Birth Defects: How to Prevent Them

PREVENT BIRTH DEFECTS

Medical science has long studied the issue of how to prevent birth defects, including those leading to health and behavioral effects that become evident years or decades after birth.
"Those first few puffs on a cigarette can within minutes cause genetic damage linked to cancer. . . . In fact, researchers said the 'effect is so fast that it's equivalent to injecting the substance directly into the bloodstream,'" says "Smoking causes gene damage in minutes" (15 January 2011).
"Contrary to [myth] that it takes years of smoking before the toxins in tobacco cause damage to the DNA in the cells -- possibly leading to lung cancer -- researchers at the University of Minnesota have found that such genetic damage occurs within minutes," says "Study: Damage from smoking appears within minutes"—Judy Siegel-Itzkovich (16 January 2011).
Even "Thirdhand smoke causes DNA damage in human cells," say B. Hang, A. H. Sarker, C. Havel, S. Saha, T. K. Hazra, S. Schick, P. Jacob, 3rd, V. K. Rehan, A. Chenna, D. Sharan, M. Sleiman, H. Destaillats, and L. A. Gundel, in Mutagenesis (5 March 2013).
"Doctors are urging mothers-to-be to give up cigarettes after new research linked smoking in pregnancy to babies suffering birth defects such as clubfoot, missing limbs and deformed limbs. Those who smoke while expecting a baby increase the risk of their child being born with a serious malformation by as much as 50% . . . Congenital heart disease is also distinctly associated with moms who smoke," says "Smoking during pregnancy may lead to deformed limbs with babies," The Guardian (12 July 2011).
See also Walter Liszewskia, Carissa Ritnera, Julian Auriguia, Sharon S.Y. Wonga, Naveed Hussainb, Winfried Kruegerc, Cheryl Onckend, Harold S. Bernsteina, "Developmental effects of tobacco smoke exposure during human embryonic stem cell differentiation are mediated through the transforming growth factor-ß superfamily member, Nodal," Differentiation, Volume 83, Issue 4, April 2012, Pages 169–178. "Both nicotine and non-nicotine components of tobacco smoke impede the cells from specializing into a broad range of cell types, including those of the blood, heart, musculoskeletal systems and brain."
Note also that "there is a direct correlation between exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace and damage to the employees' DNA," says "Nev. Study Links Casino Smoke, DNA Damage" (15 May 2006). "The more they were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, the more the DNA damage, and that's going to lead to a higher risk of heart disease and cancer down the road," said researcher Chris A. Pritsos of University of Nevada. And: "despite equivalent ETS exposure, significantly greater DNA-damage occurred in men than women," he said. See also the earlier summary report by Pritsos, et al., in Toxicology Letters, "Differences in DNA-damage in non-smoking men and women exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)," Vol 158, Issue # 1 (28 July 2005) 10-9, and "Study could snuff casino smoke," by Lenita Powers, Reno Gazette-Journal (15 May 2006).
"Studies have shown significant associations between male toxic exposures and increased rates of infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth and childhood health problems," says Dr. Cynthia Daniels of Rutgers University, in "Toxins 'cause defects for future generations'" (18 Feb 2008). "When you harm the male reproductive system you can see multi-generational harm transmitted through the male gamete [sperm]. This . . . has human implications because it suggests an avenue of harm and a model of trans-generational effects. Dr Daniels said smoking, drinking alcohol and cocaine use caused chemical changes to semen."
Note data that "babies born to smokers are 30 percent more likely to have finger or toe deformities. 'One of the things that smoking does is interfere with oxygen delivery to cells at very key moments in development,' said researcher Manuel Alvarez of Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. 'If cells are deprived of oxygen, they don't proliferate as they should. If cells don't proliferate, you can have limb deformities,'" says "Smokers' Babies More Likely to Have Finger, Toe Deformities" (20 August 2007), citing Health Day News (17 August 2007), in turn citing the medical journal, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Vol 120. And, "previous research has linked smoking to an increased risk of cleft lip and palette." says Dr. Robert Welch, chairman and program director of obstetrics and gynecology at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan.
"The toxins in cigarette smoke cross the placenta and collect in the fetus," says Shabih U. Hasan, M.D., a pediatrician from the University of Calgary, Canada, cited in the article, "Damage From Smoking Can Start Before Birth" (10 June 2008). These toxins are "transmitted to the fetus, and all the carcinogens of cigarette smoke cross over to . . . the fetus very, very quickly and remain there in a much higher amount than on the other side," Hasan explains. "One speculation is that when you give carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide through smoke, it changes [damages] the brain's receptors and it probably changes probably the baby's ability to sense oxygen so that they cannot sense it, or some other changes happen." This research is published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Vol. 177, pp 1255-1261 (28 February 2008).
"Smoking during pregnancy affects genes involved in brain development" (29 November 2010). Thus, "the children of mothers who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to develop such psychiatric disorders as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], depression, autism and drug abuse."
As the quantities of toxic chemicals involved are so extensive, so massive, so poisonous, injury is immediate. "Even brief exposure to tobacco smoke causes immediate harm to the body, damaging cells and inflaming tissue in ways that can lead to serious illness and death," says "Just one cigarette can harm DNA, Surgeon General says" (USATODAY, 9 December 2010).
"Smoking During Pregnancy Lowers Levels of 'Good' HDL Cholesterol in Children" (Science Daily, 20 June 2011), "mothers who smoke during pregnancy are causing developmental changes to their unborn babies that lead to them having lower levels of the type of cholesterol that is known to protect against heart disease in later life -- high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol."
Certain “important elements in the development of a child happen not at conception but years before,” says Dr. David Barker, Ph.D. (Epidemiology). There is a known “association between impaired fetal growth and adult chronic disease,” says Dr. Michael Kramer. When birth weight is below 5.5 pounds, there is more adult “coronary heart disease.” By 1871, doctors had researched the birth defects subject sufficiently to motivate the French government to act to improve maternal health. Medical science shows that later “health has its genesis in the womb.”—Ellen Rupel Shell, “Interior Designs,” 23 Discover (#12) 48-53 (December 2002).
"Here we are looking at male germline mutations, which are mutations in the DNA of sperm. If inherited, these mutations persist as irreversible changes in the genetic composition of off-spring." said Carole Yauk, Ph.D., in "Cigarette smoke alters DNA in sperm, genetic damage could pass to offspring," American Association for Cancer Research (1 June 2007). "We have known that mothers who smoke can harm their fetuses, and here we show evidence that fathers can potentially damage offspring long before they may even meet their future mate."
Even worse, as nicotine passes through the placenta and impacts the newly developing brain, children of smoking mothers are "more likely to become smokers than other youngsters." Such children are more likely to suffer from future problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder, and difficulty with math and reading. See Patricia Reaney, "Future smokers may be programmed in womb - study" (Reuters, 28 November 2006), citing a study by Dr. Abdullah Al Mamun, University of Queensland, and the journal Tobacco Control. "Children of the 1,000 women who had smoked during pregnancy were three times more likely to start smoking by the age of 14 and twice as likely afterwards compared to other children." "In addition to influencing the developing foetus, researchers have also shown that heavy smokers have lower odds of becoming pregnant through IVF (in-vitro fertilisation), even with a donated egg, because smoking makes their womb less receptive to the embryo and reduces the chances it will implant. Male smokers are also more likely to suffer from impotence."
"Women who smoke during pregnancy, or even breathe other people's tobacco fumes, pass cancer-causing chemicals into their fetuses' blood, where they linger for months," says the article "Tobacco Chemicals Linger in Babies" (New York Times, 10 August 1998). "These substances are benzo(a)pyrene, which causes lung and skin cancer, 4-aminobiphenyl, which causes bladder cancer, and acrylonitrile, which causes liver cancer." "The researchers [led by Prof. Stephen R. Myers, Ph.D.] found that the more the women smoked, the higher the level of these carcinogens was in their newborn babies' blood. All three substances attach themselves to hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells. As a result, the carcinogens continue to circulate through the babies' blood for the entire life of the red cells, typically four months."
For more on "smoke-induced genetic mutations in the womb," see "Exposure to smoke yields fetal mutations - research indicates exposure to second-hand smoke during pregnancy increases cancer-related mutations in newborn babies" by Nathan Seppa in Science News (3 October 1998).
Note also data from epigenetics, the study of how one's environment and choices impact the genetic process, thus setting the stage for adverse aspects including medical conditions and premature death among one's descedants. Epigeneticists study the changes in gene activity that do not arise from alterations to the genetic code but are nonetheless transmitted at least one successive generation, by the epigenonme. The epigennome is atop the genome. Behaviors such as smoking and overeating can change the epigenome so as to alter genetic expression adversely. See references by, e.g., Dr. Lars Olov Bygren, Dr. Marcus Pembrey in Acta Geneticae Medicae et Gemellologie (1996), and Eva Jablonka and Gal Raz in Quarterly Review of Biology (2009). A summary can be found in John Cloud, "Why Genes Aren't Destiny," Time, vol. 175 #2 (18 January 2010), pp 49-53. The bottom line is that "environmental factors affect characteristics of organisms," says "Epigenetics: DNA Isn’t Everything" (ScienceDaily, 13 April 2009).
Let's become specific, focus on a major aspect of the vast medical data on the subject.
It was known well over a century ago about the tobacco risk factor in birth defects. Yes, tobacco risk factor.
How so? Answer—due to its vast quantities of dangerous, mutagenic, poisonous, yes, even radioactive, toxic chemicals.
And it was known over a century ago, that the deterioration from birth defects worsens each generation. Here is a four-generation example from the eminent Miss Florence Nightingale: Families
"contain
[1] great-grandmothers possessing constitutions without a flaw,
[2] grandmothers but slightly impaired,
[3] mothers who are often ailing and never strong,
[4] daughters who are miserable and hopeless invalids."—James Parton,
Smoking and Drinking (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1868), p 98.

