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New federal tobacco legislation has many people talking about the so-called “smoking gun” of cigarettes and other tobacco use among young people, since the regulations are aimed at restricting the ability of tobacco companies to market their products to youth. “Once you've gone down this path, then it's something you continually struggle with,” said President Barack Obama in a press conference following the new law’s passage. He said the legislation was passed to prevent young people from starting down that path.
But the new regulations do little for already-initiated smokers, many of whom have been seasoned for years with the addictive nicotine and other chemical contents of cigarettes.
“Nicotine is the most addictive substance known to man, and it’s very hard to quit smoking,” said Richard Bonds, prevention specialist at Cheaha Regional Mental Health Center.
Those people already suffering from nicotine addiction are virtually on their own when it comes to quitting. One thing that can help them break the smoking habit is realizing its costs – to both pocketbook and health history.
Burning money
Smoking can incur high health and financial expenses in the short and long term, doctors and insurers said.
Most smokers can calculate the financial cost of their cigarettes by simple multiplication. The national Stop Smoking Foundation reports the average smoker consumes one pack of cigarettes per day. A pack of cigarettes now costs about $5. Multiply that by days in a week and weeks in a year, and the average smoker is spending more than $1,800 annually on cigarettes alone. But even many savvy smokers fail to realize just how much money they are burning through in insurance costs every time they light up.
Health insurance providers can charge smokers from 10 percent to 40 percent more than they do non-smokers. Farmer’s Insurance agent Josh Parris of Childersburg said smokers are hit hard on their life insurance premiums because of the health risks they run by consuming toxin-laced products notorious for their power to kill.
“Smoking doubles your life insurance premium, easily,” Parris said. “No matter what company you’re with, your premiums are going to be twice those of a non-smoker.”
Cigarette lovers may also see an increase in their homeowners insurance rates, Parris said. At Farmer’s Insurance, those who like to light up pay on average 10 percent more to insure their homes, because of the fire hazard caused by smoking at home.
“Not smoking can save you a lot of money,” Parris said. “Overall, insurance for a non-smoker is cheaper.”
Health toll
Most anti-smoking campaigns spend more time focusing on the activity’s negative health effects than they do on the financial cost
“Smoking actually contributes to two of the three main causes of death in America,” Bonds said.
In fact, smoking accounts for about 443,000 deaths in the United States per year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most health complications from smoking are not experienced in the short term, said Dr. Stephen Bowen, of the Craddock Health Center in Sylacauga. But the long-term health ramifications range from chronic heart and lung diseases such as obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, coronary artery disease and cancer. Smoking also increases the risk for strokes, heart attacks and aneurisms caused by hardened and narrowed arteries.
If those risks aren’t enough to persuade smokers to reconsider their attachment to the cigarette, the multitude of short-term health effects might:
Sinus problems
Shortness of breath
Increase in blood pressure
Increase in anxiety
Discoloration of teeth and fingernails
Loss of senses of smell and taste
Wrinkling of skin
Dryness and itchiness in eyes
Hand tremors
“Many people know smoking cigarettes will cause cancer and heart disease, but most people believe it will take 20-30 or even 40 years to do damage to your body,” Bonds said. “But scientists have been able to determine that smoking even one cigarette can harm your heart.”
The stimulants in a cigarette can cause the pulse to increase, an effect intensified by the heart’s attempt to replenish oxygen to the body after the invasion of carbon monoxide caused by smoking inhalation.
Mentality over method
The inherent health and financial costs of smoking have many smokers wanting to quit, but the paths toward that end are numerous and unreliable.
“Everybody has their own little methodology for quitting smoking, but there are none that are uniformly successful,” said Dr. Gary Turner, M.D., a Sylacauga-based specialist in otolaryngology – or an ear, nose, throat, head and neck doctor. “In my experience, the best methodology is for the patient to finally come to the realization that smoking is terrible for their health and has a high probability of decreasing their life span.”
Debra Sayers, a longtime smoker, said she is aware of the costs of her habit, but she has no intention of quitting.
“I say it’s OK; I’m only hurting me,” she said.
At her age, she said, you don’t experience a lot of peer pressure to quit.
Bowen said the side effects to quitting can be unpleasant. Nervousness, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, nausea and shaking can all visit quitters initially to try to lure them back to cigarettes.
“Everybody that quits says they quit 20 times before they finally succeeded,” Bowen said.
In order to avoid relapsing, Bowen said it is important to find the right method for you — whether it is hypnotherapy, group therapy, prescription medication or over-the-counter patches. But relying on a quitting method alone won’t work, he said; the real challenge is overcoming the psychological attachment to the drug. He added that the most effective anti-drug for nicotine addicts is education about the health hazards associated with smoking.
“They need to learn that the associated diseases are so horrible that they make up their minds to decide they’re going to quit,” Turner said. “All the methods are just crutches for the quitting process, and without the mentality, their success is not very great.”
Paul Drake, who picked up cigarettes at the age of 12, quit cold turkey two years ago at the age of 40. It was his second attempt to quit, after quitting for two years and picking cigarettes up again.
A massive heart attack motivated him to break his 28-year habit in 2007. The cravings haven’t gone away entirely — even after 24 months.
“There are still days I could smoke one as big as my leg,” he said. “But now I have a reason not to start again.”
Bonds said there are a number of resources available to help those ready to take steps toward quitting. One of the most important and underrated resources is a counselor who can help break the psychological addiction to tobacco, he said.
The Alabama Department of Public Health sponsors the Alabama Tobacco Quitline, which is a free service for all Alabamians who want to quit tobacco. Callers over the age of 19 can also receive a free four-week supply of nicotine patches. The Alabama Tobacco Quitline number is 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-8...).
The federal government provides a number of resources to assist in smoking cessation at www.smokefree.gov.
The Internet’s leading Web site for helping smokers quit cold turkey is located at www.whyquit.com.
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