Pleasure Power Profits and Puffs

The health of a nation and its people is interrelated and interdependent on the interaction of its citizens with businesses, the environment, as well as their socio-economic status, educational level, and health insurance benefit.

Consider cigarette smoking, the leading preventable cause of death, causing close to 500,000 deaths a year and more than 20 million deaths over the past 50 years from cancer and heart disease. What’s worse, the addictive power of nicotine makes it extremely difficult to quit.

As a personal care physician, at every office visit, I ask patients about cigarette smoking. To those who have quit, I celebrate with them and say, “This is the best health decision you will ever make”. My advice to those who smoke, “The best health decision you will ever make is the decision to quit smoking. And, that although tobacco cessation is not easy, it is possible”.

The addictive pleasure of smoking and the industry profits discounted the dangerous consequences of cigarette smoke for decades. Looking historically, as far back as 1928, statistical data showed a higher proportion of heavy smokers among lung cancer patients when compared with non-smokers. And, it was not until 1957 that the Surgeon General declares that a relationship exist between smoking and lung cancer.

• In 1958, barrels of “free cigarettes” were placed on some college campuses. My husband, a young 16 year-old college student, eagerly accepted these cigarettes. Soon after this, they were no longer free. He started smoking 3 packs a day. Fortunately, he was able to quit “cold turkey” after having a heart attack June 18, 1987
• In 1968, Congress mandates health warnings on cigarette packs followed one year later by a ban on cigarette advertising on television and radio.

Warning: Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to your Health

• To this day, even without TV advertisements, movie stars (in movie pictures) unintentionally promote the glamour and pleasure of smoking during acting scenes. To name a few, Oprah Winfrey in the Butler, Denzel Washington in Training Day, Robert De Niro in Casino and Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
• In 2000, California became the first state to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. Cigarette smoking is now banned in most work sites across the nation.
• Some employer groups charge higher health insurance premiums to persons who smoke cigarettes.

As it stands today, 42 million Americans still smoke cigarettes. And, now there are Electronic cigarettes to help the addicted quit smoking. For pleasure, there are vaping tools and Hookah smoking. The long terms effects of these drugs are yet to be determined.

To add to all of this, the legalization of marijuana is evolving State by State. The excitement for the legalization, ‘ability to get high’ and industry profits from marijuana has some already walking around in a dream state.

Indeed, marijuana health benefits include control of pain, nausea, muscle spasms, and poor appetite. What will scientific research discover 5, 20, or even 50 years from now? Will the dangers outweigh the benefits? An article in the New England Journal of Medicine July 31, 2014 edition writes about learning the lessons from tobacco smoke: “History and current evidence suggest that simply legalizing marijuana, and giving free rein to the resulting industry, is not the answer. To do so would be to once again entrust private industry with safeguarding the health of the public.”

• The health of a nation is inextricably linked to its businesses, environment, as well as the socio-economic status, educational level, and health insurance benefit of its citizens.

References

http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/50-years-of-progress/exec-summary.pdf

http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/NN/p-nid/58

http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/04/25-movie-characters-that-make-cigarette-smoking-look-cool/denzel-washington

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Tobacco cessation is not easy, but it is possible. Below, are helpful resources to assist you or a friend in their journey to stop smoking:

• Write down on an index card 5 reasons why you want to stop smoking.
• Place your 5 reasons for quitting in 5 places you visit on most days and read your reasons to quit at least once a week.
• Share your reasons with a close relative or friend
• Set a date to quit

2. Practice deep breathing exercises for 2 minutes four to six times a day (morning, noon, before dinner, after dinner, and before going to bed. For instructions, click on http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00521/three-breathing-exercises.html

3. Participate in a tobacco cessation program. Any of the programs below are valid.

Call the Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) Free Help line: 1-800-Quit-Now (1-800-784-8669)

Contact the American Lung Association (www.quitterinyou.org)

American Cancer Society: 1-800-227-2345- the Quit for life line or www.cancer.org

Georgia Tobacco Quit Line: English 1-800-270-STOP (877-270-7867)

Georgia Tobacco Quit Line: Spanish – 1-877-266-3863

Georgia Tobacco Quit Line: Hearing Impaired – 1-877-777-6534

Nicotine patches help: they increase your chance of successfully quitting by reducing feelings of withdrawal and reducing cravings.