Quitting Smoking is Hard-You Don't Have To Do It Alone

By Jennifer Gill, CHAT president, Doctor of Pharmacy candidate 2009
Contact us for more info.

In November of 1977, the American Cancer Society went nationwide with a campaign known as the Great American Smokeout (GAS). Since then there have been dramatic changes in the way that American society views tobacco use and promotion. In the last 25 years many major cities and whole states have passed laws to protect non-smokers from the dangers of second hand smoke and to support smokers in their efforts to quit.

On the third Thursday in November, the American Cancer Society encourages smokers across the country to either smoke less or quit for the day, thus challenging them to give up tobacco use and providing them with the resources that will help them quit for good.

The idea for GAS arose from events in the early 1970s. In 1971, an event in Randolph, MA, Arthur P. Mullaney encouraged smokers to give up smoking for one day and donate the money they would normally have spent on cigarettes to a local high school scholarship fund.1 In 1974, Lynn R. Smith in Minnesota initiated the state's first D-Day, or Don't Smoke Day, which may have been inspired by the event in MA. The idea grew and on November 18, 1976, the California division of the American Cancer Society succeeded in getting almost 1 million smokers to quit for the day. This led to the first GAS event in the following year.

GAS not only encourages smokers to give up the habit, but encourages the cessation of all forms of tobacco use including smokeless tobacco (chew, snuff, etc.), pipes and cigars. The event provides smokers with information on the benefits of tobacco cessation, the consequences of tobacco use, and important resources and aides to help tobacco users succeed in quitting for good. GAS also brings to the forefront to deaths and chronic diseases caused by smoking, including second hand smoke.

Because of GAS and other anti-tobacco efforts, there has been significant progress made in research, policy and the environment, including:

• In 1977, Berkeley, CA became the first community to limit smoking in restaurants and other public places.

• In 1983, San Francisco passed the first workplace smoking restrictions, including bans in private workplaces.

• 1990, a federal smoking ban on all interstate buses and domestic flights of six hours or less took effect.

• 1994, the state of Mississippi filed the first lawsuit seeking millions of dollars from tobacco companies to compensate for smokers' Medicaid bills.

• 1999, the Department of Justice filed suit against cigarette manufacturers for lying to the public about the risks of smoking.

• 1999, the Master Settlement Agreement was passed, requiring tobacco companies to pay $206 billion to 45 states to cover Medicaid costs of treating smokers. It also ended cartoon advertising and tobacco billboards.

Since that time, many states have passed laws that restrict public tolerance of smoking. Among one of the strictest is the new legislation that passed and took effect in Washington state in late 2005, early 2006. Those states and communities with strong control laws are now seeing lower smoking rates and fewer people dying of lung cancer.2

It is estimated that 46 million American adults are currently smokers and that 1 in 5 deaths from all causes are due to smoking. The dangers of smoking are very evident and have a very broad spectrum:

• 80% of all lung cancers are due to smoking. Cigarette smoke contains at least 60 carcinogens, which cause, in addition to lung cancer, cancers of the voice box, mouth, breast, esophagus, bladder, kidney, brain, pancreas, and cervix.

• Lung damage leading to diseases such as emphysema which is a condition that causes the smoker to slowly suffocate from the inability to breathe properly.

• Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US, and 44% of smoking related deaths are the result of a complication of heart disease. People who smoke have more than twice the risk of heart attack than that of people who never smoked, and smokers who have had a heart attack have less chance of surviving than nonsmokers.

• Other conditions include strokes, infertility, cavities, bronchitis, male impotence and reduction in effectiveness of the immune system.

• Smoking causes the appearance of premature aging. Women smokers are more likely to have excessive facial wrinkles at a young age as well as yellow staining on hands and teeth.

• A developing fetus is exposed to all of the toxins from cigarette smoking by the pregnant mother. Babies generally have a lower birth weight and have an increased occurrence in birth defects.

The main goal of GAS is to encourage smokers to kick the habit, while providing them with tools to be successful. There are many benefits to quitting smoking that are seen both immediately and in the long run:

• 20 minutes after quitting: Blood pressure drops to a level close to the level before the last cigarette and temperature of the hands and feet returns to normal.

• 8 hours after quitting: Blood carbon monoxide levels drop to normal.

• 24 hours after quitting: Chance of heart attack decreases.

• 2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Circulation improves and lungs perform up to 30% better.

• 1-9 months after quitting: Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease. The tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs regain their function, increasing the ability of the lungs to clean out and reduce infection.

• 1 year after quitting: Risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker.

• 5-15 years after quitting: Risk of stroke is reduced to that of a non-smoker.

• 10 years after quitting: Rate of death from lung cancer is 50% lower than for continuing smokers. Risk of other smoking-related cancers is also reduced.

• 15 years after quitting: Risk of coronary heart disease is reduced to that of a non-smoker.

The Cougar Health Awareness Team (CHAT) and WSU's Health and Wellness Services believe it is very important to target the WSU community about the dangers of smoking and benefits of tobacco cessation. The state of Washington Department of Health as well as CHAT and HWS itself all provide the means to aide smokers in their efforts to quit. Washington state sponsors the Quitline which provides smokers who are residents of Washington state age 18-29 with free nicotine replacement patches or gum and a counseling program. WSU's Health and Wellness Services has a trained tobacco cessation counselor to help develop individualized tobacco cessation plans. These services are free to WSU students and employees.

For more information regarding any of the above mentioned tobacco cessation options call the Washington State Department of Health Tobacco Quit Line at 1-877-270-STOP, or visit www.quitline.com. For WSU's tobacco cessation services contact Joni Howard at 509-335-5481 or jonihoward@mail.wsu.edu.

References

1. "History of the Great American Smokeout", American Cancer Society website.

2. "All About the Event," American Cancer Society website.

3. "What happens to your body when you quit smoking?" Washington State Department of Health, Tobacco Prevention and Control Program.