Western Tobacco Prevention Project

Tobacco Topics : Tobacco 101

Print friendlyAn Important Distinction

Traditional or Sacred Tobacco and Commercial Tobacco are different plants with different uses. When we use the phrase “tobacco prevention” we mean the prevention of commercial tobacco use.

Historical Moment in Tobacco Prevention

In 1964 a report on Smoking and Health was released by the Surgeon General. This landmark document linked lung cancer to smoking and signaled the beginning of important research and policies that persist to this day.4

Facts

• There are more than 4000 chemicals, 40 carcinogens, and 500 poisons in cigarette smoke.1

• Nicotine is a known addictive poison. Abuse results in emotional dependence.2

• Some of the ingredients in cigarette smoke: carbon monoxide, tar, arsenic, acetone, ammonia, formaldehyde, lead, mercury, and silver.3

• “Commercial tobacco kills more Americans each year than alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroine, homicide, suicide, car accidents, and AIDS combined.”4

• AI/AN’s have the highest prevalence rate of smoking: It is estimated that 40% of AI/AN deaths can be attributed to commercial tobacco use.5

• Smoking is a major cause of lung cancer.6

• Smoking and diabetes are a lethal combination.7

• Among people with diabetes that require amputations 95% are smokers.7

• Smoking raises blood sugar levels, making it harder to control diabetes.7

• The combined cardiovascular risks of smoking and diabetes are as high as 14 times greater than either smoking or diabetes.

• At the current cost of cigarettes a pack-a-day smoker will spend about $1680 a year, that’s over $33,000 in twenty years.

• Approximately 1 in 5 AI/AN students in BIA funded schools are current users of smoke-less tobacco, compared to 1 in 12 students at all teenage high schools.8

• Effects of smokeless tobacco: tooth abrasion, gum disease and recession, heart disease and stroke, cancer of the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, and pancreas, increased heart rate and blood pressure.9

• Secondhand smoke (SHS) is responsible for approximately 53,000 deaths each year.10

• An average sized “dip” of smokeless tobacco (when held in the mouth for thirty minutes) has as much nicotine as 2-3 cigarettes.11

• Pregnant women that smoke are putting their children at increased risk for a number illnesses and possible death due to SIDS.12

References:

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing Tobacco Use: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000.
2. Liberty Science Center. The Science Behind Tobacco. Available at:
http://www.lsc.org/tobacco/health/addiction.html.
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing Tobacco Use: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000.
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tobacco Information and Prevention Source. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/aag/pdf/aag_osh2004.pdf
5. CDC Tobacco State Report: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/statehi/html_2002/Idaho_text.htm
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tobacco Information and Prevention Source. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/aag/pdf/aag_osh2004.pdf
7. American Diabetes Association. Available at: http://www.diabetes.org.
8. CDC, MMWR 52(44), November 7, 2003. Available at: <http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5244.pdf>
9. National Cancer Institute. Cancer Facts. Available at: <http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/10_15.htm>. Accessed: July 26, 2005.
10. Stanton A. Glantz article http://www.tobacco.org/resources/Health/021022glantz.html Accessed: July 26, 2005
11. Facts You Should Know About Smokeless (Spit) Tobacco
http://www.presmark.com/htmlfile/smokeless.htm Accessed: July 26, 2005
12. National SIDS/Infant Death Resource Center
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Smoking: A Selected Annotated Bibliography
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2004 Oct 8; 53(39):911-5.

 

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