Birth defects were being reported as long ago as in the 1680's, according to litigation to free such an individual from being forcibly placed on public display against his consent.—Alvan Stewart, Legal Argument For the Deliverance of 4,000 Persons from Bondage (New York: Finch & Weed, 1845), p 14.
The book, The Tobacco Problem by Meta Lander (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1882), pp 124-134, has background from the nineteenth century, also recommended reading, as showing concern dating back so far. Note the already then obvious mental deterioration effect: "I have never known a habitual tobacco user whose children, born after he had long used it, did not have deranged nervous systems and sometimes evidently weak minds. Shattered nervous systems for generations to come may be the result of this indulgence."
The point is to note that this subject, the tobacco role in birth defects, is not a new one.
The book, Tobaccoism, or, How Tobacco Kills, by John H. Kellogg, M.D., LL.D., F.A.C.S. (Battle Creek, Michigan: The Modern Medicine Publishing Co, 1922), pp 113-118, has additional pertinent background, also recommended reading.
The book Tobacco, by Botany Professor Bruce Fink (Cincinnati: The Abingdon Press, 1915), has a chapter on tobacco's role in birth defects, at pages 39-44.
Herbert H. Tidswell, M.D., The Tobacco Habit: Its History and Pathology: A Study in Birth-Rates (London: J. & A. Churchill, 1912), warned about the potential danger to the unborn, see, e.g., p 184.
Dr. Abel Gy, L'Intoxication Par Le Tabac (Paris: Masson et Cie, 1913), p 148, noted that "Déjà plusieurs médecins des manufactures de l'Etat avaient noté la débilité congénitale dont étaient atteints les enfants des ouvrières de ces établissements." Doctors were noting birth defects among children of tobacco factory workers. Gy gave details, including from a study by Dr. Decaisne in 1883.
The book The Cigarette As A Physician Sees It, by Daniel H. Kress, M.D. (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Pub Ass'n, 1931), pp 32-36, has several sections devoted to this subject and background (recommended reading before or after you finish reading this site, and others in the series).
In 1936, an overwhelming majority [84%] of obstetricians recognized smoking's adverse impact on the unborn.—Dr. Alexander Campbell, Am Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (March 1936).
In June 1937, Dr. Campbell, in Transactions of the Am. Ass'n of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Abdominal Surgery, said smoker mothers “did not undergo pregnancy, parturition and lactation with the normality that other women did.”
Amanda Hodge and Jonathon Leake, of the Institute of Child Health, University College, London, in “Smoking men put sons at risk later” (The Australian, 12 December 2005), show that “a father's smoking can lead to increased risk of childhood cancers by causing mutations in sperm that are passed on to progeny”as “paternal smoking can create a genetic predisposition in children to other health problems” (likely due to tobacco radioactivity), as “people's lifestyles and environments can alter genes in ways that can be inherited by subsequent generations.”
Concerning "lifestyles [that] alter genes," note that "Smoking turns on genes -- permanently" (29 August 2007): "'Those genes and functions which do not revert to normal levels upon smoking cessation may provide insight into why former smokers still maintain a risk of developing lung cancer,' according to Raj Chari, first author of the study."
Stephen G. Grant, Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health, Univ of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Public Health, in BMC Pediatrics (Vol. 5, Issue 20, 29 June 2005), "Qualitatively and quantitatively similar effects of active and passive maternal tobacco smoke exposure on in uteromutagenesis at the HPRTlocus" (sumamrized in "Any exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy is risky" (26 July 2005)), says, "This analysis shows not only that smoking during pregnancy causes genetic damage in the developing fetus that can be detected at birth, but also that passive - or secondary - exposure causes just as much damage as active smoking, and it is the same kind of damage." "These kinds of mutations are likely to have lifelong repercussions for the exposed fetus, affecting survival, birth weight and susceptibility to disease, including cancer." "If you're going to plan a pregnancy, plan to be away from smokers." (To do this, demand the right to pure air.)
Dr. Barry Finette, a pediatrician at the University of Vermont, says "There is strong and growing evidence that secondary [involuntary] smoke causes clinical disease both in the recipient of it and in the fetus."
Significant research [has] found a clear and obvious association between mothers smoking during pregnancy and both poor conduct and attention deficit disorders."--Thom Hartmann, Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception (1997), p 107. Note the entire chapter devoted to the subject, Chapter 11, pages 101-109. Medicine knows "that nicotine is one of the most powerful drugs we know of to affect the central nervous system (CNS). It's wildly more powerful than amphetamine or Ritalin, for example," p 103. Dr. Hartmann cites studies:
"Nicotine and the Central Nervous System: Biobehavioral Effects of Cigarette Smoking," by Ovide F. Pomerleau, 93 Am J of Med (#1A) pp 1A-7S (15 July 1992) ("nicotine has demonstrated dose-related euphoric effects similar to those of cocaine and morphine")
Smoking Childbearing Study, 1979-1992, by Barry Zuckerman, Child Health Alert (Sep 1992)
Dose-Response Correlation, Pediatric Report's Child Health Newsletter (1992)
Off-the-wall Child Behavior, by Weitzman, Pediatrics (1992)
Smoking in Pregnancy Association With Poor Conduct and ADD, by David Fergusson et al., Pediatrics (1993)
Related study by Fried and Watkinson, Neurotoxicology & Teratology (1988)
" by McCartney, Neurotoxicology & Teratology (1994)
"Hyperactivity in the Offspring of Nicotine-Treated Rats: Role of the Mesolimbic and Nigostriatal Dopaminic Pathways, by Richardson and Tizabi, Pharmacology and Chemistry of Behavior (1994)
"Prenatal Exposure to Tobacco: Ill Effects on Cognitive Functioning at Age Three," by Internatl J of Epidemiology (1990)

