Big Tobacco uses “growing and curing practices” which result in domestic cigarettes having higher levels of a cancer-causing, tobacco specific ingredient, nitrosamines, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tobacco also is highly addictive, as studies show.  Joe Camel would love to see you any time. Actually, the company retired him for being too effective, but no doubt he still enjoys a corner office. Joe was a top producer in sales and appealed to kids, too.

Sadly, our exported brands share the poison with countries where these are popular—developing countries.

The golden, cured leaves are beautiful to look at but deadly just the same.

The American Cancer Society website reports, “Tobacco use is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the United States. Because cigarette smoking and tobacco use are acquired behaviors — activities that people choose to do — smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society.” (Emphasis added)

The Los Angeles Times

“Cigarette-smoking Americans receive higher doses of the most potent carcinogens than do smokers in many foreign countries because of variations in the way tobacco is processed for cigarettes, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported June 1. (Emphasis added)

“American cigarettes are typically made from “American blend” tobacco, a specific blend that, because of growing and curing practices, contains higher levels of cancer-causing tobacco-specific nitrosamines. The most popular Canadian, Australian and British brands, in contrast, are made from “bright” tobacco, which is lighter in color and cured differently. (Emphasis added)

“The study was designed primarily to correlate how well levels of the chemicals in cigarettes correlate with levels of their metabolites in smokers’ urine. The data about exposure to the chemicals in different countries were an added benefit.”

Source: Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2010

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 1, 2010