poison

From Death to Life

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I do not know how often I have searched the Spirit of Prophecy to find answers, but it has been many. I have never been disappointed. In fact, it has been a treasure. One of the most revealing excerpts I found focused on tobacco.

Looking for Answers

I was not looking for a specific answer the day I scanned the health magazine, but it came, for a question I had asked five years earlier. At the time, I lived in the world, and my entire behavior exposed a careless mind. I was the father of a new baby boy, and I took him for granted. I smoked the toxic weed, even while I assumed the role of parent.

Then, on Father’s Day, I awoke to find my son, Isaac, had died. I tried to breathe life into his little body, but it did not help. He was only six weeks old. Apparently he had died of crib death or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as S.I.D.S. The reason for his passing could not be explained, but I always wondered why.

Ironically, tragedy became the pivot of my search for life in Jesus Christ. I did not know how Isaac had become a key toward true surrender to God, nor did I realize how soon my question of “Why, God, why?” would be answered.

Brought to My Knees

I wish I could say that these horrifying circumstances meant instant conversion, but God knew the hardness of my heart. However, in a short time, providence brought me to my knees in prayer, and I claimed the promises of His Word. Within a year I gave Him my so-called life, and He removed my desire for all chemicals, including tobacco.

Only afterwards did I discover the true health message in Testimonies to the Church and in Counsels on Diet and Foods. Cooperating with Jesus meant a clean mind, which paved the way to endless knowledge. Through my surrender and my diligent reading of Scripture, He kept His promise, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6. I became a new man, always ready for more wonderful truth. That is why I was reading the health magazine.

Slow Poison

The article made reference to Selected Messages, Book 2, 467. “The infant lungs suffer, and become diseased by inhaling the atmosphere of a room poisoned by the tobacco-user’s tainted breath. Many infants are poisoned beyond remedy by sleeping in bed with their tobacco-using fathers. By inhaling the poisonous tobacco effluvia, which is thrown from the lungs and pores of the skin, the system of the infant is filled with poison. While it acts upon some as a slow poison, and affects the brain, heart, liver, and lungs, and they waste away and fade gradually, upon others it has a more direct influence, causing spasms, fits, paralysis, palsy, and sudden death. The bereaved parents mourn the loss of their loved ones, and wonder at the mysterious providence of God, which has so cruelly afflicted them, when Providence designed not the death of these infants. They died martyrs to the filthy lust of tobacco. Their parents ignorantly, but none the less surely, kill their infant children by the disgusting poison.…”

I read it several times and realized the grim responsibility of my actions. At that moment, the impact and consequences of my ignorance loomed in my mind. My selfish, narrow existence and temporary gratification carried an enormous price. I knew what I was, and the proof lay in the grave.

Dear readers, I still tremble, because it is only part of a bigger story. The only way I can tolerate such failure is to remember God’s mercy and His promise: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteous-ness.” 1 John 1:9.

If You Want Freedom

I know that there are many others searching for answers. If you want freedom, do not wait for tragedy to happen before you fall down to your knees in prayer. “Ask, and it shall be given you…” Matthew 7:7. Then remember, “The Scriptures are the great agency in the transformation of character…If studied and obeyed, the Word of God works in the heart, subduing every unholy attribute.” The Faith I Live By, 116.

Health – Tobacco’s Effect Upon Health

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Over a hundred years ago, God, through His messenger Ellen White, provided much counsel regarding the use of tobacco and its effect upon health.

“Tobacco, in whatever form it is used, tells upon the constitution. It is a slow poison. It affects the brain and benumbs the sensibilities so that the mind cannot discern spiritual things, especially those truths which would have a tendency to correct this filthy indulgence. Those who use tobacco in any form are not clear before God. In such a filthy practice it is impossible for them to glorify God in their bodies and spirits, which are His. And while they are using slow and sure poisons, which are ruining their health and debasing the faculties of the mind, God cannot approbate them. He may be merciful to them while they indulge in this pernicious habit in ignorance of the injury it is doing them; but when the matter is set before them in its true light, then they are guilty before God if they continue to indulge this gross appetite.” Healthful Living, 109.

“It is unpleasant, if not dangerous, to remain … in a crowded room that is not thoroughly ventilated, where the atmosphere is impregnated with the properties of liquor and tobacco. The occupants give evidence by the breath and emanations from the body that the system is filled with the poison of liquor and tobacco.

“Many infants are poisoned beyond remedy by sleeping in beds with their tobacco-using fathers. By inhaling the poisonous tobacco effluvium, which is thrown from the lungs and pores of the skin, the system of the infant is filled with poison. While it acts upon some infants as a slow poison, and affects the brain, heart, liver, and lungs, and they waste away and fade gradually; upon others it has a more direct influence, causing spasms, paralysis, and sudden death. The bereaved parents mourn the loss of their loved ones, and wonder at the mysterious providence of God, which has so cruelly afflicted them, when Providence designed not the death of these infants. They died martyrs to the filthy lust for tobacco. Every exhalation of the lungs of the tobacco slave poisons the air about him.” Ibid., 110, 111.

Science and medical research now confirm the correctness of this counsel.

Tobacco Is Bad For You

The fact that tobacco is bad for you is no secret. The Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-92) required that the warning “Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health” be placed in small print on one of the side panels of each cigarette package. [Emphasis added.]

In 1969, Congress passed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act (Public Law 91-222), which prohibited cigarette advertising on television and radio and required that each cigarette package contain the label “Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health.” [Emphasis added.]