Perhaps one of the worst birth defects a parent can pass on is this: "Maternal prenatal smoking predicts persistent criminal outcome in male offspring."—Patrica A. Brennan, Ph.D., Emily R. Grekin, Sarnoff A. Mednick, Ph.D., Dr.Med., "Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy and Adult Male Criminal Outcomes," 56 Arch Gen Psychiatry (#3) 215-219 (March 1999).
"A growing body of empirical literature has emerged examining the . . . relationship between maternal cigarette smoking (MCS) during pregnacy and children's subsequent anti-social behavior. To systematically assess what existing studies reveal regarding MCS as a criminogenic risk factor for offspring, the authors [did a] meta-analysis. This analysis reveals a statistically significant . . . overall mean "effect size" of the relationship between MCS and the likelihood children will engage in deviant/criminal behavior. . . . maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy is a distal risk factor for wayward behavior in offspring," say Travis C. Pratt, et al., in "Maternal Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy and Criminal/Deviant Behavior: A Meta-Analysis," in vol. 50 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Cooperative Criminology (Issue #6) pp 672-690 (December 2006).
"[M]ale children of smokers were twice as likely to commit violent crimes, or repeatedly engage in criminal behavior."—American Journal of Psychiatry, June 1999 (reporting data from Finland).
Smoker mothers "have sons who are more likely to be criminals than [mothers] who don't [smoke during pregnancy, showing] a connection between the amount of maternal prenatal smoking and arrests for nonviolent and violent crimes."—Archives of Internal Medicine (March 1999).
A 1997 study had likewise linked maternal smoking and subsequent aggression by the child. See Jacob F. Orlebeke, Dirk L. Knol, and Frank C. Verhulst, "Increase in child behavior problems resulting from maternal smoking during pregnancy," 52 Archives of Environmental Health (#4) 317-321 (July/Aug. 1997). See also data showing that having an abortion helps reduce the rate of violent crime.

Mother's Status Child Conduct Disorders
Nonsmoker 40%
Under 10 Cigarettes Daily 70%
10 or More Cigarettes Daily 81%
—University of Chicago Study, reported Jan 1996

Tobacco "endangereth the child to become brain damaged or of imperfect memory."—Sir Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum: A Natural History, in Ten Centuries (London: Wm. Lee, 1626). Bacon (1561-1626) was an English writer and leader under Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. This type data was already then known in medicine.
"There are certainly studies documenting the different growth and brain development [of children whose mothers smoke while pregnant]."—Pamela Spry, Certified Nurse-Midwife, Hutzel Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, USA. "Babies of women who smoke tend to have less brain development, a lower birth weight, and less growth. Smokers also tend to have more problems with premature births, and the placenta separating during pregnancy. Women who smoke restrict the amount of oxygen going to the unborn child. Tar, nicotine, carbon dioxide, and other harmful substances replace the oxygen, Spry said."—Kristin Storey, "Smoke now, pay later with bratty children?," The Detroit News (10 Jan 1996), p 3J.
"In 1929 Knopf suggested that smoking itself might adversely affect the developing child.” See Beulah R. Bewley, “Smoking in Pregnancy,” 288 Brit Med J (#6415) 424-426 (11 Feb 1984).
“No reasonable doubt now remains that smoking in pregnancy has adverse effects on the developing fetus. The effects range from retardation of fetal growth and prematurity to an increased risk of perinatal death from all causes. . . . This view is supported by a report of an increased incidence of spontaneous abortion among smokers.” See “Smoking Hazard to the Fetus, Brit Med J (#5850) 369-370 (17 Feb 1973).
Smoking by the mother reduces uterine blood flow, so deprives the unborn of oxygen and reduces its blood pressure. See 136 Am J Obstet Gynecol (#8) 1009 (15 April 1980). Tobacco carcinogens invading the placenta foreseeably cause cancer in childhood or later life. See The Lancet (#8186) 123 (19 July 1980).
"Smoking during pregnancy is associated with reduced fetal growth and perinatal death, indicating impaired placental function."—S Cnattinguis, B Haglund, O. Meirik, "Cigarette Smoking as Risk Factor for Late Fetal And Early Neonatal Death. 297 Brit Med J 258-261 (1998).
"Smoking in pregnancy increases perinatal morbidity and mortality."—Christiane Pfarrer, Lena Macara, Rudolf Leiser, John Kingdom Adaptive Angiogenesis in Placentas of Heavy Smokers, 354 The Lancet (# 9175) 303 (24 July 1999).
"Each year, use of tobacco products is responsible for an estimated 19,000 to 141,000 tobacco-induced birth defects . . . . . Tobacco use is an important preventable cause of birth defects."—Joseph R. DiFranza and Robert A. Lew, "Effect of Maternal Cigarette on Pregnancy Complications and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome," 40 Journal of Family Practice 385-394 (1995).
There "is an association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and altered auditory-based behavior in offspring that extends from birth to at least early adolescence."--Peter Fried, Ltr, "Cigarette Smoke Exposure and Hearing Loss." 260 J Am Med Assn (#11) 963 (16 Sep 1998).
“Children with smoking parents went binge drinking at almost twice the rate of non-smoking parents, double the drinking in pubs, higher use of cannabis and double the rate of hard drug misuse. They also are twice as likely to truant and steal, cause more vandalism and, more importantly, 46 per cent, compared with 18 per cent of children of non-smoking parents, had under-age sex and 19 per cent, compared with six per cent, had unprotected sex. There are some socioeconomic factors linked to these findings - smokers generally have less good jobs than non-smokers and have higher unemployment. It is not the economics as such, but it seems it is the message that these parents inadvertently give their children. Parents who smoke should be aware of the linked consequence,” says Professor Colin Pritchard, Ph.D., quoted in “Children of smokers are linked to bad behaviour” (Edinburgh News, 31 August 2006); and "Smokers' kids 'are yobs'" (The Sun 31 August 2006).
And, "researchers have built a strong statistical case over the past several years that pregnant women who smoke put their unborn babies at greater risk of developing a cleft." Evidence finds that "women who smoke during pregnancy and carry a fetus whose DNA lacks both copies of a gene involved in detoxifying cigarette smoke substantially increase their baby’s chances of being born with a cleft lip and/or palate." Reference Dr. Jeff Murray, et al., in "Scientists Discover How Maternal Smoking Can Cause Cleft Lip and Palate (American Journal of Human Genetics and National Institutes of Health (NIH) and WebWire, 3 January 2007). Sad to say: "In the United States, about one in every 750 babies is born with isolated, also called nonsyndromic, cleft lip and/or palate. The condition is correctable but typically requires several surgeries. Families often undergo tremendous emotional and economic hardship during the process, and children frequently require many other services, including complex dental care and speech therapy."
The causation process includes (a) the toxic chemicals in tobacco and (b) tobacco-induced brain damage.
Tobacco smoke contains numerous teratogenic substances which double the risk of fetal malformations. Toxic substances are concentrated higher in second-hand smoke than in first-hand smoke. Carbon monoxide has about 200 times greater affinity to blood hemoglobin than oxygen (O²). An increased level of carbon monoxide in maternal blood seriously reduces the blood's hemoglobin's ability to transport O². When there is oxygen deficiency, there is an increased risk of premature birth or malformations such as schistasis. Smoking increases the risk of abortion. The magnitude of the danger arises as more than half of fetuses are more or less exposed to harmful substances passing the placenta due to first hand or second-hand smoking behavior. See Wenderlein, JM, "Rauchen und Schwangershaft [Smoking and Pregnancy]," 89 Zeitschrift Fur Arztliche Fortbildung (Jena) (#5) 467-471 (October 1995).
And "smoking impairs oxygen transport via an increase in carboxyhaemoglobin."— P. W. Soothill, W. Morafa, G. A. Ayida, and C. H. Rodeck, "Maternal Smoking and Fetal Carboxyhaemoglobin and Blood Gas Levels," 103 Br J Obstet Gynaecol 78-82 (1996).
Considerable evidence indicates that the chemicals in tobacco smoke are capable of producing deleterious changes in the placenta and fetus. See R. A. Walsh, "Effects of Maternal Smoking on Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: Examination of the Criteria of Causation," 66 Hum Biol (GDV) (#6) 1059-1092 (December 1994).
"The [result] of maternal smoking is seen most readily in underweight newborns, in high rates of perinatal morbidity, mortality and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and in persistent deficits in learning and behavior. . . .
"nicotine itself is a neuroteratogen, thus providing a causative link between tobacco exposure and and adverse perinatal outcomes.
"[Note] a mechanistic dissection of the role played by nicotine in fetal brain damage. Nicotine targets specifc neurotransmitter receptors in the fetal brain, eliciting abnormalities of cell proliferation and differentiation, leading to shortfalls in the number of cells and eventually to altered synaptic activity. . . .
"adverse effects of nicotine involve multiple neurotransitter pathways and influence not only the immediate developmental events in fetal brain, but also the eventual programming of synaptic competence.
"Accordingly, defects may appear after a prolonged period of apparent normality, leading to cognitive and learning defects childhood or adolescence.
"Comparable alterations occur in peripheral autonomic pathways, leading to increased susceptibility to hypoxia-induced brain damage, perinatal mortality and Sudden Infant Death.
"Although [people] continue to pay far more attention to fetal cocaine effects than to those of nicotine or tobacco use, a change of focus to concentrate on tobacco could have a disproportionately larger impact on human health."—Theodore A. Slotkin, Dep't of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University Medical Center, "Fetal Nicotine or Cocaine Exposure: Which One is Worse?", 285 J Pharmacol & Experimental Therapeutics (#3) 931-945 (24 March 1998).
Research supported "by USPHS HD-09713 and by a grant from the Smokeless Tobacco Research Council."
See parallel data from 1889, at our 1894 Education Site.

