Newspapers / The Echo (Pisgah Forest, … / Dec. 1, 1950, edition 1 / Page 10
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The following article, written by Mr. Albert Q. Maisel and published in the November 4, 1950 issue of Collier's, is reprinted by special permission of Mr. Maisel and Collier’s Magazine. DON’T SMOKE - UNLESS YOU LIKE IT For more than 400 years, ever since the first paleface was lulled toward a treaty by an Indian peace pipe, tobacco has been decried as a moral and a physical menace. Yet, all through these centuries, an ever-growing portion of mankind— and more recently of womankind—has ignored these cries and found comfort in the glowing bowl of a pipe, solace in the delicate aroma of a cigar, and an outlet for nervous tension in a few quick puffs on a cigarette. Americans, most of all, have taken the cigarette to heart. More than three quarters of all our adult men, and more than 40 per cent of all women, now smoke. We consume almost 400,- 000,000,000 cigarettes each year. We average nearly a full pack each per day. Recently, however, the ranks of the antitobacco forces have been swollen by new recruits. Serious scientists and physicians have solemnly reported the results of intensive research in authoritative medical journals. These studies, if only because of their sources, cannot be laughed off as were the denunciations of "the filthy weed” by the wild eyed soapboxers of generations past. Newspapers, the radio and television have picked up these reports and spread them broad cast. Condensing and oversimplifying them—with the ifs, ands and buts omitted—they have made smoking look, to many, like a dangerous habit indeed. Millions of us have been led to worry whether the innocent-looking white tubes we casually light and puff are not really lethal weapons, slowly poisoning our systems, giving rise to ulcers, heart troubles, circulatory diseases, tuberculosis and even cancer. A few of us have given up smoking en tirely. Others have cut down to four or six or eight cigarettes a day. Many, while puffing away as busily as ever, still remain disturbed and vaguely frightened at the menaces that they have been told lurk in the seemingly innocuous cigarette. Are these worries really justified? Is the new evidence against the cigarette really valid, really conclusive? Has tobacco been found guilty of endangering health and even lives? Or have many of us been scared, unnecessarily scared, by sensationalized stories about limited, inconclusive and controversial research? Fortunately, for those of us who love to smoke, 8
The Echo (Pisgah Forest, N.C.)
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Dec. 1, 1950, edition 1
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