Smoking Cessation Is The Most Important Component Of A Comprehensive State Tobacco Control

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

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) Tobacco control state highlights, 2010. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Office on Smoking and Health. Retrieved for http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/state_hihlights/2010/pdfs/highlights2010.pdf

Tobacco use; despite efforts to curb it, have remained unsatisfactory high. The ACA aims to improve this by making smoking cessation programs affordable or free in health care policies; by funding local communities sponsoring outreach programs aimed at at-risk populations, and media campaigns graphically illustrating the dangers tobacco use [3].

Winning the war against cigarettes. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2015, from American Cancer Society: http:www.cancer.org

It collects and records information on contents of cigarettes and passes the information to the public. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) supports research on drug abuse and publishes non-technical reports of these researches and cessation programs for the public. The Office of the Surgeon General publishes materials on smoking health issues and cessation. The Center for Diseases Control (CDC) through it Office of Smoking and Health (OSH) acts as the lead federal Agency for comprehensive tobacco prevention and control. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) through its Evidence Based Practice Center (EPE) in 2005 published a report on tobacco use, prevention, cessation and control based on a systematic review of literature using data from the Surgeons General’s 2000 report. While the federal government agencies emphasize on smoking cessation, the local agencies put smoking bans in public building and areas.

The leading cause of death in the county is heart disease followed by cancer, and both of these can be linked to smoking or second-hand smoke exposure. Methods to move toward HP2020’s goal will involve encouraging and assisting smokers to quit. The Community Guide is a free resource to help guide communities to choose programs and policies for cessation. These programs are evidenced based, research-tested and include suggestions such as increasing the unit based price on tobacco products and how this would help to decrease use, increase the number of those who quit, decrease the number of those who try cigarettes the first time and decrease the tobacco related morbidity and mortality. The research suggest the improved health effects are proportional to the size of the price increase, also noted to be effective in prevention is mass reach communication or advertising regarding the dangers of smoking and also techniques for quitting (The Community guide, n.d.). Counseling is noted to be effective alone and with the use of medications and is available through programs like the toll-free quitline in South Carolina. Healthcare professional are urged to screen patients for use of tobacco and provide cessation information to all patients and also treatment strategies such as

History has proven that government penalties, in the form of taxes, deter smoking. The 2000 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report, Reducing Tobacco Use, found that raising tobacco-product prices decreases the prevalence of tobacco use, and tobacco tax increases produce significant long-term improvements in health. From its review of existing research, the report concluded that raising tobacco taxes is one of the most effective tobacco prevention and control strategies (7). Along with price increases, mass-media campaigns and smoking bans have made cigarette smoking pretty much unacceptable in today’s society. “Today, approximately 22 percent of adults age twenty-two and older are smokers, compared with 33 percent in 1979” (Thorpe 1440). It is clear, from these examples, the use of penalties to deter the unhealthy behavior of smoking is a successful intervention.

Tobacco consumption is the number one cause of preventable deaths in the United States. In the United States, cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year. That is around one in five deaths annually only because of smoking. On an average, the person who smokes dies ten years earlier than a non-smoker. These statistics are not mere numbers but speak about the gravity of the situation. The United States government should portray a more negative view on Tabaco to save the lives of many people worldwide (Centre for Disease and Prevention, second paragraph).

Raising taxes on tobacco products and implementing smoking cessation legislations can minimize the prevalence of smoking up to 30 percent to 80 percent over a 50-year period (Ekpu & Brown 2015).In 2009, NBC news stated that Kansas, one of the states, considering banning smoking at enclosed areas showed that if they banned smoking in restaurants, the state was going to save 20 million dollars in healthcare costs (Associated Health, 2009). West Virginia state implemented smoke-free laws and had an increase of almost 1 percent in restaurant employment (“Smoke Free Laws do not Harm Business,” 2017). Restaurant workers were more comfortable coming in to work knowing they would be breathing in fresh air. Although in Tennessee, percentage of adults who smoked in 2011 increased from 23 percent to 24.3 percent in 2015 (Fletcher, 2016). This increment was not that significant considering the fact that it was over a period of just 4 years. The annual health care cost in Tennessee directly to smoking increased from $2.16 billion in 2004 to $2.67 billion in 2017(“The Toll of Tobacco in Tennessee”, n.d.).

The use of tobacco is a very controversial topic here in the United States. The harmful side effects of tobacco are well known and consequently, many believe that it should be outlawed. Though this has not yet occurred, constant regulations on the industry and

The tobacco industry kills more people in North America from Monday to Thursday of each week than the terrorists murdered in total on September 11, 2001. That sounds unrealistic, doesn’t it? Well, smoking is an epidemic that affects us all, whether you are a smoker or you aren’t. In order to stop this epidemic, we need to

Nicotine use is a leading preventable cause of death in the world, directly and indirectly responsible for 440,000 deaths per year. The health problems that result in tobacco use tally an annual of $75 billion in direct medical costs (Slovic 36). That money spent on medical problems for smokers should be used to pay for more important things in our society such as schools, libraries, childcare, etc.

Smoking prevalence remains high across the global, national, and state levels. Among the world’s population, 22% of individuals aged 15 years and older were regular smokers in 2011 (WHO, 2016). High prevalence of smoking results in increased development of chronic diseases, resulting in one death every 6 seconds (WHO, 2016). In 2014 an estimated 40 million Americans smoked cigarettes regularly. Meanwhile, more than 16 million Americans suffer from a smoking-related diseases (CDC, 2015). According to Jamal et al. (2015), this results in more than $300 billion in direct health care expenditures and productivity losses each year.

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015), cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year, or 1 of every five deaths. In 2015, about 15 of every 100 U.S. adults age 18 years or older currently smoke cigarettes. However, this is a decline from nearly 21 of every 100 adults back in 2005. One reason for the decline is due to smoking cessation programs developed within our communities. These programs are helping smokers to quit their habit, and improve their health and lifestyle. Let us look at what it takes to make a smoke cessation successful within ones’ community.