Effects Of Reducing Cigarette Smoking In America

In the United States, smoking cigarettes is the number one preventable cause of morbidity and death (Bergen, 1999), and accounts for $300 Billion in health care costs and economic productivity loss (Jamal, 2015). While the national smoking rate is 16.8% (CDC, 2016), specific demographics are more susceptible to developing smoking habits: people who live below the poverty line (10.9% higher), disabled or with a limitation (6.2% higher), and males (4.7% higher) (Agaku, 2014).

One of my first memories in the United States was taking a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) class. I was in sixth grade and a top student, as talking about drugs and alcohol and the way they affect us was fascinating to me. This is why, the following year, I volunteered to become a peer educator in Teens Against Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U). For a couple of years, I gave presentations to young students which included facts, demonstrations, and games, to spread the knowledge that tobacco is harmful and that staying away from smoking prolongs life expectancy and increases the quality of life. It should come as no surprise, then, that I consider myself a big proponent of staying tobacco-free and encouraging others to quit smoking as a great way to promote health. I remember watching my mom and sister as they took part in their nightly ritual of smoking a few cigarettes to unwind. “Did you know that a main component of cigarettes is used as rocket fuel?” I would ask them, as I opened the window and they stared back at me blankly. “We know, we know” was the answer every time. I knew that convincing them to quit was no easy task, but I was committed. Day after day, I proudly stated a new fact about the evils of smoking. Finally one day, they quit. At first, they attributed it to the cost. Since we had just immigrated to the United States, the cost of cigarettes was simply not something they could afford. I didn’t believe it. I proudly

Most often seniors in high schools can purchase cigarettes because they are 18, so they distribute them to underclassmen or friends. Nearly 21 percent of high schoolers in public schools smoke cigarettes, which would be about 3.13 million students (Preidt). My survey shows that only four percent, or two out of 49 people admit their addiction to cigarettes. The two students admitted that stress is their reasoning for why they began smoking and continue, but only one has support to end their need to smoke. While the student with assistance is continuing to smoke, they are attempting to stop; however, the effects of smoking are obviously severe (lung disease, cancer, bronchitis, etc.) and cannot continue. Cigarettes may be a partial stress reliever although the permanent and long-term effects should be proof enough that this addiction is a necessity to prevent in our high schoolers even if it is four

Consequences also reach people nonsmokers who are exposed to smoke even involuntarily. Unfortunately, more than 126 million of Americans who don’t smoke are still exposed to the harmful effects of tobacco, whether in their homes by a family member who smokes, or on the streets and in public places by strangers who smoke (CDC, 2007). And the result of this exposure, can be seen in the data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) who reports that more than 600,000 million of deaths are a result of passive smoking, and in 2004, 28% of the children deaths were consequence of second-hand smoke in 2004 (WHO, 2014).

Many drugs are used, misused, and abused in American society today. Some of these carry stigma in the general population, forcing users into an underground drug subculture. Others are accepted and almost promoted under certain circumstances. Tobacco is one of those drugs. Tobacco will be discussed in the context of cigarette smoking. This is not to undermine the existence or danger of other forms of tobacco, but instead to have an exhaustive discussion of cigarette smoking and its societal impact. Cigarettes are a means of inhaling tobacco, where it enters the lungs and is absorbed through the blood vessels, traveling to the heart, from which it is finally pumped to the brain (Hogan, Gabrielsen, Luna, and Grothaus 2003:76). Cigarettes are detrimental to society because they not only affect the user who chooses to smoke; they impact people around them through second-hand and residual smoke. The damage done by cigarettes is not impossible to address. Successful prevention measures are already in place, but this paper intends to suggest other more direct measures, especially related to statutory regulations.

The Institute of Medicine found that children, who are born between 2000 and 2019, would suffer 249,000 fewer premature deaths and 45,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer, when the legal age to purchase tobacco is increased from 18 to 21 years old (atg.wa.gov 2016). Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S, which causes many chronic health complications such as heart disease, cancer, and lung disease (atg.wa.gov 2016). Raising the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21 in Washington state will decrease the use later in adult life specifically, ages 15 to 17 who are targeted the most through tobacco companies due to their vulnerability and gives loyalty to a specific tobacco company from the addiction of nicotine. Needham, Massachusetts campaigned to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 in 2005 and won. Results are already compelling, showing that between 2006 and 2012 Needham’s high school smoking rate dropped more than half among girls and boys (atg.wa.gov 2016). Given that nicotine can be such an addictive drug and be seen to be used as a coping mechanism, specifically ages 15 to 17 through their developing stages of life, needs to encounter harder access to get their hands on tobacco products. According to the Center of Disease Control, one in 13 Americans age 17 or younger alive today are estimated to die prematurely due to the effects of smoking (atg.wa.gov 2016). Raising the legal age to

Air It Out is a tobacco intervention program specifically designed to promote smoking cessation and smoking prevention among adolescents aged 11 to 18 regardless of gender, race, ethnicity or place of residence within the U.S. (e.g. suburban, urban, inner city, etc.). Until recently, speaking out against smoking carried zero authority given smoking was a personal habit that began in adolescence, a habit that continued until December 2015 when diagnosed with cancer. Now with two rounds of chemotherapy behind me and another scheduled for later this month, the issue of adolescent smoking is one, which I can now stand behind. Unfortunately, it takes the manifestation of a tragic and core-shattering experience to forever changes one’s perception because once it becomes personal, we transform from silent participant to that of an activist. Examples supporting this hypothesis include Christopher Reeve’s who became an activist for paralysis only after suffering his injury, Michael J. Fox, who after his diagnosis became an advocate for Parkinson’s, and Elizabeth Taylor, who became a fearless activist for AIDS after the death of her beloved friend Rock Hudson.