There is a significant correlation between maternal smoking and the occurrence of conduct disorders in children between the ages of 16 and 18. "Children whose mothers smoked one pack of cigarettes or more per day during their pregnancy had mean rates of conduct disorder symptoms that were twice as high as those found among children born to mothers who did not smoke during their pregnancy." The link was stronger for male teens than for females. See David Fergusson, Lianne Woodward, and L. John Horwood, "Maternal smoking during pregnancy and psychiatric adjustment in late adolescence," 55 Archives of General Psychiatry 721-727 (August 1998).
There is a dose-dependent association between prenatal cigarette exposure and lower overall intelligence scores. In particular, children with greater exposure to tobacco have lower scores on verbal IQ measures. Re the post-gateway drug marijuana, usually typically primarily by smokers, exposure before birth appears to impair executive function skills. These skills, believed to be mediated by the frontal lobes of the brain, include impulse control and judgment. See Peter Fried, Barbara Watkinson, and Robert Gray, "Differential effects on cognitive functioning in 9- to 12-year-olds prenatally exposed to cigarettes and marihuana," 20 Neurotoxicology and Teratology (#3) 293-306 (1998).
"Gestational substance abuse poses a significant risk to the physical and mental health of an emerging generation of Americans. Because abuse of cocaine and alcohol seriously threatens fetal health, the state has a strong interest in preventing pregnant women from abusing these substances."—Kristen Rachelle Lichtenberg, "Gestational Substance Abuse: A Call for a Thoughtful Legislative Response," 65 Washington Law Review 377- 396 (April 1990).
Drug dependence does not suddenly occur overnight! A nonsmoker suddenly wants to use crack cocaine! Not so. Drug dependence develops in stages, over a period of years. People who do not use the starter drug, rarely proceed to later drugs in the sequence. Tobacco is an addiction, not a habit, see Ronald M. Davis, M.D., (a health authority during Gov. John Engler's first term), "The Language of Nicotine Addiction: Purging the Word 'Habit' From Our Lexicon," 1 Tobacco Control 163-164 (1992), opposing the tobacco lobby/media lie that smoking is merely a habit.
Cigarettes contain toxic chemicals. Those toxic chemicals impair impulse and ethical controls, i.e., cause abulia (addiction). But there is some mythology out there among laymen as to which drug is the earliest used by children. Is it alcohol? tobacco, or marijuana? The solution is to read material that actually covers that exact point, the age of onset issue. Here is what such analyses have found: It is typical that cigarettes are the starting point. They are the delivery agent for nicotine, the gateway (starter) drug for children. The average age of onset is 12. Next in sequence, alcohol follows, average age 12.6; then marijuana, average age 14.
Professionals and people who are sincere about wanting to prevent drug abuse, recognize that intervention must needs be occurring at the earliest stage—cigarettes. (Think about it; they wouldn't be citing issues of intervention at early stages, if stages were not something that is occurring!)
See, e.g., DHEW National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Research on Smoking Behavior, Research Monograph 17, Publication ADM 78-581, p vi (Dec 1977); DuPont, Teen Drug Use, 102 J Pediatrics 1003-1007 (June 1983); Fleming, et al., Cigarettes' Role in The Initiation And Progression Of Early Substance Use, 14 Addictive Behaviors 261-272 (1989); and DHHS, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: Surgeon General Report (1994). Page 10 supports law enforcement, saying, "Illegal sales of tobacco products are common."
There is a pattern in birth defects: cigarettes. The same people—smokers—are involved in many common situations—bodily injuries and deaths due to cigarettes' toxic chemicals. It is mostly smokers who commit the crimes. And, sadly, their tobacco-injured children, as shown results when mothers smoke, reported by Lauren S. Wakschlag, Ph.D., Benjamin B. Lahey, Ph.D., Bennett L. Leventhal, M.D., Rolf Loeber, Ph.D., in Arch Gen Psychiatry (July 1997). Wakschlag, et al., were saying about the same as Brennan, et al., 56 Arch Gen Psychiatry 215-219 (March 1999).
Smokers are typically the same people who kill nonsmokers with lung cancer, and whose children die of SIDS. In addition, maternal smoking doubles the risk of attention deficit disorder (ADD), as shown in the study by Sharon Milberger, Sc.D., Joseph Biederman, M.D., Stephen V. Faraone, Ph.D., Lisa Chen, B.A., and Janice Jones, B.A., "Is Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy a Risk Factor for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children?" 153 Am J Psychiatry (#9) 1138-1142 (September 1996).
"Maternal smoking during pregnancy has been hypothesized as an environmental factor asssociated with child behavioral and cognitive problems. This postulate is based on the belief that exposure to nicotine, the most potent psychoactive component of tobacco, causes damage to the brain at critical times in the developmental process" (p 1138).
"Smoking has been shown to increase the level of carboxyhemoglobin in both meternal and fetal blood, resulting in fetal hypoxia. Moreover, it has been shown that nicotine freely crosses the placenta, and it is now believed that the human fetus is actually exposed to a higher nicotine concentration than the smoking mother" (p 1139).
"[Those] whose mothers smoked during pregnancy had significantly lower IQs than [those] whose mothers did not smoke during pregnancy. . . . Our results are consistent with a body of literature linking maternal smoking during pregnancy and long-term behavioral, cognitive, and medical problems in children. Moreover, our results extend the literature by showing a positive relationship between maternal smoking during pregnancy and the diagnosis of ADHD, not just behavioral symptoms," p 1140.
". . . . the basic sciences . . . show that exposure to nicotine leads to an animal model of hyperactivity in rats," p 1140.
". . . findings . . . proposed in the context of schizophrenia [are consistent with this study]. . . Some investigators have stressed that it is chronic exposures during pregnancy, particularly those producing hypoxia, that are most associated with neuropsychiatric impairment. Our findings are consistent with this conjecture because smoking is known to yield hypoxia," p 1140.
Finally, "there can be little dispute that maternal smoking during pregnancy precedes the ADHD in children," p 1141.
"Many drugs taken by the mother pass directly to the fetus. Research shows that a mother's use of cigarettes, alcohol, or other drugs during pregnancy may have damaging effects on the unborn child. Therefore, to prevent potential harm to developing babies, the U.S. Public Health Service supports efforts to make people aware of the possible dangers of smoking, drinking, and using drugs.
"Scientists have found that mothers who smoke during pregnancy may be more likely to bear smaller babies. This is a concern because small newborns, usually those weighing less than 5 pounds, tend to be at risk for a variety of problems, including learning disorders.
"Alcohol also may be dangerous to the fetus' developing brain. It appears that alcohol may distort the developing neurons. Heavy alcohol use during pregnancy has been linked to fetal alcohol syndrome, a condition that can lead to low birth weigh, intellectual impairment, hyperactivity, and certain physical defects. Any alcohol use during pregnancy, however, may influence the child's development and lead to problems with learning, attention, memory, or problem solving. Because scientists have not yet identified "safe" levels, alcohol should be used cautiously by women who are pregnant or who may soon become pregnant.
"Drugs such as cocaine—especially in its smokable form known as crack—seem to affect the normal development of brain receptors. These brain cell parts help to transmit incoming signals from our skin, eyes, and ears, and help regulate our physical response to the environment. Because children with certain learning disabilities have difficulty understanding speech sounds or letters, some researchers believe that learning disabilities, as well as ADHD, may be related to faulty receptors. Current research points to drug abuse as a possible cause of receptor damage."—U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Learning Disabilities, NIH Publication No. 93-3611 (1993).
"Striking evidence of damage to fetal arteries from a woman’s cigarette smoking during pregnancy was shown . . . by researcher Ewoud Zwoisman . . . in scanning electron micrographs of umbilical arteries from infants born to mothers who smoked 10 or more cigarettes a day. . . . The changes . . . involved abnormal arrangement of the endothelial cells lining the intima. Many of them showed destruction . . . ‘Some of the cells . . . were irregularly shaped, abnormally large, and had very rough fissured surfaces, to which adhered aggregates of thrombocytes, fibrin, and a few red blood cells. In none of the nonsmoking mothers’ umbilical arteries did we see such damage.’”
‘It doesn’t surprise me that someone has found that smoking damages arteries,’ says Dr. Carl G. Becker, a professor of pathology at New York City’s Cornell Medical College.” And ‘’‘their results do jibe with other research being done in the U.S. and abroad. . . . That fetal vessels are injured . . . goes along with what we know about the low birth weights and high incidence of congenital malformations and premature separations among babies of women who smoke.’” See “When Mom Smokes, Umbilical Cells Shrivel,” 22 Medical World News (#1) 37-38 (5 January 1981).

