Addiction Solution Source

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has shown new signs of regulating the tobacco industry by placing a federal ban on flavored cigarettes effective September 22, 2009.

This means that it is illegal to manufacture, import, market or distribute candy, fruit and all flavored cigarettes. According to health and federal authorities, flavored cigarettes are more appealing to youth and simply encourages smoking. It doesn’t take a ‘rocket scientist’ to see that flavored cigarettes are a gateway for children and young adults to become addicted to tobacco/nicotine.

First off, think about this message from Yul Brynner (famous actor) recorded in January 1985, after he was diagnosed with lung cancer: “Now that I’m gone, I tell you: Don’t smoke, whatever you do, just don’t smoke. If I could take back that smoking we wouldn’t be talking about any cancer. I’m convinced of that.”

Now, here is five other reasons to think about:

1. Money – The cost of smoking adds up. Not only does smoking take money out of your pocket, but it contributes to higher health cost. It is well known that smoking and secondhand smoke lead to heart disease, strokes, cancer, lung disease and vascular disease. On the average, smokers spend approximately $1600/year on cigarettes. Consider the savings you will be making by quitting.

2. Life Expectancy – Smoking can take years off of one’s life literally. Also, smoking causes deep wrinkles that make you look older. By quitting smoking, your skin will be smoother and less chance of wrinkling.

3. Clean Air – smoking makes your clothes and hair reek of tobacco. Nonsmokers who are in the company of smokers are not safe either, since they are being subjected to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is associated with lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. It also can increase the risk of dementia by as much as 44 percent. Parents who smoke should seriously consider the risks of secondhand smoke exposure they are subjecting their children to in the home, car or other surrounding environments. Consider how much fresher your home will smell, your clothes, hair and even the car.

According to research reported in the Journal of Headache and Pain, smokers that smoke more than five cigarettes a day trigger more migraine headache attacks than those who smoke less than five.

Health and life insurance companies in the U.S. and abroad have nearly $4.5 billion invested in tobacco stocks, according to Harvard doctors. Is this who you want running our health care system?

Researchers are reporting "convincing evidence" that marijuana smoke damages the genetic material DNA in ways that could increase the risk of cancer.

The US Senate voted today (June 11, 2009) to give the FDA new power to limit nicotine in cigarettes, drastically curtail ads and ban candied tobacco products aimed at young people.

The legislation, one of the most dramatic anti-smoking initiatives since the U.S. surgeon general’s warning 45 years ago that tobacco causes lung cancer, would give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate the content, marketing and advertising of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

“This legislation represents the strongest action Congress has ever taken to reduce tobacco use, the leading preventable cause of death in the United States,” declared Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids.

A federal appeals court on May 22,2009, agreed with the major elements of a 2006 landmark ruling that found the nation's top tobacco companies guilty of racketeering and fraud for deceiving the public about the dangers of smoking.

In a recent research report, Kristen Saxone-Moeller from the University of Melbourne, stated that Australians with mental illness smoke at four times the rate of the general population.

The research also found that:

* Smokers with mental illness consumed 50 per cent more cigarettes a day than the general population, averaging 22 cigarettes a day;

* The heaviest smokers in the group smoked up to 80 cigarettes in a day;

* Almost three in five (59 per cent) said they wanted to quit smoking;

* Almost three quarters (74 per cent) said they wanted to cut down;

“Smoking compounds many of the health problems already experienced by people with mental illnesses,” she said. “Combined with drug therapies that often make them overweight, they are at even greater risk of diabetes, heart attacks and strokes if they smoke.”

“The biggest cause of death among people with mental illness is not suicide, it is cardiovascular disease.”

Overall cost to Australia showed more than $30 billion a year but little was being done to help people quit.

Peer pressure, including the media, is one of the main reasons many people smoke.

Before World War I, tobacco was smoked mainly in the form of cigars and primarily by the wealthy. Cigarettes, which were basically leftovers of the cigar making process, were used by the less fortunate.

The number of people who smoked cigarettes boomed when tobacco companies started to mass-produce them. Their clientele: soldiers of World War I. This marketing broadened of course after the war.

In my research, I discovered ads from JAMA – The Journal of the American Medical Association that promoted various brands. One ad pictured a military doctor promoting Camels. Wow! Not only are you being patriotic by using them but a doctor is promoting the brand. I am sure this ad influenced many to smoke, especially military men and women. If your peer was a soldier next to you that was smoking, don’t you think that would have a powerful influence on you?

Another JAMA ad I discovered was telling you how much more “pleasure” you will get with the Chesterfield brand. An ad will state anything favorable to entice you to take it up.

It is my understanding that the AMA did not take a position against smoking until the 1980s even though there was plenty of evidence that it was dangerous to your health and could cause cancer among other diseases. Do you think money influenced this attitude?

Smoking has been very prevalent in the movies and especially in the 1950s and 1960s, on television. Even the actors were advertising various brands in commercials during a TV show. They made it seem classy and romantic.

Some of you may recall the “Marlboro Man” (rugged-looking cowboy). There were actually several men who modeled for print and TV ads. At least two of them have died of lung cancer from smoking.

Once you start smoking it is hard to stop because the nicotine contained in tobacco products is so quickly addictive and is even considered to be as addictive as heroin or cocaine.

Why?

When a cigarette is smoked, nicotine-rich blood passes from the lungs to the brain within 7 – 10 seconds and immediately stimulates the release of many neurotransmitters including dopamine (pleasurable feeling).

It is important to note that nicotine is very powerful and poisonous for the nervous system. There is enough (50 mg) in four cigarettes to kill a person within just minutes if it were injected directly into the bloodstream.

The problem is the effects from smoking are short-lived, lasting only a few minutes to a couple of hours. This leads people to smoke throughout the day to dose themselves with this deadly chemical because they want to continue to have whatever positive effects they think they are receiving. Add to this the fact that you can become tolerant to nicotine’s effects — you need to use more and more of it to reach the same degree of stimulation or relaxation — and you can see how people would quickly move from smoking one cigarette to a pack a day habit.

A typical smoker will take 10 draws on a cigarette over a period of 5 minutes. Therefore, a person who smokes about 1-½ packs (30 cigarettes) daily, is getting 300 “hits” of nicotine to the brain each day.