In the lifetime of most, cigarette smoking is common occurrence noticed as you go throughout your community. In the medical setting, hospital professions see the disabling effects caused by smoking. Being a change agent in your society is necessary for enhancing the well-being of others through each community. Healthy People 2020 creates a goal to “reduce illness, disability, and death related to tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure” (2017) Seeing the effects of smoking in the medical setting it motivates professionals to educate our patients’ on smoking cessation. For the topic of this research, our group was motivated by understanding how well our education paid off and whether we were able to find more control in smoking

Cigarette consumption emerged in the United States when the government distributed free cigarettes to soldiers in both world wars, promoting cigarette smoking to entire generations. Advertising and Hollywood movies further associated smoking with glamour and sophistication. Cigarette smoking grew steadily: by 1963, Americans 18 and over were smoking an average of 12 cigarettes a day (Smoking Bans). Today, each year, 53,800 people die from secondhand smoke exposure. Since then, public smoking bans have been set to prevent the hazardous effects. A smoking ban is a public policy that includes criminal laws and health regulations that prohibit smoking in certain public places and workspaces. Since public smoking can cause detrimental health effects to others, it should be banned.

Just over a billion people worldwide indulge themselves with a legal substance that has proven too insidiously cause disease or death. Approximately six million people die each year from this legal drug and it is one of the worst threats to humanity worldwide (WHO, 2016). This drug is sold legally over the counter throughout many countries including the United States. The Surgeon General’s Warning, “smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and may complicate pregnancy” was labeled on the packaging of cigarette boxes in the 1980’s. Eventually, launching a national campaign for smoking cessation. Despite the many laws that inhibit the use of tobacco smoke, these products continue to be a legally obtainable substance in the US with devastating damage as a result of their use.

The negative health effects of tobacco use have been well established. Tobacco use has been shown to cause acute and chronic respiratory disease, heart disease, many types of cancer, and is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States, causing an estimated 443,000 deaths per year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2004). As the dangers of smoking have become better understood, reducing the number of people who smoke has become a major focus for those interested in public health. Efforts to restrict the advertisement and sale of tobacco, implement public smoking bans, and educate citizens through public service announcements have all had a sizeable effect on smoking rates in the U.S. In Fact, over

The web of causation includes the interrelationships of factors that contribute to either the smoking of the mother during pregnancy, or the decision to abstain from smoking. These factors include many scenarios in which the mother may choose to smoke. Younger women had lower odds of smoking when compared with original non-smokers and quitters, and older women with less than a 12th grade education had a higher chance of continued smoking. Women with a mental health history and high stress scores also have higher odds of continued smoking compared to non-smokers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women on Medicaid had the largest rate of smoking while pregnant compared with those on private insurance (2007). It was also found that both stress and depression are linked with continued smoking. Both socioeconomic factors as well as life stressors seem to have a high influence on the incidence of continued smoking during the duration of a pregnancy.

Smoking tobacco is known to be one of the largest epidemics the world has ever encountered. Smoking kills over seven million people per year. It not only kills, but also harms those who have not yet entered this world. Unborn babies impacted by their mothers who smoke can have life-altering problems (“WHO | Tobacco”, nd). Expecting mothers who smoke during the prenatal period could expect a 5 – 8% chance of a preterm or stillborn birth, a 13 – 19% chance of having a low birth-weight baby, or a 23 – 34% chance of sudden infant death syndrome. Fortunately, smoking awareness has garnered attention over the past two decades and smoking during pregnancy has decline in high socioeconomic countries like the United States (Meernik & Goldstein, 2015).

In 1979, the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth used the Peabody Individual Achievement Test to show that children born to smoking mother’s had an IQ that was on average, 2.87 points lower than other children. This study was not respected until the 1990’s when there were several efforts by both the United States Congress and the U.S Food and Drug Administration to protect youth from cigarettes. Prior to this, Americans tried to deny the fact that tobacco was harmful due to the glorification of the product as well as how frequently it was used in pop culture. However, in the last decade attention has shifted to secondhand smoke awareness. Although the ability to purchase the products has been revoked for children, it is still legal for their parents to do so. This secondhand smoke is extremely dangerous, especially for children. That being said, we should start to eradicate tobacco around them.

Millions of Americans die every year from cigarette smoke, but not all of them are smokers. Conclusive information shows, “Since the 1964 Surgeon General’s Report, 2.5 million adults who were nonsmokers died because they breathed secondhand smoke” (“Health Effects”). These nonsmokers, who died from secondhand smoke related illnesses, were exposed to secondhand smoke throughout their lives in order for these illnesses to develop. Most adults who suffer from secondhand smoke related issues were raised in homes where their parents smoked, which left them to suffer in the deadly chemicals being vaporized within the air from the burning cigarettes. Parents are informed of the harm cigarettes cause to their own body, but they still continue to