Not

                                                                    Not

“Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres are the first Europeans to observe smoking. It was on Cuba and Jerez becomes a staunch smoker, bringing the habit back with him to Spain.

History of Tobacco in Europe

Jerez’s neighbors were so petrified of the smoke coming out of his mouth and nose that he was soon arrested by the Holy Inquisition and held in captivity for nearly 7 years.”

~ “History of Tobacco in the World,” Tobacco-free Life

The problem with tobacco smoking’s not

That it makes smokers sick and kills them. No.

The problem isn’t that gray cancer blot

That grows.  The problem is that it’s too slow

To knock them off.  Their heart disease takes much

Too much in time to bring them to their grave,

And all the while they’re smoking, making such

Pollution in the air.  Each smoking slave

Is robbing all the rest of us of air

That isn’t poisoned — and so killing US

And scummy smoking stinks up clothes and hair.

The smoke is like a thinned out, poisoned pus.

..If smoking ’d killed them fast enough, then we

….For centuries could have had our liberty.

Phillip Whidden