Smokers Beware!

May 31st is the annual World No Tobacco Day, sponsored by World Health Organization (WHO). The theme for this year is “Tobacco: Deadly in Any Form or Disguise”. It aims are to educate everybody about the damaging effects of all forms of tobacco (“e.g., cigarettes [including light, low-tar, and mild], smokeless tobacco, bidis, kreteks, clove cigarettes, cigars, shisha [flavored tobacco smoked in a hookah pipe], and others”) [cdc.gov].

Do you know what common chemicals a cigarette is composed of and what they are used for? “Nicotine causes addiction. Carbon monoxide is a dangerous gas found in car exhaust smoke. Tar is used to cover surface of roads. Acetone is a paint stripper. DDT is a pesticide which kills mosquitoes and ants. Arsenic is white ant poison. Formaldehyde is used to embalm dead bodies. Ammonia is the active ingredient in floor cleaners. Hydrogen cyanide is the poison used in gas chambers.” [Health Promotion Board]

Cigarette smoking is considered substance abuse. Substance abuse is the use of any substance that threatens a person’s health or impairs his or her social or economic functioning. Substance abuse affects all ages, races sexes, and segments of society.
Drug addiction is a pattern of abuse characterized by an overwhelming preoccupation with getting and using a drug and its continued use despite negative consequences. There is also a tendency to relapse if the drug is removed. Nicotine is a psychoactive stimulant drug. It alters emotions and is often used for enjoyment in social and recreational settings and for personal use to self-medicate physical or emotional discomfort.

It is estimated that more than 430,000 deaths per year are caused by complications of cigarette smoking. More than 50 billion dollars are spent yearly on smoking - related medical costs. The most successful smoking cessation method is self-help strategies.

Smoking kills. It affects almost every single cell in our body. In my six years of health profession I have not heard of a chronic systemic illness that is not smoking related. Diseases range from chronic obstructive disease (COPD) to lung cancer (and its horrible metastases) to coagulobinopathies (blood clots). And don’t forget to read the labels on your prescription drugs because you may have a drug reaction from cigarette smoking also. Cigarette smoking is so bad that even non-smokers become affected. Have you not heard of the late Christopher Reeve’s wife, Dana Reeve, who died of lung cancer at age 44? She never smoked.

Smoking is addictive, but we are here to help. And for the non-smokers like me, we can offer support or be advocates by helping smokers develop a sense of responsibility for their own success by identifying their talents, by encouraging them to participate in activities to help society rather than believing that their only purpose in life is to take, by providing realistic appraisals and feedback, by encouraging and valuing education and skills training, and by increasing cooperative solutions to problems rather than competitive or aggressive solutions. New York City has a smoking ban in all bars and restaurants. I think every city should follow this example as well. If you love God, yourself, your family, and loved ones, please quit smoking. Weigh the risks versus the benefits (if there’s any).

- Nicola S. Albano