Cigarettes and smoking
cigarettes; tobacco; smoke; smoking; nicotine; ASH;
Contents
Smoking causes over 80% of all drug related deaths in Australia, far more than alcohol or illicit drugs! Did you know that 80% of young people who smoke regularly continue to smoke as adults? Nearly half the smokers under 30 started smoking by the age of 15.
Cigarette advertising in Australia has been banned, but if you watch closely, more actors in movies and television programs are shown smoking (it's called 'product placement').
Everyone knows the risks of smoking, but people are still starting to smoke, and continuing to smoke.
Why people smoke cigarettes
Many people say that smoking makes them more alert and improves their concentration, while others believe that smoking calms them down, especially when they are feeling anxious or stressed.
Scientists believe this is because the chemicals in the cigarette (especially nicotine) have reduced the withdrawal symptoms that smokers get between one cigarette and the next. Smokers are 'addicted' to smoking!
Smoking is addictive
Tobacco is more addictive than heroin or cocaine. Smokers become addicted to smoking in three different ways.
People who smoke out of habit find they smoke more at certain times or in certain situations.
- This includes smoking when they are talking on the phone, after eating, with coffee, with alcohol, or when sitting around with friends.
- These people automatically smoke when they are doing certain things, without really being aware of any real 'craving' for a cigarette.
Other people smoke more when they are under a lot of stress, or if they are angry, depressed, bored, or even when they are happy.
- Their urge to smoke is triggered by their feelings, and their need for an 'emotional boost'.
Most smokers find it hard to stop smoking because they are physically addicted to the nicotine in cigarette smoke.
- Nicotine addiction begins as soon as people start to smoke regularly.
People who tend to smoke around others, perhaps when drinking alcohol, may consider themselves 'social smokers'. Social smokers often believe they are safer than regular smokers because they smoke less often. But they shouldn’t be fooled into thinking they are 'not real smokers'. Social smokers are at risk of all the dangers too.
It is possible to be addicted to smoking in any or all of the ways described above. The longer people have been smoking, and the more cigarettes they smoke a day, the harder it is to give them up.
Why young people start smoking
Most people begin smoking when they are teenagers and go on to become regular smokers as adults.
Why do young people start smoking when there is so much information available about the damage smoking does to the body?
- It has been suggested that young people are attracted to the 'image' they associate with smoking. The tobacco industry has created an image of smoking as being tough, cool, sophisticated, sexy and attractive, or a form of rebellion. Although nicotine addiction keeps people smoking, young people usually start smoking because of the social image they want to present to others.
- Young people are also more likely to start smoking if their friends or family are smokers.
- In some cultures, smoking is still widely accepted.
Why should they give up smoking?
Apart from the health risks, smoking is not seen as 'cool' any more. It’s banned in so many places these days that it can be hard to hang out with friends.
- Smoking is very likely to kill you!!!
- Smoking makes your hair and clothes smell and your breath smell.
- Smoking turns your teeth and fingers yellow, and affects your skin and complexion.
- Smokers get so used to the smell of stale tobacco smoke on their hair, clothes and breath, that they don't notice it anymore. But others do!
- Smoking affects your sense of taste and smell, making both of them less sensitive.
- Smoking can really harm your body! It is the most common cause of cancers of the lungs, throat and mouth.
- Smoking makes you about 10 times more likely to die early from a major stroke or heart attack.
- Smokers suffer more frequently from severe bronchitis and emphysema (a disease where the chemicals in tobacco smoke severely damages the lining of the lungs, and makes it difficult to breathe).
- Smoking increases the risk of developing diabetes.
- You don't have to have bronchitis or emphysema for smoking to affect your breathing. Try swimming a few laps of a pool, playing a game of footy or netball or do an aerobic class as a smoker. Breathing while exercising the heart and lungs is a lot tougher if you're a smoker.
- Smoking damages small blood vessels, and restricts blood flow to the hands and feet, can lead to gangrene and even the amputation of limbs.
From one lung to another
Smoking harms unborn babies and young children
- In South Australia it is illegal to smoke in a car with children as passengers.
- Female smokers have more trouble falling pregnant than non-smokers
- They have more miscarriages during pregnancies.
- When they do get pregnant, the smoke can harm the baby. Often the baby is smaller than expected at birth.
- To help prevent SIDS, babies need to be kept away from cigarette smoke during pregnancy and for the first year of life at least.