Sadly, “physical and mental retardation due to smoking in pregnancy has been found, and this deficit increases with the number of cigarettes smoked after the fourth month of pregnancy. . . . It is now widely accepted that maternal smoking in pregnancy is associated with both a reduction in birth weight and an increase in perinatal mortality. Moreover, if it is accepted that the relation with birth weight and perinatal mortality is ‘causal,’ it would seem reasonable to accept a similar conclusion regarding the longer term effects of maternal smoking on child development.”—N. R. Butler, and H. Goldstein, “Smoking in Pregnancy and Subsequent Child Development,” 4 Brit Med J 573-575 (8 Dec 1973).

See also Fried, PA; Watkinson, B; Siegel, LS, "Reading and Language in 9 - 12 Year Olds Prenatally Exposed to Cigarettes and Marijuana," 19 Neurotoxicol Teratol 171-183 (1997)
Fried, PA; Watkinson, B; Gray, R, "Differential Effects on Cognitive Functioning in 9 to 12 Year Olds Prenatally Exposed to Cigarettes and Marihuana," 20 Neurotoxicol Teratol 293-306 (1998).

"The pharmacology of nicotine has been carefully studied . . . in analyzing the autonomic nervous system. [It] is a potent and rapid acting poison . . . a vast literature on this alkaloid has accumulated since its discovery in 1828."—W. Kalow, M.D., Professor of Pharmacology, University of Toronto, "Some Aspects of the Pharmacology of Nicotine," 4 Applied Therapeutics (#10) 930-932 (Oct 1962).
"Smoking mothers have smaller than average babies," citing C. R. Lowe, "Effects of Mothers' Smoking Habits on Birth Weight of Their Children," 2 Brit Med J 673 (1959). "Smoking tends to reduce body weight," citing H. B. Haag, P. S. Larson, and J. H. Weatherby, "The Effect on Rats of Chronic Exposure to Cigrette Smoke," 90 Ann New York Acad Sci 227 (1960). And "one of the responsible factors is a suppression of hunger and appetite." "Hunger contractions of the stomach are abolished by smoking," citing J. C. Schnedorf and A. C. Ivy, "The Effect of Tobacco Smoking on the Alimentary Tract: An Experimental Study of Man and Animals," 112 J Am Med Assn 898 (1939).
"No evils are so manifestly visited upon the third and fourth generations [Exodus 20:4-5 allusion] as the evils which spring from the use of tobacco."—Sir Benjamin C. Brodie (1783-1862). He was Surgeon to British King George IV, William IV, and Queen Victoria. A comparable modern position is U.S. Surgeon General.
Dr. Brodie served under the British royal dynasty, the House of Hanover. The prior dynasty had been the House of Stuart. What had happened to the Stuart dynasty? Answer: The last Stuart monarch had been a snuffer. That was Queen Anne (1665-1714, reigned, 1702-1714). Anne was a snuff-user. ALL her children, all 15, died.
1684-1688, 4 miscarriages, 2 dead within hours of birth
William, born 24 July 1689, died 29 July 1700 (age 11)
1689-1696, 6 miscarriages, 2 dead within hours of birth

Since snuffer Anne was in bad health herself (no surprise!) and clearly not leaving a surviving heir to the throne, Britain became much concerned as to who would be her successor. In 1701, Britain passed a law, a succession act, to transfer the dynasty to the House of Hanover, so as to ensure a successor! Anne died young, age 49½. Thus ended the House of Stuart (begun by Bible-translation-sponsor and anti-tobacco writer King James I!). The dynasty change led to the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II (1952-____), whose father, George VI, died of tobacco use!
See also "Smoking outside 'harms children'" (BBC Online, 11 February 2004); and "Slipping outside for a cigarette fails to protect children's health" (by Tara Womersley, The Scotsman, 11 February 2004).
A useful book for laymen by Drs. Peter Fried and Harry Oxorn, Smoking for Two (Cambridge, Ontario: Collier MacMillan Canada, Inc., 1981) provides background on smoking, effects of involuntary smoking, and a discussion of changes in neonatal behavior due to the mother's smoking.
Women a century and half ago were warned to not marry smokers.
Truly, the 1626 analysis by Sir Francis Bacon has been shown correct: Tobacco "endangereth the child to become brain damaged or of imperfect memory."--Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum: A Natural History, in Ten Centuries (London: Wm. Lee, 1626). [See excerpt, and analysis.]
Due to the dumbing-down of education, some people feel that the tobacco link to birth defects is a new discovery. This 1626 data shows otherwise, and makes the point, "When something 'new' in medical literature is published, it is a wise precaution to read previous literature on the subject—that 'something new' may not really be new," a quote from Alison B. Froese and Prof. A. Charles Bryan, "High Frequency Ventilation," 123 Am Rev Resp Dis (#3) 249-250 (March 1981); cf. Ecclesiastes 1:9-11. This is especially so in view of politicians' and media mass censorship and/or disinformation that conceals so many tobacco effects, and causes loss of awareness of what was previously known.
Birth defects are part of the cigarette-pusher-caused total genocide problem. Cigarettes contain toxic chemicals including radioactivity. The World Health Organization deems tobacco smoking conduct (alias environmental tobacco smoke) a real and substantial threat to child health, causing death and suffering throughout the world. To fight birth defects, we must fight the common enemy in all these matters:

AIDS Alcoholism Alzheimer's Brain Damage
Corruption Crime Divorce Drugs
Genocide Heart Disease Holocaust Lung Cancer
Mental Disorder Seat-Belt Nonuse SIDS Suicide

