Sunday Morning Blog

August 14, 2005

Cigarettes: The Stanky-Assed Killers

[mood| surprised]

After many obituaries have been written of the recent premature death of Peter Jennings, it has been pointed out that there is rarely mention of his smoking as cause. Were we a little more open and honest about such cases, the best works of those who have died prematurely due to these types of abuses would be the education of those of us left behind. Were the headlines in the obituary section more accurate, we might find ourselves facing some hard facts about the lives we lead.

Example:

Harry Henderson, 67 Halifax

Harry Henderson, age 67, died quite expectedly Tuesday after 28 years of smoking cigarettes, drinking beer to excess and frequenting fast food restaurants for his daily lunch. Harry was an active member of the Halifax...

Yes, many of us can read between the lines. As good investigators, we scan to the last line of “memorial donations may be sent to:” and we recognize that if it is American Lung Association, the person probably died of a lung disease, or American Heart Association = heart disease, etc. You get the idea. However, if faced with the harsh reality of actual cause of death instead of the fluff and fiction, we might find that those of us who are still coming down for breakfast would be a little more careful about how we conduct ourselves. Knowing that a motor vehicle accident was caused by alcohol is critical to educating others to the dangers of drinking and driving. Similarly, we can increase awareness about heart, liver and lung diseases if we accurately report cause of death. Upwards of four hundred and fifty people die of lung cancer in the United States each day. Smoking is no joke, and take it from me... it is a tough habit to break. We should not be hiding the dangers of this horrible addiction.

QuitMeter Counter courtesy of www.quitmeter.com.

Posted by capecodcyclist at August 14, 2005 08:06 AM