Interesting Facts

According to researchers from Vrije University in Amsterdam,  Facebook is as addictive as (if not more addictive than) cigarettes and chocolate. (Seemingly just seeing the blue and white Facebook logo is enough to give an addict a buzz, making it impossible for them to resist logging on.  I'm sure Mr Zuckerberg is glad to hear that, but "impossible".  Really? Check yourself, and if you find it irresistible, switch your device off and go for a walk.)

Since 2012 all large shops and supermarkets in England had to hide tobacco products from public view, and now all shops will have to do so from 6th April. (The original ban only applied to shops of more than 280 sq m (3,014 sq ft), and small outlets were exempt until 2015, but that is about to end as the ban comes into force across the UK.  The ban will stop cigarettes being visible at the point of sale in any small shops and other premises selling tobacco such as cafes, pubs and clubs. It seems to be working too, with smoking rates for England at their lowest ever levels: the latest figures show only 8% of 15 year olds are now regular smokers, compared with 22% in 2003. Interestingly on a recent trip to France, every other shop seemed to sell e-cigarettes.)

Illegal tobacco is one of the most commonly smuggled products to the UK. (Criminals are often managing to beat UK border controls by sending illegal goods by post. More than a million such parcels are sent to British homes every year. Alongside cigarettes, criminals are sending guns, and drugs! It's all costing the taxman an estimated £3billion, a year, but I bet they pay with Bitcoins. Don't these criminals read the Royal Mail's terms and conditions ?)

The first patent for a "a smokeless non-tobacco cigarette" was made in 1963 by Herbert Gilbert. (Gilbert described a device that replaced burning tobacco and paper with heated, moist, flavoured air, but his device involved no nicotine, it was more flavoured steam and didn't prove a commercial success. It wasn't until 2003 that the first nicotine based electronic cigarette was patented, by Mr Hon Lik, a Chinese pharmacologist. Manufactured to look like a traditional cigarette, the batter powered product contains liquid nicotine that is turned into a vapour which is then inhaled. Just another way to part a fool from his / her money. I wonder if it could be turned into something useful like a drug delivery system.)

Major cigarette firms in the UK have been accused of fueling black market in smuggled tobacco. (The accusation is that UK tobacco manufacturers turn a blind eye to the avoidance of UK tax by supplying more of their products to European countries than the legitimate market in those countries could possibly require. The “high-risk” oversupply countries included the Benelux nations – Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and of course Spain, where many Britons go on holiday. Just one “white van man” bringing back a single load of tobacco is estimated to cost the Exchequer £60,000 in lost revenue. He probably tells customs it's for "personal use".)

Apart from the obvious toll on health, the cost of smoking can add up to thousands of pounds a year. (In the UK the average price for a pack of 20 fags is around £6 (give or take a few pence). So, if someone smokes a pack a day:- Cost of Smoking Per Day - £6.00 Cost of Smoking Per Week - £42.00 Cost of Smoking Per Month - £182.00 Cost of Smoking Per Year - £2,184.00 Cost of Smoking Over Five Years - £10,950.00 You can work out your own costs here . Maybe there should be a new warning: Cigarettes can seriously damage your wallet.)

A study, by researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada, has shown hat something as simple as the colour of a cigarette packet can fool smokers into thinking the cigarettes it contains are less dangerous to their health. (Around 80 percent of participants in the study believed that cigarettes in a light blue packet would deliver less tar, have a smoother taste and pose less of a danger to health than those in darker blue packaging. But then again, smokers blithely ignore the "Cigarettes can kill you" messages, so maybe we shouldn't take that much notice of what influences them and what doesn't.) Source: Oxford University Press Journal of Public Health

Latvia has the highest cigarette tax in Europe, 80% of the price of cigarettes there is tax. (The UK level is 77%. Lucky number 7.)

powered by ODEO According to the Office of National Statistics just over two thirds (68%) of cigarette smokers in the UK said that they wanted to give up - but 59% said it would be difficult to go without smoking for a whole day. (It's easy actually - just give up. Stop. Now. Don't smoke another cigarette.)

It is illegal to buy cigarettes under the age of 20 in Japan. (Good for them. I guess after 20 you should know better. But wait! What's this? About 51% of men smoke in Japan.)

The Spanish smoke more Gauloise cigarettes than the French. (Give up now!) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4217010.stm

According to a US medical study, Hollywood villains and working class characters are more likely to smoke in movies than the rich and heroic. (Anyone remember Cigarette Smoking Man in the X files?)

Cocoa, honey, sugar and plum extract are just some of the additives that cigarette makers put in their products, Germany's consumer ministry said. (There are actually 599 approved additives for cigarettes and over 4000 chemical compounds are created by burning a cigarette, many of which are toxic and/or carcinogenic.)