description: [ Earlier this month, a Miami jury found for the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the nation's largest tobacco companies for misleading smokers about the dangers and addictiveness of cigarettes. The six-member jury will reconvene next month to determine punit ]
Are Punitive Damages Enough - Columnist comments on a trial outcome, summarizes the judge's decision and reasoning.
Big Tobacco's Nemesis - Howard Acosta has sued tobacco companies about 150 times, without earning a penny, but he's no quitter.
Big Tobacco's Worst Nightmare - Profile of Cheryl Perry, an epidemiology professor at the University of Minnesota, who become an expert in the industry's own words on promoting cigarettes to children.
Blaming Tobacco's Victims - Op-ed examines society's tendency to blame smokers, and explains why juries are less willing to do so: tobacco industry recruiting of kids, decades-long efforts to cloud the issue, and engineering of product for addiction.
Meta Description: [ Tobacco BBS WebPage: tobacco issues, tobacco & smoking-related news, addresses, history, movie & book lists, health info, quit-smoking, -smokeless tobacco tips. ]
Court TV - Tobacco on Trial - Presents several individual and class-action trials, with updates.
Florida Tobacco Litigation Symposium: Fact, Law, Policy, and Significance - Transcript of panel discussion on tobacco ligitagion, focusing on public health benefits, with emphasis on Florida's suit against the tobacco industry.
Gallop Poll for Philip Morris on Surgeon General's Warning - In public the tobacco industry says everyone knew the risks of smoking. But this 1973 survey secretly done for Philip Morris showed that only 3.1% of smokers were aware of the Surgeon General's health warning.
Meta Description: [ This four-page document, "A Review of Awareness of the Surgeon General's Warning by Brand", is a survey done for Philip Morris, Inc. by the polling firm of Gallup & Robinson in 1973 to gauge public awareness of the U.S. Surgeon General's warning about the health hazards of smoking. The do... ]
How the Tobacco Industry Lost its Attorney-Client Privilege - Legal analysis concludes the tobacco industry's fraudulent manipulation of the attorney-client privilege was intended to cover up scientific information the industry had about the product.
Interview with G. Robert Blakey - In an interview, Robert Blankey, a former federal prosecuter and the author of the federal RICO statute, compares the cigarette industry to the Mafia and recommends using RICO laws to criminally prosecute the tobacco industry.
Light Cigarettes Smokers Sue Tobacco Industry - News article covers how the tobacco industry designed and promoted light cigarettes to create an safer image, but not a safer product.
Litigation and Public Inquires as Public Health Tools for Tobacco Control - Summary and policy paper argues for litigation as a means to expose and roll back the deceit designed by the industry to influence public policy.
Litigation and Public Inquires as Public Health Tools for Tobacco Control - Report in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format.
Long-Secret Documents Now Hurting Tobacco - LA Times article explores why once-secret tobacco industry letters, memos, and reports are hurting the industry in court and opening the eyes of the public.
Meta Description: [ Everything for Everybody Concerned About Smoking and Nonsmokers' Rights from ASH, a 30-Year-Old National Legal-Action Antismoking and Nonsmokers' Rights Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions. ]
Probative Production -- Boeken Trial - The trial team that won the Boeken trial is profiled.
Smoked Out - An essay by Harvard Law professor Kip Viscusi arguing that the settlement of the lawsuit against tobacco firms didn't penalize those firms, but instead penalized smokers, the so-called victims.
Statement of Professor G. Robert Blakey - Notre Dame Law School professor outlines the case against the tobacco industry in both lay terms and legal prose.
The Case Against the Tobacco Companies - Outlines decades of tobacco industry campaigns designed to mislead the public about cigarettes, resulting in extraordinary profits for the industry and devastating consequences for the public's health.
The Jesse Williams Case - Summary of an individual case against Philip Morris.
The Shredding of BAT's defense: McCabe vs. British American Tobacco Australia - Policy journal analyzes tobacco industry destruction of evidence committed in litigation of an Australian smoker.
The Smoking Gun - Time article on tobacco litigation in Europe.
Meta Description: [ Can Europeans kick the habit that is killing them? ]
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The Tobacco Industry and Civil Liability - Policy position from the American Society of Addiction Medicine; opposes special protection in court for the tobacco industry.
404
Tobacco Company Destruction of Documents - News item covers how BATco's destruction of documents in an Australian case may affect other tobacco litigation.
Tobacco Control Resource Center - The facts on big tobacco on trial, from the Northeastern University School of Law in Boston.
404
Tobacco Litigation Worldwide - 130 page report from the Norwegian Directory for Health, Department for Tobacco Control.
Tobacco Scam: Litigation Risks - Outlines the legal liabilities for business owners that permit indoor smoking, and warns why tobacco-sponsored ventilation programs will not protect the business owner from those liabilities.
Tobacco Trial Lawyers Association - Supports and represents those who fight on behalf of consumers injured or killed by tobacco. Membership is open to those with a substantial interest in fighting consumer cases.
Will Litigation Become Part of Public Health Arsenal in Canada's War Against Smoking? - Discussion of documents obtained through U.S. litigation against tobacco companies, and how it affects the potential for similar litigation in Canada. From the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
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