Well Miss, google 7,000,000 hits 'tobacco health benefits'
get back to us when you're finished.
Ken
Yes, indeed. How many of those 7,000,000 have you read?
Looking at the first page we have such reputable sources as forces.org.
From their "WHO WE ARE" page, "FORCES International is an
organisation[sic] in support of human rights and - in particular, but
not limited to – the defence of those who expect from life the freedom
to smoke,...". Obviously unbiased reporting. I especially like the way
they list a number of reports showing correlation (not to be confused
with cause and effect) to benefits and yet complain about the mountain
of evidence of health problems of smoking, "There is no solid proof for
any of the diseases attributed to tobacco - just statistics and
speculative associations". Really?
The top two hits are wikipedia, one a list of health effects with the
only mention of benefits as, "Opponents counter by noting that
consumption of pure nicotine may be as beneficial as smoking without the
risks associated with smoking". The article that discusses the health
benefits is rather short, but does list a few resulting benefits without
much discussion about how useful these "benefits" really are.
Then there is voices.yahoo.com, a well established source of medical
information, not to mention cigars.about.com, so forth and so on...
Livescience.com seems to have a positive article about the topic...
"Call it a silver lining in their otherwise blackened lungs. Although
long-term smoking is largely a ticket to early death, here are (gulp)
five possible benefits from smoking. Breathe deep." Oh, wait, I guess
they aren't really all that positive about it.
Befreesd.com says there are positive health benefits from... *quitting*
smoking.
Snuff.co.in says that snuff is "an ideal substitute" for smoking which
has "a plethora of dangerous health risks".
But wait, at number 10 there is a reputable source of health
information, the CDC with a fact sheet... on the benefits of smoking
cessation!
Only 6,999,990 to go!
Rick