FDA unfairly maligns tobacco plant with graphic new cigarette warning labels

The FDA has released nine new graphic warning labels that will be required on U.S. cigarettes, offering grotesque visual images designed to dissuade smokers from purchasing cigarettes. At first glance, this might seem like a clever and effective strategy for reducing deaths from smoking cigarettes. After all, there's a lot of scientific evidence that says smoking cigarettes is bad for you. But there's something missing in this whole debate that neither the FDA nor health authorities dare talk about: there is a huge difference between smoking chemically-laced "processed" cigarettes versus natural tobacco leaves.
In the minds of most people, "cigarettes" and "tobacco" are synonymous. If cigarettes are bad for you, then so is tobacco, they believe. In fact, we've all been trained to use the terms interchangeably. If someone is "addicted to cigarettes," we also say, without even thinking about it, that they are "addicted to tobacco." But as you'll learn here, tobacco is a plant while cigarettes are a highly processed product laced with a recipe of deadly synthetic chemicals.
"Tobacco" is not equivalent to "cigarettes" any more than an ear of corn is equivalent to a can of soda sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. Or, as another example, "tobacco" is not equivalent to "cigarettes" any more than a grain of wholesome wheat is equivalent to a loaf of processed white bread with chemical preservatives. Cigarettes are not simply rolled tobacco leaves. They are tobacco plus a cocktail of other nasty additives and synthetic chemicals that don't even exist in nature. Tobacco is an amazing, miraculous plant with a multitude of uses, while cigarettes are highly processed, chemically-laced products made with filler and synthetic ingredients that no one in their right mind would smoke if they had any sense. The problem, though, is that no one in the FDA -- nor the entire western medical profession, it seems -- makes any distinction between natural tobacco and highly processed, chemically-laced cigarettes. To hear them say it, all cigarettes are equally bad for you, regardless of what's in them (or not). And that's a critical oversight. Because the simple but unpopular truth is that smoking natural tobacco leaves, while clearly dangerous for your health, has nowhere near the health risks of smoking cigarettes made with chemical additives. Do not misunderstand my position here: I am against smoking. Secondhand smoke really does harm children. Smoking anything on a regular basis is dangerous to your lungs and heart. As a natural health advocate, I strongly encourage people to quit smoking no matter what they smoke. But as a critical thinker, I must insist we all be honest about where the risks from smoking processed manufactured cigarettes really come from. The tobacco plant is being unfairly maligned in this entire debate, it turns out.