According to 2000 statistics, cigarette use is declining in all age groups except 18- to 24-year-olds. Why has the tobacco industry been successful in luring 18- to 24-year-olds? Because you are an easier target than other age groups. You are changing your life and establishing new patterns. You are meeting new people, making new friends and finding new leisure interests. People in transition are more likely to start smoking, or to smoke more if they already smoke. Tobacco marketers know this and take advantage of it. The choices you make today can become habits that get harder to change the longer you engage in them. Given the addictive nature of nicotine, it makes good business sense for the tobacco companies to get people smoking as early as they can.
Don't be duped! Don't fall for the tobacco industry's clever promotions. Know that it's not about making you happier, it's about making them richer.
One tobacco company spent $115 million in 2000 on worthy causes but then spent $150 million on a national advertising campaign to tell people about how "charitable" it was. Think of all those industry commercials putting down tobacco use, yet at the same time, they spend more than $26 million a day on advertising and more than $9.7 billion a year to market their products. Ironic, isn't it?
Despite the widespread knowledge about the health risks of smoking, recent statistics show that 25 to 30 percent of college students continue to puff away. Many of these smokers would like to quit or at least cut down on the number of cigarettes they smoke.
But quitting smoking can be hard to do. In the general population, 30 to 40 percent of smokers attempt to quit every year, but less than 5 percent succeed when they try to go cold turkey. The key to improving the success rate is using a variety of behavioral and pharmacological aids that have been proven to help people stop smoking and, just as importantly, to stay cigarette-free for the rest of their lives.
One of the main chemical constituents of tobacco is nicotine. This substance (which is also a great insecticide) is what gives tobacco its unique ability to produce both a calming and a stimulating effect. It is also what makes tobacco so addicting.
One way to help people stop their cigarette habit is to find a way to deliver nicotine to the brain and body without the use of tobacco. There are several ways to accomplish this:
- Nicotine gum or nicotine patches. Both are available over the counter. Which you choose depends on your cigarette habit, ease of use and costs. You can get either at any drugstore or pharmacy (including the University Health Services pharmacy in the Ritenour Building).
- Nicotine inhaler. This works like a cigarette to deliver nicotine (minus the smoke and all the other nasty ingredients in tobacco). As of now, the inhaler is only available with a prescription.
- Prescription medications. Drugs, such as Zyban, increase levels of dopamine in the brain (since this is what's believed to give nicotine its addictive qualities).
Students who are interested in quitting smoking are encouraged to take advantage of services available from University Health Services (UHS). Don't try to go it alone! You can make an appointment with either a UHS clinician (863-0774) or a health educator (863-0461). They can help you decide the best way for you to quit smoking. Whichever option you choose, you will be the winner if you quit the habit.
