Smoking and Lung Diseases

Tobacco smoke contains large quantities of toxic chemicals. By 1836, it was already well-established "that thousands and tens of thousands die of diseases of the lungs generally brought on by tobacco smoking. . . . How is it possible to be otherwise? Tobacco is a poison. A man will die of an infusion of tobacco as of a shot through the head." —Samuel Green, New England Almanack and Farmer's Friend (1836). 

Tobacco effects include "disturbances . . . on the bronchial surface of the lung" and the fact that "no smoker can ever be said . . . to be well."—"Effects of Tobacco," The Confederate States Medical & Surgical Journal (November 1864). 

"The body needs food, clothing, sunshine, bathing, and drink, but none of these wants are so pressing as pure air. Other wants may be met by occasional supply, but air must be furnished every moment or we die."—Theodore F. Frech and Luther H. Higley, The Evils of Tobacco and Cigarettes (Butler, Indiana: The Higley Printing Co, 1916), p 31. 

"The physician must recognize the fact that smoking is a universal affair . . . harmful . . . to normal people. . . . [changing them into injured category]."—Schwartz, Herbert F., M.D., "Smoking and Tuberculosis," 45 New York State Journal of Medicine (#14) 1539-1542 (15 July 1945). 

"Virtually everyone in the United States is at some risk of harm from exposure to secondhand smoke. The reason is that nearly everyone is exposed to tobacco smoke, and there is no evidence of a threshold level of exposure below which the exposure is safe."—Ronald M. Davis, M.D., "Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke," 280 J Am Med Assn (#22) 1947-1949 (9 Dec 1998). 

"Over time, inhaling [toxic] tobacco smoke (ETS)--a process often called "passive smoking"--can cause otherwise healthy adults to develop chronic respiratory symptoms," says the article, "Exposure To Environmental Tobacco Smoke Causes Respiratory Symptoms In Healthy Adults" (ScienceDaily, 22 November 2006).