There has been a lot of recent buzz about a Surgeon General’s Report on Second-hand smoke.   The report was entitled “EXPOSURE TO TOBACCO SMOKE CAUSES IMMEDIATE DAMAGE, SAYS NEW SURGEON GENERAL’S REPORT“.    To quote Cigar Dave, all I can say is that this is absolute poppycock – and the facts need to be told.

I’ve included a great article from this blog “The Rest of the Story:Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary”, a blog by Boston University Professor Michael Siegel.  It should be noted the author is not known for being a supporter of tobacco rights.   I’d like to include some key points.   I’d also like to thank the CRA for making us aware of this.

1.Fortunately, it is simply not true that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause cardiovascular disease. Luckily, it takes many years of exposure before the process of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) can occur. If brief tobacco smoke exposure could cause heart disease, we would sadly see many young people in their twenties and thirties walking around with cardiovascular disease, and many dying from it at those ages. Even active smoking does not generally lead to heart disease unless you smoke for many years. Thus, it is simply untrue to assert that brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause cardiovascular disease.

2.The press release’s assertion flies in the face of common medical sense. How could it possibly be that a brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause heart disease? It takes many years for heart disease to develop. It takes years of exposure to tobacco smoke even for a smoker to develop heart disease. I estimate that it takes at least 25 years of exposure (based on the fact that very few smokers are diagnosed with heart disease before age 40).

This is an article worth reading – and when the Pleasure Police come at you and challenge you about tobacco use – be prepared.  They are making stuff up and you must be prepared to call them out.

Click here to read the article.