There is nothing complicated about preventing birth defects. Prevention is simple. Ban cigarettes. Tennessee did in 1897. When the tobacco lobby objected, the courts upheld the law, in Austin v State, 101 Tenn 563; 566-7; 48 SW 305, 306; 70 Am St Rep 703 (1898) affirmed 179 US 343 (1900). Then issues such as "Anger at smoke filled ward where babies inhale first breaths" (13 July 2012) do not arise.
Soon a Michigan birth defects prevention act followed. A Michigan law bans the cigarette factor in birth defects. Michigan Governor Engler [1991-2002] and staff were paper supportive of action to enforce that law, issuing five pertinent memoranda:

Exec Order 1992-3 Law Support Letter # 1 Anti-Cigarette Smuggling Finding Law Support Letter # 2 Governor's Overview

The problem is that Gov. Engler, successor Gov. Granholm, and staff did and do nothing to initiate real ENFORCEMENT of the law—and will continue to do nothing, unless and until they are repeatedly written letters seeking enforcement—action vs mere paper support.
"Most smokers do not view themselves at increased risk of heart disease or cancer." John P. Ayanian, M.D., M.P.P., Paul J. Cleary, Ph.D., "Perceived Risks of Heart Disease and Cancer Among Cigarette Smokers," 281 J Am Med Ass'n (#11) 1019-1021 (17 March 1999). Wherefore, as smokers do not perceive these basic dangers, they definitely do not realize the danger that smoking poses to nonsmokers such as their unborn children in other ways such as this. Wherefore nonsmokers'—children and adults—only advance protection is enforcement of pertinent cigarette control laws, including prosecution of the pushers on murder charges pursuant to the transferred intent doctrine.
To protect all of us, seek prosecution for the deaths of smokers and other nonsmokers killed by cigarettes. After-the-fact prosecution of the killer(s) is too little, too late for those already deceased, but it can serve to protect you and your family. Providing money damages to survivors of some smokers killed by cigarettes, while essential and better than nothing, is erratic in the judicial system, and does not vindicate the laws against intentional poisonings and killings, does not fully protect YOU or your family. To protect all of us, it is essential that your area prosecutors be caused to enforce the laws against poisoning and murder.
Prosecutor action is necessary as private litigation lacks the resources and credibility to do criminal prosecution. See the failure in cases such as McSorley v Philip Morris, Inc, 170 App Div 2d 440; 565 NYS2d 537 (4 Feb 1991) app dism 77 NY2d 990; 571 NYS2d 915; 575 NE2d 401 (9 May 1991), despite evidence of tobacco company practice of failure to warn of foreseeable harm to unborn fetus).
Cigarettes' foreseeable effects are
"natural and probable consequences" thus
"intended by the manufacturer" as our webpage
on lawbook definitions of such terms shows,
thus making birth defects a criminal law matter.

What this site is asking is your help in (a) getting the Michigan birth defects prevent act enforced, and (b) getting all other governments to pass the same law in their areas. Please help us save lives, prevent premature deaths, by preventing unsafe cigarettes and their role in birth defects.
To do so, here are four sample letters. Sample "A" is to Governor Rick Snyder, M.B.A., J.D., asking him to have the State Police enforce the law. Sample "B" is to Attorney General William Schuette asking him to enforce the law. Each has the authority to help. As both the Governor and Attorney General are lawyers, the letters are written in "legalese." Sample letter "C" is to the Michigan State Police Director asking for enforcement. Sample letter "D" is different, and is for you to send where the government still ignores the cigarettes-birth defects link. It is to be sent to the President, Congress, other Governors, and state legislators.

* * * Sample Letter A * * *
Honorable Rick Snyder
Governor, State of Michigan
P. O. Box 30013
Lansing MI 48909-7513
Dear Governor Snyder:
This is a request that, to help prevent one of the risk factors in birth defects—cigarette use, you assign the Michigan State Police to enforce the cigarette control law, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216.
Perhaps one of the worst birth defects a parent can pass on is this: "Maternal prenatal smoking predicts persistent criminal outcome in male offspring."—Brennan, et al., 56 Arch Gen Psychiatry 215-219 (March 1999).
"Gestational substance abuse poses a significant risk to the physical and mental health of an emerging generation of Americans. Because abuse of cocaine and alcohol seriously threatens fetal health, the state has a strong interest in preventing pregnant women from abusing these substances."—Kristen Rachelle Lichtenberg, "Gestational Substance Abuse: A Call for a Thoughtful Legislative Response," 65 Washington Law Review 377- 396 (April 1990).
Drug dependence does not suddenly occur overnight! A nonsmoker suddenly wants to use crack cocaine! Not so. Drug dependence develops in stages, over a period of years. People who do not use the starter drug, rarely proceed to later drugs in the sequence. Tobacco is an addiction, not a habit, see Ronald M. Davis, M.D., "The Language of Nicotine Addiction: Purging the Word 'Habit' From Our Lexicon," 1 Tobacco Control 163-164 (1992).
There is some mythology out there among laymen as to which drug is the earliest used by children. Is it alcohol? tobacco, or marijuana? Let's read material that actually covers that exact point, the age of onset issue. Here is what such analyses have found: It is typical that cigarettes are the starting point. they are delivery agent for nicotine, the gateway (starter) drug for children. The average age of onset is 12. Next in sequence, alcohol follows, average age 12.6; then marijuana, average age 14. See, e.g., DHEW National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Research on Smoking Behavior, Research Monograph 17, Publication ADM 78-581, p vi (Dec 1977); DuPont, Teen Drug Use, 102 J Pediatrics 1003-1007 (June 1983); Fleming, et al., Cigarettes' Role in The Initiation And Progression Of Early Substance Use, 14 Addictive Behaviors 261-272 (1989); and DHHS, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: Surgeon General Report (1994). Page 10 supports law enforcement, saying, "Illegal sales of tobacco products are common."
"Most smokers do not view themselves at increased risk of heart disease or cancer." John P. Ayanian, M.D., M.P.P., Paul J. Cleary, Ph.D., "Perceived Risks of Heart Disease and Cancer Among Cigarette Smokers," 281 J Am Med Ass'n (#11) 1019-1021 (17 March 1999). Wherefore, as smokers do not perceive these basic dangers, they definitely do not realize the danger that smoking poses to nonsmokers such as their unborn children in other ways such as this. Wherefore nonsmokers'—children and adults—only advance protection is enforcement of pertinent cigarette control laws
Cigarettes are a risk factor in birth defects, as shown in a recent study by Joseph R. DiFranza and Robert A. Lew, "Effect of Maternal Cigarette on Pregnancy Complications and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome," in 40 Journal of Family Practice 385-394 (1995). That study found that "Each year, use of tobacco products is responsible for an estimated 19,000 to 141,000 tobacco-induced birth defects . . . . . Tobacco use is an important preventable cause of birth defects."
Cigarettes are not only the overall No. 1 cause of premature death, they also have a role in birth defects. The cigarette-birth defects link occurs because of cigarettes' numerous toxic chemicals. The safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, bans unsafe cigarettes. It forbids "any person within the state" from action that "manufactures, sells or gives to anyone, any cigarette containing any ingredient deleterious to health or foreign to tobacco . . . ." Please, as an birth defects prevention measure, assign the Michigan State Police to enforce it, and aid county sheriffs and local police departments to do likewise.
All cigarettes are deleterious, their label admits they are, and most if not all are adulterated with additives. MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, puts personal responsibility on those with most knowledge of the contraband substance (manufacturers and sellers), not on unwary consumers, often children.
State Police enforcement action is a normal action that they do in other state-wide law violation situations. There are precedents as well. Austin v State, 101 Tenn 563; 48 SW 305; 70 Am St Rep 703 (1898) aff'd 179 US 343 (1898); Shimp v N J Bell Tele Co, 145 N J Super 516; 368 A2d 408 (1976); Commonwealth v Hughes, 468 Pa 502; 364 A2d 306 (1976); and Smith v Western Elec Co, 643 SW2d 10, 13 (Mo App, 1982).
As a matter of preventing birth defects, the Michigan safe cigarettes law needs to be enforced. Please help. The law against this deleterious and adulterated product needs to be enforced. Please assign the State Police to protect abulic smokers, children, and nonsmokers, by enforcing the safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216. Please have them halt the rampant violations, and interdict deleterious and adulterated cigarettes.
Respectfully,