In 1981, the Federal Trade Commission issued a report to Congress that concluded that health warning labels had little effect on public knowledge and attitudes about smoking. As a result of this report, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Smoking Education Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-474), which required four specific health warnings on all cigarette packages and advertisements:

SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING

  • Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy.
  • Quitting Smoking Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health
  • Smoking by Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature Birth, and Low Birth Weight
  • Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide

The Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-252) required three rotating warning labels on smokeless tobacco packaging and advertisements:

WARNING

  • This product may cause mouth cancer
  • This product may cause gum disease and tooth loss
  • This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes

Warning labels on tobacco packages in the United States are weaker and less prominent than those of many other countries!

Despite these warnings, people continue to smoke, and new smokers adopt the habit every single day. Amazingly, smoking can still be viewed as an adult thing to do, and children continue to be influenced by this. Their parents or guardians smoke; therefore, they should smoke too if they want to be really grown up—or at least that is their perception. Smokers wish they had never smoked that first lousy cigarette and shake their heads in disbelief when they see their own young children or teenagers starting to smoke.

Tobacco can be “ingested” in more than one way. Some people chew it, others inhale it as snuff but the majority smoke it in the form of cigars and cigarettes. Regardless of how tobacco is used, it is dangerous.

When smokers inhale a single “shot” of nicotine from a cigarette, the lungs allow the nicotine to pass into the blood stream almost instantly. The smoker then feels the “hit” from the nicotine in his or her bloodstream and this is the sensation that they later crave.

Do not just assume that the inhalant is “pure” tobacco smoke either. That smoke inhaled from a cigarette contains 40+ carcinogenic substances. These are substances that have been clinically proven to cause various types of cancer. Cigarette smoke also contains 400 other toxins that can be found in rat poison, nail polish remover, and various types of wood varnish. As these carcinogens and toxins gather in the body, they begin to cause serious problems for the heart and lungs.

Smoke-Related Diseases

Of all the diseases associated with smoking, cancer is the most common. Lung cancer is the most common cancer associated with cigarette smoking, but a smoker can also get cancer of the mouth, bladder, kidney, stomach, esophagus, larynx, and pancreas. Some of these cancers can be treated, but others are 100 percent fatal.

Cancer is not the only disease that smoking causes, either directly or indirectly. Seventy-five percent of all fatal cases of emphysema and bronchitis are linked to smoking. Both of these diseases cause extreme breathing difficulties. Emphysema in particular is an extremely nasty disease, as an individual’s ability to breathe on his or her own slowly vanishes.

Smokers have dramatically shorter lives than nonsmokers. On average, a smoker will die 15 to 20 years before a nonsmoker.

Secondhand Smoke

The risk from smoking is not just limited to the smoker. The serious effects of secondary smoke are now very well-known. Smoking near others puts their health at risk also. Secondhand smoke is still loaded with chemicals and toxins as it was when first inhaled.

Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. Secondhand smoke contains more than 250 chemicals known to be toxic or cancer causing, including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide.

Dangers of Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke causes about 3,000 deaths each year from lung cancer in nonsmokers. It also causes irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, and can also irritate the lungs, leading to coughing, excessive phlegm, and chest discomfort. Secondhand smoke has been identified as the cause of death from heart disease in thousands of adult nonsmokers.

Since their internal organs and immune systems are still developing, children are in the highest risk group. Children exposed to secondary smoke are far more vulnerable to asthma, sudden infant death syndrome (cot death), bronchitis, pneumonia, and ear infections, among other things.

Protect Yourself and Your Family

This is what you can do to protect yourself and your family from secondhand smoke:

  • Do not allow smoking in your home.
  • Choose restaurants and other places where you spend time that are smoke-free.
  • Let family, friends, and people with whom you work know that you do care if they smoke around you.
  • Ask your employer to make sure you do not have to breathe other people’s smoke at work.
  • Help people who are trying to quit smoking. Give them copies of the tract, “Just One Puff,” or Dr. John J. Grosboll’s booklet, “How to Quit Smoking,” available through the Mail Order Services Department of Steps to Life.

Resource information: www.quittersguide.com; www.cigarettewarninglabels.com; www.lungusa.org (February 2008).

Nature Nugget — Attractive but Poisonous Creatures

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Throughout the animal kingdom, many creatures have bright colors as a warning to would-be predators that they are poisonous. For example, the Coral Snakes of the southern parts of North America have rings of bright red, yellow, and black. They are relatives of the Cobras and, like them, are capable of injecting a powerful neuro-toxin into their victims through short, fixed fangs near the front of their mouths. This neurotoxin they inject attacks the nervous system causing paralysis and respiratory failure.

The Monarch Butterfly is another creature that uses bright colors to warn that it is poisonous. When it was a caterpillar, it fed on the leaves of the poisonous Milkweed plant and stored up toxins from this plant in its body tissues. It has bright orange and black wings to warn birds and other predators that it is poisonous and not to be eaten.

In Central and South America, the Poison-dart Frogs are colored in various bright colors such as reds, yellows, and blues to warn that they have poisonous skin secretions that can cause death in just a few minutes if eaten. Some species are so deadly that just touching them can result in death. Some Indian tribes in South America use these skin secretions to tip their darts and arrows, to make them more lethal.

 

Poisonous Sins

 

Even though these creatures are attractive to look at, they are none-the-less poisonous and deadly. Sin is the same way. It is very attractive but the end results are deadly. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 16:25.

“God has made ample provision for His people; and if they rely upon His strength, they will never become the sport of circumstances. The strongest temptation cannot excuse sin. However great the pressure brought to bear upon the soul, transgression is our own act. It is not in the power of earth or hell to compel any one to do evil. Satan attacks us at our weak points, but we need not be overcome. However severe or unexpected the assault, God has provided help for us, and in His strength we may conquer” Patriarchs and Prophets, 421.