Health Guide

The Cumulative Impact of Smoking

Although the majority of smokers express a desire to quit smoking, only a minority have real plans to take that step in the near future.

What are the factors that lead up to someone finally saying, "It is time for me to kick the habit"? And of equal importance, what factors will help a person who makes that decision be successful? This chapter is dedicated to helping nonsmokers remain nonsmokers, helping smokers see that the best time to quit is today, and giving everyone the tools to be free of tobacco in all its forms.

Motivation to Quit

There is no question that the knowledge of smoking’s physical harms can provide some of the most powerful motivations to quit. Such information has helped motivate many to kick the habit, as shown in Figure 1: Information on the Dangers of Smoking Helps Smokers kick the Habit.2

The trends following the Surgeon General’s announcement provide strong evidence that knowledge of smoking’s dangers can help a smoker decide to quit. Some of the information in this chapter on the physical harms of smoking will be familiar. However, much of it will not be. The full scope of smoking’s damage has not been well publicized. In a 1983 Harris survey, health professionals rated "not smoking" as the very first priority among activities that Americans could do to protect their health. The public, however, rated "not smoking" a distant 10th on the list of important health-protective behaviors.3

Public health professionals often stand amazed at how complacent we are as a society regarding smoking. For nearly 20 years, influential public health voices have called smoking the most dangerous public issue that we face. In 1979, the U.S. public health service called smoking "the largest single preventable cause of illness and premature death in the United States." C. Everett Koop made a bold pronouncement three years later during his tenure as Surgeon General. He pronounced smoking "the most important public health issue of our time." Dr. Ronald Davis, in citing such statements, points out, "Future historians will look back with amazement that it took society so long to control the use of tobacco."4

Why does the public seem to have a different view of this addiction than professionals? Part of the reason relates to tobacco industry practices of exercising a type of censorship against bad press regarding nicotine and smoking. They accomplish this by influencing the coverage of information in magazines that are dependent on tobacco advertising dollars for their existence.5 Actual research studies show that magazines that depend largely on cigarette advertising are less likely to feature articles dealing with smoking’s hazards. This is particularly noticeable in women’s magazines.6

There are other risks from smoking besides those that affect the personal health of smokers. We will also examine these issues in this chapter. Each can play a role in helping a smoker see more clearly the negative aspects of the smoking habit. This will help each smoker advance in the process of ultimately quitting for good. Some of these other risks include the damages of secondhand smoke, the costs of smoking-not only to the individual-but to his or her family and employer, and the smoker’s personal example and its effect on the next generation of Americans.

Prevention Efforts Must be Focused on Youth

We need to focus a good share of our prevention efforts on children and adolescents for a number of reasons:24
1. It is easier for young people never to start smoking than to stop once they become addicted.
2. The earlier individuals start smoking, the more years they

Healthy Living December Issue
DYING FOR A CIGARETTE? KICK THE HABIT AND LIVE