* * * Sample Letter B * * *
Honorable William Schuette
Attorney General, State of Michigan
P. O. Box 30213
Lansing MI 48909
Dear Attorney General Schuette:
This is a request that, to help prevent one of the risk factors in birth defects—cigarette use, you take "cease and desist" action to stop violations of the safe cigarettes law, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216.
Perhaps one of the worst birth defects a parent can pass on is this: "Maternal prenatal smoking predicts persistent criminal outcome in male offspring."—Brennan, et al., 56 Arch Gen Psychiatry 215-219 (March 1999).
"Gestational substance abuse poses a significant risk to the physical and mental health of an emerging generation of Americans. Because abuse of cocaine and alcohol seriously threatens fetal health, the state has a strong interest in preventing pregnant women from abusing these substances."—Kristen Rachelle Lichtenberg, "Gestational Substance Abuse: A Call for a Thoughtful Legislative Response," 65 Washington Law Review 377- 396 (April 1990).
Drug dependence does not suddenly occur overnight! A nonsmoker suddenly wants to use crack cocaine! Not so. Drug dependence develops in stages, over a period of years. People who do not use the starter drug, rarely proceed to later drugs in the sequence. Tobacco is an addiction, not a habit, see Ronald M. Davis, M.D., "The Language of Nicotine Addiction: Purging the Word 'Habit' From Our Lexicon," 1 Tobacco Control 163-164 (1992).
There is some mythology out there among laymen as to which drug is the earliest used by children. Is it alcohol? tobacco, or marijuana? Let's read material that actually covers that exact point, the age of onset issue. Here is what such analyses have found: It is typical that cigarettes are the starting point. they are delivery agent for nicotine, the gateway (starter) drug for children. The average age of onset is 12. Next in sequence, alcohol follows, average age 12.6; then marijuana, average age 14. See, e.g., DHEW National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Research on Smoking Behavior, Research Monograph 17, Publication ADM 78-581, p vi (Dec 1977); DuPont, Teen Drug Use, 102 J Pediatrics 1003-1007 (June 1983); Fleming, et al., Cigarettes' Role in The Initiation And Progression Of Early Substance Use, 14 Addictive Behaviors 261-272 (1989); and DHHS, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: Surgeon General Report (1994). Page 10 supports law enforcement, saying, "Illegal sales of tobacco products are common."
"Most smokers do not view themselves at increased risk of heart disease or cancer." John P. Ayanian, M.D., M.P.P., Paul J. Cleary, Ph.D., "Perceived Risks of Heart Disease and Cancer Among Cigarette Smokers," 281 J Am Med Ass'n (#11) 1019-1021 (17 March 1999). Wherefore, as smokers do not perceive these basic dangers, they definitely do not realize the danger that smoking poses to nonsmokers such as their unborn children in other ways such as this. Wherefore nonsmokers'—children and adults—only advance protection is enforcement of pertinent cigarette control laws
Cigarettes are a risk factor in birth defects, as shown in a recent study by Joseph R. DiFranza and Robert A. Lew, "Effect of Maternal Cigarette on Pregnancy Complications and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome," in 40 Journal of Family Practice 385-394 (1995). That study found that "Each year, use of tobacco products is responsible for an estimated 19,000 to 141,000 tobacco-induced birth defects . . . . . Tobacco use is an important preventable cause of birth defects."
Cigarettes are not only the overall No. 1 cause of premature death, they also have a role in birth defects. The cigarette-birth defects link occurs because of cigarettes' numerous toxic chemicals. The safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, bans unsafe cigarettes. It forbids "any person within the state" from action that "manufactures, sells or gives to anyone, any cigarette containing any ingredient deleterious to health or foreign to tobacco . . . ." Please, as an birth defects prevention measure, take "cease and desist" action to stop the rampant violations of the law. "Cease and desist" action is an action you take in other state-wide law violation cases. Please, as an birth defects prevention measure, do that in this situation.
All cigarettes are deleterious, their label admits they are, and most if not all are adulterated with additives. MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, puts personal responsibility on those with most knowledge of the contraband substance (manufacturers and sellers), not on unwary consumers, often children.
"Cease and desist" action is a normal action that you do in other state-wide law violation situations. There are precedents, for example, Austin v State, 101 Tenn 563; 48 SW 305; 70 Am St Rep 703 (1898) aff'd 179 US 343 (1898); Shimp v N J Bell Tele Co, 145 N J Super 516; 368 A2d 408 (1976); Commonwealth v Hughes, 468 Pa 502; 364 A2d 306 (1976); and Smith v Western Elec Co, 643 SW2d 10, 13 (Mo App, 1982).
As a matter of preventing birth defects, the Michigan safe cigarettes law needs to be enforced. Please help. The law against this deleterious and adulterated product needs to be enforced. Please take "cease and desist" action to protect abulic smokers, children, and nonsmokers, by enforcing the safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216. Please take "cease and desist" action to halt the rampant violations.
Respectfully,
* * * Sample Letter C * * *
Col. Kristie Etue, Director
Department of State Police
333 S. Grand Ave.
P. O. Box 30634
Lansing, MI 48909-0634
Dear Col. Etue:
This is a request that, to help prevent one of the risk factors in birth defects—cigarette use, you assign officers to enforce the safe cigarettes law, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216.
Perhaps one of the worst birth defects a parent can pass on is this: "Maternal prenatal smoking predicts persistent criminal outcome in male offspring."—Brennan, et al., 56 Arch Gen Psychiatry 215-219 (March 1999).
"Gestational substance abuse poses a significant risk to the physical and mental health of an emerging generation of Americans. Because abuse of cocaine and alcohol seriously threatens fetal health, the state has a strong interest in preventing pregnant women from abusing these substances."—Kristen Rachelle Lichtenberg, "Gestational Substance Abuse: A Call for a Thoughtful Legislative Response," 65 Washington Law Review 377- 396 (April 1990).
Drug dependence does not suddenly occur overnight! A nonsmoker suddenly wants to use crack cocaine! Not so. Drug dependence develops in stages, over a period of years. People who do not use the starter drug, rarely proceed to later drugs in the sequence. Tobacco is an addiction, not a habit, see Ronald M. Davis, M.D., "The Language of Nicotine Addiction: Purging the Word 'Habit' From Our Lexicon," 1 Tobacco Control 163-164 (1992).
There is some mythology out there among laymen as to which drug is the earliest used by children. Is it alcohol? tobacco, or marijuana? Let's read material that actually covers that exact point, the age of onset issue. Here is what such analyses have found: It is typical that cigarettes are the starting point. they are delivery agent for nicotine, the gateway (starter) drug for children. The average age of onset is 12. Next in sequence, alcohol follows, average age 12.6; then marijuana, average age 14. See, e.g., DHEW National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Research on Smoking Behavior, Research Monograph 17, Publication ADM 78-581, p vi (Dec 1977); DuPont, Teen Drug Use, 102 J Pediatrics 1003-1007 (June 1983); Fleming, et al., Cigarettes' Role in The Initiation And Progression Of Early Substance Use, 14 Addictive Behaviors 261-272 (1989); and DHHS, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: Surgeon General Report (1994). Page 10 supports law enforcement, saying, "Illegal sales of tobacco products are common."
"Most smokers do not view themselves at increased risk of heart disease or cancer." John P. Ayanian, M.D., M.P.P., Paul J. Cleary, Ph.D., "Perceived Risks of Heart Disease and Cancer Among Cigarette Smokers," 281 J Am Med Ass'n (#11) 1019-1021 (17 March 1999). Wherefore, as smokers do not perceive these basic dangers, they definitely do not realize the danger that smoking poses to nonsmokers such as their unborn children in other ways such as this. Wherefore nonsmokers'—children and adults—only advance protection is enforcement of pertinent cigarette control laws
Cigarettes are a risk factor in birth defects, as shown in a recent study by Joseph R. DiFranza and Robert A. Lew, "Effect of Maternal Cigarette on Pregnancy Complications and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome," in 40 Journal of Family Practice 385-394 (1995). That study found that "Each year, use of tobacco products is responsible for an estimated 19,000 to 141,000 tobacco-induced birth defects . . . . . Tobacco use is an important preventable cause of birth defects."
Cigarettes are not only the overall No. 1 cause of premature death, they also have a role in birth defects. The cigarette-birth defects link occurs because of cigarettes' numerous toxic chemicals. The safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, bans unsafe cigarettes. It forbids "any person within the state" from action that "manufactures, sells or gives to anyone, any cigarette containing any ingredient deleterious to health or foreign to tobacco . . . ." Please, as a birth defects prevention measure, work with the Governor, Attorney General, and/or prosecutors; assign officers to enforce the law; and aid county sheriffs and local police departments to do likewise.
All cigarettes are deleterious, their label admits they are, and most if not all are adulterated with additives. MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, puts personal responsibility on those with most knowledge of the contraband substance (manufacturers and sellers), not on unwary consumers, often children.
State Police enforcement action is a normal action that officers do in other state-wide law violation situations. There are precedents as well. Austin v State, 101 Tenn 563; 48 SW 305; 70 Am St Rep 703 (1898) aff'd 179 US 343 (1898); Shimp v N J Bell Tele Co, 145 N J Super 516; 368 A2d 408 (1976); Commonwealth v Hughes, 468 Pa 502; 364 A2d 306 (1976); and Smith v Western Elec Co, 643 SW2d 10, 13 (Mo App, 1982).
As a matter of preventing birth defects, the Michigan safe cigarettes law needs to be enforced. Please help. The law against this deleterious and adulterated product needs to be enforced. Please assign officers to protect abulic smokers, children, and nonsmokers, by enforcing the safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216. Please have them halt the rampant violations, and interdict deleterious and adulterated cigarettes.
Respectfully,
* * * Sample Letter D * * *