- Smoking in the same house or car with children means they breathe in the smoke as well. These children get more colds, ear infections and chest problems such as asthma, if they live with a smoker.
- Male smokers also have a lower sperm count and more abnormal sperm than non-smokers.
Why quit?
The good news is that, if smokers quit smoking, the body repairs itself quite quickly.
- Nicotine leaves the body in just two hours, and another deadly chemical, carbon monoxide, leaves the blood stream after only twelve hours.
- Nicotine by-products are gone within two days.
- Within two months, the blood flow to the arms and legs improves, and the lungs begin to repair themselves in about three months.
- Your sense of taste and smell improves, your skin will lose the 'grey' look that smokers get, and your body will be free of that stale tobacco smell.
- Your chance of getting heart disease and cancer begins to fall.
Another good reason for giving up smoking is the amount of money saved. Smoking is expensive. Count up how much money it costs in a year. That amount of money could pay for an overseas holiday, or buy a great sounding stereo system!
What if they just cut down on smoking?
There is no 'safe' level of smoking, and the reality is that 'cutting down' just doesn't work!
It has been shown that, when people reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke, they take more 'drags' from each cigarette. They also take the smoke deeper into their lungs, and hold it in their lungs for a longer period of time. This means they end up soaking up the same amount of nicotine and other chemicals from fewer cigarettes.
The same thing happens when people switch to cigarettes with a lower tar and nicotine content (so-called 'light' cigarettes). People usually do the same things described above, or actually end up smoking more cigarettes!
Also, research on 'light' cigarette smokers has:
- Not shown any reduction in smoking-related health risks,
- Not shown that people are more likely to quit,
- Shown that smokers are exposed to at least as much nicotine, carbon monoxide or tar,
- Shown that they still get as much heart disease and lung cancer.
Research has also shown that people do not know this, and many think that they will be healthier if they smoke light cigarettes. This is not true. Light cigarettes will also be just as likely to make a smoker addicted.
Giving up smoking
No-one is pretending that giving up smoking will be easy, especially if they have been smoking regularly for a long time. They will have to deal with cravings to smoke triggered by habit and feelings such as feeling stressed, as well as the addiction to nicotine.
However, people are giving up smoking every day!
Giving up smoking is not easy, and not everybody manages to quit on their first try. It seems that most people actually take a few tries before they manage to quit for good, and that it gets easier each time. Sometimes there can be relapses; if they’re at a party they may have a cigarette or two.
They should not be too hard on themselves - accept this as an example of how hard it is to give up - not as an example of failure! Stop smoking again the next day, or after the party.
The Teen Health site has a topic Giving up smoking, which could help your teenager (or you) stop smoking.
Resources
South Australia
Australia
- Oxygen web site – Australian website dedicated to informing young people about tobacco and its use in Australia (QUIT SA, Smarter than Smoking Project (WA) and Quit Victoria.)
http://www.oxygen.org.au
- ASH (Action on Smoking and Health Australia)
http://www.ashaust.org.au/
- Australian Drug Information Network
http://www.adin.com.au
- LEAD is a resource from The Australian government Department of Education, Science and Training. It is written for teachers or organisers to help them run fun drug education forums. Forums can be done in different ways, like a quiz night for example. But it contains lots of fun games and quizzes that anyone could use for an activity:
http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/...
General
References
QUIT SA Brochures and information sheets.
http://www.quitsa.org.au/aspx/index.aspx
QuitSA 'Smoking cessation guidelines - for Australian General Practice'
http://www.quitsa.org.au/cms_resources/documents/Australian...
Kropp R & Halpern-Felsher B. ‘Adolescents’ Beliefs About the Risks Involved in Smoking "Light" Cigarettes’ Pediatrics, Oct 2004; 114: e445 - 451
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/...
Taylor, A., Ussher, M., & Faulkner, G. The acute effects of exercise on cigarette cravings, withdrawal symptoms, affect and smoking behaviour: a systematic review. Addiction, 102, 534-543, 2007. Media release ‘A short walk helps smokers quit’ available online (cited 30/3/07):http://www.addictionjournal.org/viewpressrelease.asp?pr=60
The information on this site should not be used as an alternative to professional care. If you have a particular problem, see a doctor, or ring the Parent Helpline on 1300 364 100 (local call cost from anywhere in South Australia).
This topic may use 'he' and 'she' in turn - please change to suit your
child's sex.