What's killed the most people: guns and knives or tobacco?

[Matt]

Over in the Christmas Booty thread I fatuously posted a picture of a pipe into a derail about the popularity of guns and knives. In response, Shameless posted this:

interesting that maybe smoking related items have killed many more folk than guns or knives

Reading that, I suddenly realised that I simply don't have the foggiest if that is true or not. Both tobacco and guns are pretty recent arrivals on the world stage and a quick google confirms that tobacco was mainly only used for irregular and thus less lethal entheogenic and ritual purposes prior to that, but knives...

Now I like a good fermi problem and I like crowdsourcing knowledge, so I thought I'd see just how much of a lead balloon such a question might be,

Anyone interested in trying to firm up the numbers here, because curious minds must know.

[Seriously]

Knock yourself out: (Not literally )


http://www.who.int/mediacentre/facts...en/index2.html

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/facts...en/index3.html


Q: WHO often says that smoking is a top cause of death. Where does tobacco use affect these causes of death?

Tobacco use is a major cause of many of the world’s top killer diseases – including cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive lung disease and lung cancer. In total, tobacco use is responsible for the death of about 1 in 10 adults worldwide. Smoking is often the hidden cause of the disease recorded as responsible for death.


Here's an interesting one:

Diarrhoea is no longer among the 5 leading causes of death, but is still among the top 10, killing 1.5 million people in 2012.

[Chronopolitano]

Diarrhoea is no longer among the 5 leading causes of death, but is still among the top 10, killing 1.5 million people in 2012.

It ain't killing me, but I do indulge in it every once in a while.

[Martin]

What is to be said for tobacco is that the amount of people killed by it by others is far more limited then self-inflicted deaths

[Chronopolitano]

Seems to me, life itself has killed more of everything, including people, than any gun or knife.

[Matt]

Seems to me, life itself has killed more of everything, including people, than any gun or knife.

Phew, I nearly took everyone's advice that I should 'get a life'. Thanks to your timely warning I realise how foolish this advice is.

[pepperami]

Smoking is a good way to keep mosquitos away..they surely have/do kill more people than anything else?

Sent from my GT-I9505

[Bwana]

I'd say religion has killed more people than anything else.

[shameless]

What is to be said for tobacco is that the amount of people killed by it by others is far more limited then self-inflicted deaths

not strictly true either- passive smoking or the inhalation of others smoke has exactly the same the same affect on the inhaler as the smoker and causes the same symptoms , many , many thousands of people every year will die from it , far more than random violent crime - hence the no smoking in public places for most of us which will bring the numbers down - if you are a heavy smoker in your home you are slowly poisoning other family members and the pets also of course

[Rob]

I'd say religion has killed more people than anything else.

Try to resist the urge, if possible.