SMOKER SETS HIMSELF ON FIRE AND, UNABLE TO SCREAM, DIES [05/21]

Earlier Incidents Include Smoker Who Lit Cigarette In Hospital Oxygen Tent Other Addicts Smoke Even Though It Means Certain Blindness or Amputation

Because his throat cancer had already cost him his vocal cords, a Florida smoker died yesterday when his attempt to light a cigar engulfed his throat bandages and then his pajamas in flame, and he could not call for help to his sister sleeping nearby.

Too feeble from his bout with cancer to use matches or a lighter, he apparently ignited strips of paper on a stove burner in the kitchen where he slept, despite the grave danger from fire because he could neither call for help nor escape from this bed.

This, says law professor John Banzhaf of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), is just one example of how powerful nicotine addiction can be.

"A man whose smoking had already cost him his vocal cords and his mobility nevertheless was forced to risk his life to smoke one more cigar!"

Banzhaf said this reminded him of an earlier incident where a patient in a Florida hospital had such an overwhelming desire to smoke that he lit up a cigarette while he was in an oxygen tent. The resulting instantaneous explosion and fire killed him, and finally persuaded the hospital to stop selling cigarettes.

"Many people, even including some smokers, don't understand just how strong an addiction to nicotine can be, since some smokers aren't addicted at all, some are only mildly addicted, and some can break even a strong addiction if there is sufficient external motivation such as a heart attack."

"However, some smokers with Buerger's disease are unable to ever quit, even though the constricting effect on nicotine leads them to suffer from a serious of disabling amputations of their arms and legs. Others who suffer from serious eye conditions find themselves unable to stop, even after being told that smoking will cause certain blindness within months."

"Some people caught in the grip of nicotine addiction find it absolutely impossible to stop, and can hardly be blamed if they fail to quit."

ACTION ON SMOKING AND HEALTH (ASH) A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Your Tax-Deductible Contributions NOW CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE 2013 H Street, NW / Washington, DC 20006 / (202) 659-4310