‘The Honey and the Sting’: This Is How the Tobacco Companies’ Trap Works

The tobacco industry is one of the biggest and richest in the world, and it will say or do anything to get rich at the expense of our health. It’s time to expose it.

Here’s the story: right up until the 1950s, cigarettes enjoyed such a positive image that cigarette advertisements were regularly featured in magazines dealing with health and medicine (!). Then, in 1953, the first laboratory experiment on mice unequivocally determined that cigarettes kill.

In December of that year, six of the largest tobacco manufacturers in the United States held a secret emergency conference at the Plaza Hotel in New York, with one question on the agenda: “How do we continue to mislead the public?”

At the end of the meeting, company executives decided on a strategy: everything had to be done to keep people uncertain about the implications of the rodent experiment. How? Aggressive media campaigns/propaganda that would undermine what the public had already begun to suspect: cigarettes are dangerous to health. (As revealed by Robert Proctor in his book The Golden Holocaust).

In other words, tobacco companies have never had a conscience. For them, when it comes to duping the public, all avenues are kosher. The public is only a tool in for them to exploit in order to make more money.

And you know what the saddest thing is? That from then, until today, the manipulation continues – and we, the smokers, have become slaves of the tobacco companies.

How exactly does the trap work?

At the fundamental base of the trap lies one simple idea: to make members of the public who take up smoking become addicts.

And how does this happen in practice? Rami Romanovsky – who has been fighting the tobacco companies for more than a decade – explains:

“The whole purpose of the product is to create an immediate dependency between the smoker and the cigarette and then strengthen and nurture that dependence throughout the smoker’s life. What is sad is that dependency is not related to the type of person you are or how strong or weak you are – in the end, it’s a chemical manipulation.”

“The chemist is king” (and nicotine is the king’s gold)

“The chemist’s job in tobacco companies is comparable to that of a god or a kingdom,” says Romanovsky. “You may think I’m exaggerating, but that’s exactly how the man who engineers the cigarettes is perceived, and the chemist controls the amount of nicotine that enters every cigarette and cigar, and everyone knows that this is the substance that causes the severe addiction. And that is just the beginning. Here are three more examples:

  1. The chemist adds chemicals to the cigarette that widen the airways of a person’s lung, so nicotine is better absorbed.
  2. The chemist adds a substance that prevents coughing (in complete contrast to the natural reaction of humans when there is smoke in their environment).
  3. The chemist adds an ammonia to the cigarette – which causes a rapid injection of nicotine into the brain. In other words, ammonia does for nicotine what soda does for cocaine – it turns it into crack.”

Can we get out of the trap?

The short (and simple) answer is: yes. The long answer is: it’s complicated.

Great minds are trying to beat the tobacco companies and invent methods that battle against smoking – most of these methods have failed and didn’t survive, but three have worked. Let’s go over all three.

The Medication Method – in other words, psychiatric drugs

The advantage of this method? You do not have to do anything; just remember to take a pill every day for 3 months.

The disadvantage? These pills ‘play’ with our brains, and almost everyone who has tried these types of medication have reported shocking headaches, extreme nausea and mental imbalances (including hallucinations). And you know what’s the worst part? These drugs don’t really solve the psychological dependence on smoking.

A referral for this type of medication can be obtained by the family doctor.

Nicotine Replacement Method (chewing gum, stickers or inhalers)

The advantage? It’s very pleasant because it’s non-invasive as this medication method doesn’t turn your stomach or head with severe side effects. The downside? At the end of the day, it’s ‘the same lady dressed in a different cloak.’ The gum, sticker and inhaler are all filled with the same nicotine that chemists in tobacco companies ‘push’ unconsciously.

In short, one addiction is replaced by another addiction.

Nicotine replacements can be purchased at pharmacies or tobacco stores.

The Allen Carr Online Program Cognitive Method

The advantage? While the tobacco companies think we’re stupid, cognitive methods like the Allen Carr Online Program prove exactly the opposite. In one session, which includes cigarette breaks, you just stop wanting to smoke. How does this happen without drugs or substitutes? You’ll have to find out by yourself.

The disadvantage? This method is not suitable for everyone, and in order to be accepted, a phone call should be conducted with one of the Online Program’s counselors.