John Oliver Takes On Big Tobacco (HBO)

I dare you to watch John Olivers take down on the tobacco companies and not see them as evil.

Who is in Control, You or the Cigarette?

A few days ago I flew up to Seattle to visit family and friends. My flight was delayed and I spent needless extra hours in an airport. If I had been a smoker, this would have been very uncomfortable. Many participants in my stop smoking workshops have admitted that they avoid flying because of the restrictions on smoking. They can't or don't want to have to deal with the stress of flying and spending hours without getting a hit from Kid Nicotine. For others that must fly, it is to not uncommon for them to use Nicotine Replacement Products such as the patch, the gum or lozenge to get through those times when they absolutely can't smoke. So they instead of using these products to help them quit, they are used to just handle the withdrawals until they can grab a cigarette.
I remember once having a date at a 5 star restaurant. I noticed there was no ashtray on the table and I immediately wanted to leave because I thought I couldn't smoke, (Of course, this was many years ago, many states now ban smoking in restaurants). I would have missed out on a great meal.
These are just a couple of way that cigarettes control our lives instead of us being in control. When new laws are proposed to limit smoking, the smoker automatically thinks that the government is exercising too much control over our lives but isn't it the other way around? The cigarette restricts what we will and will not do, it is exercising the ultimate control but making us think that nicotine is a friend that we can't live without instead it is a cell mate that keeps us in prison. Cigarettes went as far as dictating what size purse I would buy because it had to be big enough for all the normal things women carry in a purse, plus two packs of cigarettes, after all, I didn't want to run out. I lived in fear of not having my cigarettes near.
List all the way that Kid Nicotine is keeping your world a prison and think of the freedom you will have when you knock Kid Nicotine out of your life for good.

Smoking is a Class Issue

A woman called me about signing up for my smoking cessation class which is $100. For those that this would be a financial burden, I let them make payments. As this woman was sucking on her cigarette, she said, "You don't understand, I can't afford to buy milk for my children!" I thought at the time that if she hadn't bought that pack of cigarettes, she could have paid for a carton of milk.
Someone told me that with these hard economic times that smokers would quit to save money. It is the opposite, in times of stress, smokers will smoke more to relieve their stress. In one study sponsored by a tobacco company, it showed that when a smoker had to choose between cigarettes and food, they would choose the cigarettes. that certainly was true for the woman that called me.

There is an interesting commentary from England about smoking being a class issue. That when smoking was first popular that it was the rich that embraced it. As the health issues arose, the rich stopped smoking and the poor continued. There is a lot of truth to this. In the United States, most smokers are from a lower socio-economic status and 50% of current smokers in California are either a substance/alcohol abuser or have a mental illness. There is a popular myth that women find it harder to quit than men but when the research is controlled for all factors, what was discovered is that women are more likely to live at or below poverty level than men and it was these women who were more likely to smoke. So it appears that smoking is a class issue not only in the United Kingdom but in the United States as well. Unfortunately, it is the poor that also lack access to the help they desperately need to quit.

There was a Master Tobacco Settlement that was supposed to penalized the tobacco companies for lying all these years about the effects of tobacco. Each state receives money from the Master Settlement yet there are no restrictions on how this money is to be spent, often it goes into the general budget. Doesn't it make sense that at least some of this money is spent to help smokers kick nicotine out of their lives for good?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/01/civilliberties.smoking

High Taxes for Cigarettes but Will This Help People Quit Smoking?

Some states have recently passed additional taxes for cigarettes. In this economy, states need the money but some of the additional tax on cigarettes should go to pay for smoking cessation programs. But for most people it is a non-issue. Non-smokers say that they don't understand why smokers smoke and why don't they just put that cigarette down and walk away. Many smokers shout about --"It's their RIGHT to smoke" and yet up to 70% of smokers do want to quit but it is a very hard addiction to overcome and there are not adequate resources to combat this deadly addiction. Insurance companies pay up to 28 days for alcohol and substance abuse treatment programs yet tobacco will kill more Americans than alcohol, cocaine, heroin, homicide, fires and AIDS COMBINED--it is the single most deadly substance that kills 50% of those who use it as directed. I urge everyone to write their politicians and urge them to use some of these additional monies for cessation programs and also demand that insurance companies give back and provide coverage for smokers who are desperately trying to quit but the resources just aren't available. The medications that improve the chance of quitting are very expensive and should be covered. Helping people quit smoking helps the health care bottom line for everyone. The damage from smoking DOES affect everyone because of the increased health care cost, and the loss of productivity. It's time to see tobacco as the major problem that is really is.

Should the FDA Regulate Cigarettes?

There is a bill in front of congress giving the FDA the ability to regulate the tobacco industry. The bill is asking that flavors, such as mint, vanilla and clove, be banned since these products target children. There is a split among healthcare proponents whether this ban should include menthol also. The National African American Tobacco Prevention Network agrees with the former Surgeon General, Dr. Louis Sullivan that menthol flavoring should be banned. This represents about 30% of the tobacco market in the United States but is the flavor preferred by African American, which consume about 75% of the menthol cigarettes.
The tobacco industry opposes banning menthol because it states that menthol doesn't make smoking any more harmful but we all know the tobacco companies lie to protect their profits.
Menthol is a bronchial dilator. Menthol cigarettes cool the smoke down so that the smoker inhales deeper and causes cancer deeper inside the lung and usually is inoperable.
While I'm not sure that the FDA has the manpower to govern the tobacco industry, I believe that we should support the ban of menthol cigarettes since it can be more dangerous than regular cigarettes and it may help smokers to quit when they can't buy the brand they normally prefer.

