entists and farmers have long known that nicotine is a deadly poison. They use a concentrated spray of the chemical, extracted from tobacco leaves as a potent insecticide. In humans, nicotine constricts the blood vessels, decreasing blood circulation to the skin and vital organs. Long term smokers tend to look much older than non-smokers- a result of the contraction of the capillaries on the skins surface, which prevents absorption of tissue building nutrients. Furthermore, smokers afflicted with arterial hardening and cholesterol deposits suffer a significantly higher number of heart attacks than non-smokers. The damaged blood vessels give way sooner, when shriveled by nicotine. Until the early 1900's tobacco was usually chewed, inhaled as snuff, or smoked in cigars and pipes without being inhaled. In other words, nicotine was being absorbed into the bloodstream through the membranes of the mouth, nose, and bronchial passages, not through the lungs. The invention of cigarette paper and automatic rolling machinery changed all that, and soon tobacco users were puffing away on white wrapped sticks of tobacco. This introduced new toxins deep into the body, known collectively as "tar". These toxins are byproducts of the combustion of paper, tobacco, and chemicals in tobacco processing. The most lethal byproduct inhaled from burning tobacco is benzopyrene; a carcinogenic chemical also emitted by automobile exhaust pipes and factory smokestacks. In numerous tests, benzopyrene has been applied to the respiratory tracts of laboratory animals, and has usually resulted in malignant tumors. The leading killer among all forms of cancers, lung cancer currently claims about 140,000 victims annually. The American Cancer Society estimates that 87% of lung cancer deaths could be avoided if only people would stop smoking. Lung cancer isn't the only concern. The chemical irritants absorbed into the blood are excreted almost unchanged in the urine, and the...
