[Avodah] Smoking and Other Sakanas

[Harvey Benton]

R. Arie Folger wrote:
RZS wrote:
> IIRC R Bleich wrote an article many years ago arguing that there is no
> precedent for the claim that "venishmartem" applies to actions that pose
> no immediate danger, but only increase the probability of developing a
> disease at some time in the future. ?
 
RAF:
Thus, whereas the 
first cigarette would not be assur on account of a direct piqua'h nefesh.. 

 
HB:  What exactly constitutes an immediate danger, or a direct pikuach nefesh?  Is it 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 2 years, etc.?  What about having unprotected relations (where one might CV die 7-10 years later from AIDS)?  If someone is marrying a non-betulah, do either or both of the parties have to get checked for diseases before marriage?
 
R. Ari discussed living in a polluted city.  What about more immediate sakanas like crime or terrorism?  Is one allowed to live in Sderot (missiles), settlements, or even Crown Heights, NY, if crime levels reach above a certain point?  What about driving on Israeli Roads where there are numerous fatalities (more I believe than from terrorist actions).  Other potentially (immediate) dangerous activities include bungie jumping, motorcycle riding, etc.
 
Where and how do we assign percentages for sakana (R. Ari on living in a pollouted city), and subsequently act on them?  Is a 50 percent sakana the cutoff rate? And 50 percent of what?  Dying in a day, a week or in 20 years? 
 
Finally, Chabad sent Shluchim back to Mumbai after what happened there.  Is a heter required to be there (which also would put others like a Shaliachs family and or Shabbas guests in Sakana)?  What would have to happen (CV) so that a makom would eventually obtain a chazaka of a makom sakana; which I would assume would require immediate action to thereby leave.  HB
 
 
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