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This is a collection of some very useful tobacco facts and information from various sources, collected by the Texas School Safety Center - Student Initives Program

Click on the requested title link below to jump directly to it, or scroll down:

• Use of Tobacco in Texas
• Tobacco & Texans
• Secondhand Smoke
• Texans & Smoke-free Workplaces
• Nicotine Addiction
• Women & Tobacco
• Smokeless Tobacco Facts
• Cigar Facts
• Tobacco Costs
• Benefits of Quitting Smoking

Use of Tobacco in Texas

Do you know that each year in Texas 24,100 adults die from their own smoking and more than 2,790 people of all age groups die from others smoking? Just think: in your regular 8-hour workday 23 Texans will be inevitably killed by smoking. According to the most recent tobacco toll for the state of Texas, 24.3% of high school students and 22.1% of adults smoke, and 56,200 children under 18 have become regular smokers in 2004. These numbers make you wonder what the future of this generation will be. There is no future where there is no life. Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, drugs, murders, and suicides combined. Thousands more suffer from smokeless tobacco use and tobacco-related health problems each year without actually dying. The annual tobacco industry marketing expenditures nationwide are $12.7 billion. Is it worth all that money to shorten the lives of almost a forth of US population?! Most of us probably wouldn'tt agree with it.

For complete tobacco toll data, visit http://tobaccofreekids.org

Tobacco & Texans

• Tobacco is one of the United States' deadliest killers. It is the only product that, when used directly as the manufacturer intends, causes mass addiction, disease and death. More Texans are smoking than ever before. The following facts testify to the dangers of tobacco use.
• Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in this country. It kills more Texans than alcohol, AIDS, heroin, auto accidents, suicides, handgun murders and fires combined. Tobacco use in Texas has accounted for an estimated 26,427 deaths in 1995.
• Each day more than 3,000 young people begin smoking - that's more than one million new smokers each year.
• In 1995, the smoking prevalence for Hispanics was 19 percent, 27 percent for African Americans and 25 percent for whites.
• The percentage of 18-24 year olds who smoke increased dramatically from 15.0 percent in 1987 to 22.9 percent in 1995 -- a 50 percent increase.
• In 1996, an estimated 410,000 Texas secondary students were currently using tobacco. Nearly 50,000 of those were in the 7th grade or 17 percent of all 7th graders.
• Nicotine is considered a gateway drug. Its addictive nature paves the way for youngsters to use alcohol and illicit drugs. They are fourteen times more likely as nonsmokers to use marijuana and twelve times as likely to use cocaine.
• A recent two-year study of over 350,000 live births in England found that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) could be reduced by as much as two-thirds if parents did not smoke. For every hour an infant spends each day in a room where people smoke, the risk of SIDS doubles compared to infants who are in smoke-free environments. An infant exposed to indoor environmental tobacco smoke for four hours each day is four times as likely to die of SIDS as a non-exposed child.

Source: Texas Department of State Health Services, Bureau of Chronic Disease and Tobacco Prevention

Secondhand Smoke

• Secondhand smoke is a cause of disease, including lung cancer, in healthy non-smokers. Each year secondhand smoke kills and estimated 3,000 adult non-smokers from lung cancer.
• Secondhand smoke causes 30 times as many lung cancer deaths as all regulated air pollutants COMBINED.
• Secondhand smoke causes other respiratory problems in non-smoking adults: coughing, phlegm, chest, discomfort, and reduced lung function.
• For many people, secondhand smoke causes reddening, itching, and watering of the eyes. About eight of 10 non-smokers report they are annoyed by others cigarette smoke.
• More than 4,000 chemical compounds have been identified in tobacco smoke. Of these, at least 43 are known to cause cancer in humans and animals.
• At high exposure levels, nicotine is a potent and potentially lethal poison. Secondhand smoke is the only source of nicotine in the air.
• Non-smoker exposed to cigarette smoke have in their body fluids significant amounts of nicotine, carbon monoxide, and other evidence of passive smoking.
• Three out of four non-smokers have lived with smokers, and nearly half (45 percent) are worried that secondhand smoke might cause them serious health problems.
• More than 90 percent of Americans favor restricting or banning smoking in public places.

Source: Centers for Disease Control

Texans & Smoke-free Workplaces

Creating a smoke-free policy benefits everyone by eliminating harmful environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) from the workplace environment. Removing ETS from the working environment has long term benefits including a safe and healthy work environment, reduction in direct health care cost, increased productivity and lower risk of fire. In addition to the employee's health, a smoke-free environment benefits the health of clients (e.g. restaurants, bars, and businesses). Furthermore, a smoke-free policy in the workplace may provide the motivation and opportunity for an employee to quit smoking, thus benefiting the employee and employer. Many states and municipalities have enacted legislation restricting smoking in public and some have moved to restrict smoking at the worksite. As of June 1995, 47 states had restricted s moking at some level in workplaces or public places and 21 states regulated smoking at private worksites.

