Development & Aid, Environment, Tierramerica

Addictions – Tobacco

Aug 11 2003 (IPS) - The death toll from tobacco use could reach one billion this century, according to estimates by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), a network of 30 organizations from around the world.

If current rates of consumption continue, the number of deaths attributed to tobacco — 100 million in the past hundred years — will skyrocket, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

The alarm was sounded during the World Conference on Tobacco, held in Helsinki Aug 3-8. Around 2,000 experts from more than 100 countries studied international policies and proposals from anti-tobacco groups. They also took a look at the possibilities of achieving the goals set by the Convention on Tobacco Control.

The Convention, signed in May by 192 countries, includes among its objectives the total ban on advertising of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

A study by the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), explains that tobacco consumption has been a part of human cultures for hundreds of years, but it wasn't until the past century that cigarettes began to be manufactured on a massive scale.

Smoking became widespread and today one out of three adults in the world smokes.

The U.S.-based center Science, Tobacco and You explains that nicotine is the cause of tobacco addiction. Nicotine is an active ingredient in cigarette smoke. It is an alkaloid that produces pleasant sensations and affects the chemistry of the brain, says the center's website.

In 1492, when Christopher Columbus reached the New World, he didn't pay much attention to the tobacco plant, native to the Americas. He was focused on finding gold. But some of his crew quickly developed the habit of smoking… and the rest is history