Death is certain. It is the most certain phenomenon in life. No soul can escape it, and I'm certain there's nothing science can do about it, regardless of how advanced science gets even in the near future. However, most normal humans wish to attain a certain age range before giving in to the reality of death. Thus, most society understands what it means when someone dies young.
Growing up and watching cigarette adverts, the phrase, "Smokers are liable to die young." usually concludes every advert. Beyond that, virtually all the packs of cigarettes I know of carry this warning back in those days. I really don't know about it now, anyways. Back then, two questions always come to my mind:
- If smokers are liable to die young truly, why do normal people still engage in smoking?
- Why would the government arrest you for trying to commit suicide while they not only allow citizens to smoke but also allow cigarette makers to advertise and market freely?
There were questions I couldn't get any satisfactory answers to which I eventually stopped asking with time. Let me say, I simply outgrow them, or so I thought. Until a few days ago when I came across a social media post whose screenshot is below:
Immediately I saw the post, I tried to search if I could see the original research that made the claim. Fortunately, I was able to see the original research which can be accessed freely here. Here is a post opening the old wounds, if I'm allowed to call it that.
The research drew on available data from different studies in the United Kingdom spanning a period of 50 years. The TL:DR of the research is as published in the social media post. For every cigarette stick smoked, an average of 17 minutes of lifespan is lost if the smoker is a man and 22 minutes if the smoker is a woman. Let's do a little calculation:
For men
1 cigarette stick = 17 minutes
60 cigarettes = 60 x 17 = 1020 minutes
1020 minutes = 17 hours
17 hours = 0.7 days
If 60 sticks = 0.7 days, then, one would be:
60 x 1/0.7 = 86 sticks approximately
For women
1 cigarette = 22 minutes
30 cigarettes = 30 x 22 = 660 minutes
660 minutes = 11 hours.
hours = 0.45 days
If 30 sticks = 0.45 days, then, 1 day would be:
30 x 1/0.45 = 67 sticks approximately
Do you understand the mathematics I just performed? It means that for every 86 sticks of cigarette smoked, a whole day is lost from a man's lifespan and women only need to smoke approximately 67 sticks of cigarette to get a day cut off from their lifespans.
A pack of cigarettes, by standards, contains 20 sticks of smoke. This means a man needs a little above 4 packs to get a day cut off while a woman only needs a little above 3 packs. The implication is that heavy smokers can end up reducing their life expectancy by half or even more depending on the number of packs they finish per day.
From the analyses, it is now clear that the warning, "Smokers are liable to die young" is indeed what someone should take seriously. Why the government allows cigarettes to be freely sold remains a mystery, or not - if you understand what I'm talking about.
If you ask me, I would say the advert is a psychological warfare on our intelligence. Keep warning them while making it available to purchase and many would think the warning is a mere slogan.
By the way, "Drink responsibly" also classifies as one of those warfare on us. The phrase serves more as marketing copy than a piece of advice or a warning.
Thank you for reading.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
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