• A smoker who quits could save an employer an estimated $960 in excess illness costs each year.
• In 1992, 97 percent of nonsmokers and 79 percent of current smokers agreed that exposure to ETS is harmful to healthy adults. It is the policy of this state to protect the health and the welfare of its people and to reduce and, to every reasonable extent, eliminate the causes of loss of production, reduction of work hours, temporary and permanent incapacity of workers and an increase in certain insurance rates by:
  - Promoting the adoption, application and implementation of safety measures in industry and enterprise;
  - Protecting workers against unsafe and hazardous working conditions; and
  - Encouraging the correction of any unsafe and hazardous working conditions in industry and enterprise.
• Each smoker costs his or her employer more than $4,000 a year, according to figures compiled by William L. Weis, assistant professor at the Albers Graduate School of Business, Seattle, Washington. Breakdown of his cost estimates include:
  - Absenteeism runs 2.2 more days each year, at a cost of $110 a day (Based on a personal cost of $20,000 per employee);
  - Medical-care benefits are used 50 percent more than by nonsmokers, at an annual cost of $230;
  - Earnings are lost to the employer because of the smoker's sickness and /or early death at a cost of $230;
  - Accidents cost an estimated $45;
  - Fire insurance costs go up an estimated $45;
  - Lost productivity for smoking breaks, etc., is estimated at $1,820; and

Damage or maintenance for smoke pollution costs $1,000.

Source: Texas Department of State Health Services, Bureau of Chronic Disease and Tobacco Prevention

Nicotine Addiction

• The 1988 Surgeon Generals report on the health consequences of smoking, Nicotine Addiction, concluded that:
  - Tobacco use is addicting.
  - Nicotine is the drug in tobacco that causes addiction
  - Addiction to tobacco is similar to addiction to drugs such as cocaine and heroin. (1)
• Tobacco use meets the primary criteria for defining drug addiction, as developed by the World Health Organization, National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the American Psychiatric Association. These criteria are:
  - The drug seeking or taking is driven by strong, persistent, and often irresistible urges.
  - The substance is mood-altering and enters the brain through the bloodstream; the drug is reinforcing that is, the effects of the drug are so rewarding that the user continues to take it.
  - There are regular patterns of use, continued use despite harmful effects, relapse; following an abstinent period, and recurrent cravings for the drug. Dependence- producing drugs often create a tolerance, physical dependence, and pleasant effects. (1)
• Sixty percent of even light smokers have at least on key indicator of addiction (e.g., they tried to cut down and could not, or they felt that they needed or were dependent on cigarettes). (2)
• Leading health organizations recognize regular tobacco use as a drug addiction. (1)
• Nicotine dependency is the most common form of drug addiction. Continued use of a nicotine delivery system (e.g. cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, cigars) leads to more death and disease than all other addictions combined. (1)
• Eighty-five percent of cigarette smokers are daily smokers (3), while only 10% of illicit drug users are daily users. (4)
• Eighty-five percent of people who have ever tried an illicit drug have quit using that drug, while only 63% of people who have ever tried a cigarette have quit smoking. (5)
• Nicotine causes physical dependence. Persons who stop using tobacco products usually experience a period of withdrawal. (1)
• Nicotine affects the body in different ways. In stressful situations, it can have an effect like a tranquilizer, while during quiet times it can be used as a stimulant. (1)
• The bodys response to nicotine begins quicklynicotine inhaled deeply reaches the brain in 10 seconds. (1)
• When a person uses tobacco regularly, the levels of nicotine accumulate in the body. Daily users experience the effects of nicotine 24 hour each day. (1)
• Seventy percent of current smokers want to quit. (6)
• Eighty-seven percent of current smokers say cigarettes are addictive. (7)
• Tobacco addiction can be effectively treated through a single or combination of methods such as nicotine replacement therapy (nicotine patch or gum), or cessation programs that use a variety of techniques such as coping skills training, brand switching to reduce nicotine, stress management, diet modification, and relaxation. (1) Ninety percent of successful quitters quit abruptly (cold turkey). (8)

Young People

• Most adolescents who smoke are also addicted to nicotine. When young people try to quit smoking, they experience withdrawal symptoms similar to those reported by adults. Eighty-four percent of 12- to 17-year-olds who smoke one pack or more of cigarettes per day feel they need or are dependent on cigarettes. (9)
• Among addictive behaviors, cigarette smoking is the one most likely to be established during adolescence90% of smokers start before the age of 21, and 50% before the age of 18 (10).
• Those smokers who start at an early age are more likely than late starters to develop long-term nicotine addiction. (9)
• Tobacco is often the first substance used by those young people who use alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs. (9)

References

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking; Nicotine Addiction. A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 1988.