President Barack Obama U.S. Senator _______ U.S. Representative __ Governor ___ State Senator __ State Representative __

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Senate Office Building House Office Building State Capitol State Capitol State Capitol

Washington DC 20500 Washington DC 20510 Washington DC 20515 City State Zip City State Zip City State Zip

This is a request that you take action to get a law passed that will serve as an birth defects prevention law. Michigan already has such a law. It is law number MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216. It deals with the cigarette link to birth defects.
Perhaps one of the worst birth defects a parent can pass on is this: "Maternal prenatal smoking predicts persistent criminal outcome in male offspring."—Brennan, et al., 56 Arch Gen Psychiatry 215-219 (March 1999).
"Gestational substance abuse poses a significant risk to the physical and mental health of an emerging generation of Americans. Because abuse of cocaine and alcohol seriously threatens fetal health, the state has a strong interest in preventing pregnant women from abusing these substances."—Kristen Rachelle Lichtenberg, "Gestational Substance Abuse: A Call for a Thoughtful Legislative Response," 65 Washington Law Review 377- 396 (April 1990).
Drug dependence does not suddenly occur overnight! A nonsmoker suddenly wants to use crack cocaine! Not so. Drug dependence develops in stages, over a period of years. People who do not use the starter drug, rarely proceed to later drugs in the sequence. Tobacco is an addiction, not a habit, see Ronald M. Davis, M.D., "The Language of Nicotine Addiction: Purging the Word 'Habit' From Our Lexicon," 1 Tobacco Control 163-164 (1992).
There is some mythology out there among laymen as to which drug is the earliest used by children. Is it alcohol? tobacco, or marijuana? Let's read material that actually covers that exact point, the age of onset issue. Here is what such analyses have found: It is typical that cigarettes are the starting point. they are delivery agent for nicotine, the gateway (starter) drug for children. The average age of onset is 12. Next in sequence, alcohol follows, average age 12.6; then marijuana, average age 14. See, e.g., DHEW National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Research on Smoking Behavior, Research Monograph 17, Publication ADM 78-581, p vi (Dec 1977); DuPont, Teen Drug Use, 102 J Pediatrics 1003-1007 (June 1983); Fleming, et al., Cigarettes' Role in The Initiation And Progression Of Early Substance Use, 14 Addictive Behaviors 261-272 (1989); and DHHS, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: Surgeon General Report (1994). Page 10 supports law enforcement, saying, "Illegal sales of tobacco products are common."
"Most smokers do not view themselves at increased risk of heart disease or cancer." John P. Ayanian, M.D., M.P.P., Paul J. Cleary, Ph.D., "Perceived Risks of Heart Disease and Cancer Among Cigarette Smokers," 281 J Am Med Ass'n (#11) 1019-1021 (17 March 1999). Wherefore, as smokers do not perceive these basic dangers, they definitely do not realize the danger that smoking poses to nonsmokers such as their unborn children in other ways such as this. Wherefore nonsmokers'—children and adults—only advance protection is enforcement of pertinent cigarette control laws
Cigarettes are a risk factor in birth defects, as shown in a recent study by Joseph R. DiFranza and Robert A. Lew, "Effect of Maternal Cigarette on Pregnancy Complications and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome," in 40 Journal of Family Practice 385-394 (1995). That study found that "Each year, use of tobacco products is responsible for an estimated 19,000 to 141,000 tobacco-induced birth defects . . . . . Tobacco use is an important preventable cause of birth defects."
Cigarettes are not only the overall No. 1 cause of premature death, they also have a role in birth defects. The cigarette-birth defects link occurs because of cigarettes numerous toxic chemicals. The Michigan safe cigarettes act, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, bans unsafe cigarettes. Please, as an birth defects prevention measure, get a copy of that law, which in essence forbids "any person within the state [from action that] manufactures, sells or gives to anyone, any cigarette containing any ingredient deleterious to health or foreign to tobacco . . . ."
All cigarettes are deleterious, their label admits they are, and most if not all are adulterated with additives. MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, puts personal responsibility on those with most knowledge of the contraband substance (manufacturers and sellers), not on unwary consumers, often children. Michigan's well-written birth defects prevention act deals with one of the risk factors in birth defects, unsafe cigarettes, and bans them. We need the same law for the protection and benefit of everyone. Smokers should not be discriminated against by being the only people regularly sold a deleterious product. Other deleterious products are recalled and taken off the market.
As a matter of preventing birth defects, everyone needs you to take action to get a safe cigarettes act passed. Please take action to copy the Michigan safe cigarettes law, MCL § 750.27, MSA § 28.216, so all of us can benefit from its wise prevention-oriented approach.
Respectfully,
* * * * *
Please re-type, add recipient addresses where unlisted,
add your name and return address, sign, and mail the above letters.
The person you save may be yourself or your friend.
If you wish, you can use different wording.
* * * * *

For Related Information
Glenn Doman, What to do About Your Brain-Injured Child (New York: Doubleday, 1974)
Burton L. Wheeler, The First Three Years of Life (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1975)
Glenn Doman, How to Teach Your Baby to Read: The Gentle Revolution, 2d ed. (Philadelphia: Better Baby Press, 1979)
Glenn Doman, Teach Your Baby Math (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979)
Burton L. Wheeler, A Parent's Guide to the First Three Years (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1975)
Glenn Doman, How to Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984)
"Hot House People," A Jane Walmsley Production, Ltd., 1987 (TV-32, Ontario: 9-18-89, 9-25-89, 10-2-89, and 10-9-89)

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