What is Smoking cessation?
The challenge and process of quitting smoking is called smoking cessation. The word cessation alone is defined as "the process of ending". When prefaced by the word smoking, it becomes a challenge and process only ex-smokers can understand. That is why we have extracted real knowledge from ex-smokers, to provide you with the foundation, knowledge, and tools to prepare you for the challenge. Below are helpful treatment options and resources for your journey in becoming an ex-smoker.
Smoking Facts
- Nicotine is a drug found in tobacco and is as addictive as heroin, cocaine, or alcohol.
- Smoking leads to nicotine addiction and serious health problems.
- In the U.S., more people are addicted to nicotine than to any other drug.
- Electronic Cigarettes (e-Cigs), Cigars, and Chewing tobacco are NOT safe alternatives.
- Quitting smoking greatly reduces the risk of developing smoking-related diseases.
- Quitting smoking is hard and may require several attempts.
- People who stop smoking often start again because of withdrawal symptoms, stress, and weight gain.
- Withdrawal symptoms include anger, anxiety, foggy thinking, cravings, and hunger.
- Stress management, exercise, and a healthy diet help in the process.
- Smokers quit smoking everyday.
- Today there are more former smokers than current smokers.
- The average ex-smoker saves $2,000 per year from not buying cigs!
- You, your family, and your things will smell better.
Risk vs Health Benefits
- Risk: Every cigarette contains over 7,000 chemicals.
- Risk: 70 of the chemicals can cause cancer and other chronic diseases.
- Benefit: People at any age who stop smoking greatly reduce their risk for disease and early death.
- Benefit: Stopping smoking reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and respiratory diseases.
- Benefit: Reduces the chances of infertility, complicated pregnancy, and low birth weight.
Vaping: The Hit Your Brain Takes
“Vaping: The Hit Your Brain Takes” debunks common myths about vaping and boils down the science on the real harms of adolescent e-cigarette use. By Addiction Policy Forum.
some have lost the battle of smoking... and some are just beginning.
How Do I Quit Smoking?
- Ask your doctor about medications that may help the process of quitting.
- Schedule counseling in a group or individual setting.
- Practice Stress Management Techniques.
- Practice Cognitive Behavioral Therapies.
- Exercise daily and eat a Healthy Diet.
- Some ex-smokers also used these techniques:
- Chewing gum or sunflower seeds.
- Toothpicks after meals.
- Avoid major triggers, which could include:
- negative people
- other smokers
- unhealthy meals
- stress or activities
Need More Reasons to Quit?
- Smoking harms every organ of the body.
- 16 million in the U.S. are living with a disease caused by smoking.
- Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and COPD.
- Smoking increases risk for tuberculosis, eye disease, and problems of the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis.
- Smoking causes erectile dysfunction in males.
- Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death.
- Smoking kills 7 million people per year
- 480,000 deaths per year in the U.S.
- 41,000 are killed from secondhand smoke exposure.
- 1,300 deaths every day.
- Smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.
U.S. Smoker Demographics
- 14.0% of all adults
- 34.3 million people
- 15.8% of men
- 12.2% of women
- Per day, 2000 people younger than 18 years smoke their first cigarette.
- Each day, over 300 people younger than 18 years become daily cigarette smokers.
- Nearly 7 in 10 (68.0%) adult cigarette smokers want to stop smoking.
- More than 5 in 10 (55.4%) adult cigarette smokers had made a quit attempt in the past year.
Cost to the ECONOMY
- Total economic cost of smoking is more than $300 billion a year.
- $170 billion in direct medical care for adults.
- $156 billion in lost productivity due to premature death and exposure to secondhand smoke.
- $170 billion in direct medical care for adults.
- In 2019, states will collect a record $27.3 billion from tobacco taxes and settlements in court
- Only $655 (2.5%) million spent on programs aimed to stop smoking.
References
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014 [accessed 2019 Oct 22].
- World Health Organization. WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2017. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2017 [accessed 2019 Oct 1].
- World Health Organization. WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2011. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2011 [accessed 2019 Feb 22].
- Jha P, Ramasundarahettige C, Landsman V, et al. 21st Century Hazards of Smoking and Benefits of Cessation in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine 2013;368:341–50 [accessed 2019 Sep 22].
- Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report for 2017. Washington: Federal Trade Commission, 2019 [accessed 2019 Mar 07].
- Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Smokeless Tobacco Report for 2017. Washington: Federal Trade Commission, 2019 [accessed 2019 Mar 7].
- Xu X, Bishop EE, Kennedy SM, Simpson SA, Pechacek TF. Annual Healthcare Spending Attributable to Cigarette Smoking: An Update. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2014;48(3):326–333 [accessed 2019 Feb 22].
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs–2014, 2014 [accessed 2019 Oct 22].
- Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Broken Promises to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 20 Years Later. Washington: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, 2018 [accessed 2019 Jan 7].
- Wang TW, Asman K, Gentzke AS, et al. Tobacco Product Use Among Adults—United States, 2017. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2018;67(44):1225-32 [accessed 2019 Jan 7].
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Detailed Table. [accessed 2019 Jan 31].
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tips Impact and Results [last updated 2018 Nov 28; accessed 2019 Oct 7].