Stops Smoking: Are We Losing the War on Drugs?

In our War on Drugs, we do everything we can to protect our children from illegal substances, we destroy the crops, execute the pushers and rehabilitate the users, yet with tobacco we subsidize the crops, exonerate the pushers and blame the users.

The Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs, CA reported on May 17th that 22% of retail businesses in the City of Palm Desert sold cigarettes to underage decoys (Businesses cited for selling tobacco products to teens). While it is illegal to sell cigarettes to minors in all 50 states, this law is being ignored in Palm Desert.

Would we ignore these statistics if it were alcohol that was being sold to minors? As a society, we see teen smoking as a right of passage and say “Thank God it’s only cigarettes and not something worse.” Yet tobacco kills more alcoholics and substance abusers than all other drugs put together and is more addictive than heroin.

Where is the outrage?

Underage smoking is the first addictive substance for individuals who later become addicted to alcohol and other substances. Smoking kills 50% of it’s habitual users. Those with mental illness are more likely to start using tobacco early in life. Most smokers start before they are legally able to buy them. We need to do everything we can to stop this.

It is time for society to step up to the plate and stop teens from buying a substance that is likely to kill them. It's time to stop thinking of smoking as a bad habit and recognize the killer it is. It's time for all parents to truly protect their children from tobacco.

Tobacco is the only deadly substance that is almost totally unregulated. In California, as an effort to stop sales to minors and enforce compliance, cities, statewide have partnered with the local Health Departments to set up sting operations and catch those selling to minors. Each city or county has set up a procedure to license the right to sell tobacco and when retailers fail to comply, that right can be revoked. This has worked so well for the City of Desert Hot Springs, that in less than a year they went from 48% of retail stores selling to underage decoys to ZERO selling tobacco to minors.

It can be said that if they want to smoke, they will find a way but it's time for us to stop making it easy for them.

Smoking Bans Encourage Smokers to Quit

In the past it was socially acceptable to smoke, it is now becoming not acceptable because of the effects of environmental tobacco smoke, which does affect the bodies of non-smokers that are exposed to it. There is NO controversy about the effects of environmental tobacco smoke, except from the tobacco companies, the same companies that for 50 years lied to us about nicotine being not addictive, lied in front of Congress and now admit they knew of the harmful effects since the 1950's but were protecting their profits. They are using the same arguments now for environmental tobacco smoke. don't believe them again.

Another city in California is extending the smoking ban to parks and beaches. Part of the reason is that smokers consider the outdoors a giant ashtray and at beaches, the butts make it into the water and can poison the wildlife, burn the feet of barefoot beach goers and expose our children to addictive behavior. Some smokers consider this an infringement of their "right to smoke" yet their "right to smoke" ends where my nose begins.

A recent study showed that in cities with bans on smoking in restaurants, teenagers are less likely to to become smokers. The theory is that these kids are being shown that as a society, smoking is unacceptable, while the perception in towns where smoking is allowed, the teens see smoking as the norm and that it is acceptable behavior.

Passing and enforcing laws limiting smoking encourages our kids not to start smoking and it encourages smokers to self reflect about their behavior and possibly encourages them to the think about quitting, if for no other reason than the hassle factor.

I would encourage all non-smokers to contract their local officials and encourage them to pass smoke-free areas for the health of everyone.

Stop Smoking: A Den of Addiction in California's Casinos

I was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester last week for their annual Tobacco Conference. One of the presenters said that being in California is a such different world because of the laws about smoking in public areas. I guess those of us that live in California are spoiled and don't realize it. California was the first state to require that all businesses including restaurants and bars to be smoke free. It's been so long now that I don't notice that there isn't any smoke until I go to someplace where there is smoke.

Last night for Cinco de Mayo, some friends and I went to the local casino, which are exempt from California's smoking law. As soon as we walked in the door, I could smell the smoke. As I looked around, I didn't see that many people smoking and was surprised at how strong the smell was anyway. Until we walked by the bar, where almost every patron was smoking, drinking and playing video poker, what a den of addiction. When nicotine hits the brain, it activates the pleasure pathway and the release of dopamine. It heightens the external cues, which reinforces its use. The bar patrons had every sense simulated from the drinking, smoking, the noise from the slot machines, and the lights and bright colors every where. Over a quarter of all smokers are alcoholics and a heavy smoker is 10 times more likely to be an alcoholic than a nonsmoker. The reinforcement to continue addictive behavior is strong in that environment. Unfortunately these dens of addiction are more interested in the monies from the drinkers/smokers/gamblers instead of being interested in their health.

I left the casino, sick to my stomach, with a headache and my clothes stinking of stale cigarette smoke. I don't plan on returning as long as the smoke remains.

VJ Sleight, Queen of Quitting