Giovino, GA, Shelton, DM, Schooley, MW. Trends in cigarette smoking cessation in the United States. Tobacco Control 1993; 2 (suppl) S3-S10.

Center for Disease Control. Cigarette smoking among adults United States, 1992, and changes in the definition of current cigarette smoking. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 1994; 43 (19): 342-246.

Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unpublished data for the 1991 Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National household survey on drug abuse: population estimates 1992. DHHS Publication No. (SMA) 93-2053.

Gallup Organization. Despite increasing hostility, one in four Americans still smokes. Gallup mirror of American Poll. Princeton (NJ); Gallup Organization, December 1, 1991.

Janofsky, M. Majority of Americans say cigarettes spur addiction. New York Times. 1994 May 1; sec.1.

Fiore MC, Novotny TE, Pierce, JP et al. Methods used to quit smoking in the United States: do cessation programs help: JAMA 1990; 263: 2760-5.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report to the Surgeon General Atlanta, Georgia; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 1994.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking: 25 Years in Progress. A Report to the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health. DHHS Publication no. (CDC) 89-8411,1989.

Women & Tobacco

• About 23 million women 18 years and older (24.6%) and at least 1.5 million adolescent girls in the United States are smokers. Twenty five percent of 17 and 18-year-old girls smoke.
• Among racial/ethnic groups, smoking rates among U.S. women 18 years and older are white, 27.2%; black, 27.8%, Hispanic, 20.7%, American Indian/ Alaskan native, 39.4%; and Asian/Pacific Islander, 15.2%.
• Women are beginning to smoke at younger ages, increasing their risks of developing smoking-related diseases.
• The gap in smoking prevalence between men and women has narrowed dramatically in recent years. While the percentage of male smokers has dropped 24 percentage points between 1965 and 1991, the percentage of female smokers has dropped only 10 percentage points during the same time period.
• The more formal education a woman receives, the less likely she is to be a smoker. In 1990-91, or white women 18-44 years of age who did not finish high school, 59% were smokers; of high school graduates, 35.5% were smokers; of those with some college, only 11.4% were smokers.
• Between 1960 and 1990, the lung cancer death rate among women increased by more than 500%, and the rate is continuing to increase. Lung cancer surpassed breast cancer in 1987 as the number one cause of cancer death among women. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 1994, lung cancer will kill 59,000 women and breast cancer will kill 46,000 women.
• More than 140,000 women died from smoking-related diseases in 1990.
• Smoking has a damaging effect on womens reproductive health. Smoking is associated with reduced fertility and early menopause.
• Maternal smoking poses a special risk to a woman during pregnancy and to the developing fetus and newborn. The risks include complications of pregnancy, premature birth, low birth-weight infants, stillbirth, and infant mortality.
• Each year, U.S. mothers who smoke at least 10 cigarettes a day can actually cause between 8,000 and 26,000 new cases of asthma among their children. Between 200,000 and one million asthmatic children have their condition worsened by exposure to second hand smoke.
• Research suggests that infants are more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) if their mothers smoke during and after pregnancy, compared to infants whose mothers did not smoke either during or after pregnancy. Although the risk is somewhat less, infants are also more likely to die from SIDS if their mothers stop smoking during pregnancy and then resume following birth.
• The health benefits of quitting smoking far outweigh any risks from weight gain caused by quitting smoking. Research shows the average weight gain after quitting smoking is only five pounds, and can be controlled through diet and exercise.

Source: Centers for Disease Control

Smokeless Tobacco

• Smokeless tobacco refers to chewing tobacco, spit, and snuff.
• About six percent of all Texas public middle school students and about nine percent of all Texas public high school students are current smokeless tobacco users.
• Eight percent of Texas adult men reported current use of smokeless tobacco products. The largest proportion of smokeless tobacco users were 25-34 year old men.
• A 2-can-a week dipper gets as much nicotine as a 1 pack-a-day smoker.
• The concentrations of the cancer causing chemicals in smokeless tobacco are much higher than in cigarette tobacco.
• When chewed or dipped, the chemicals in tobacco are absorbed through the mouth and the stomach. It takes slightly longer for this absorption, but the final concentrations in the blood are just as high with smoking.
• Smokeless tobacco is associated with cancers of the cheek, gums, and inner surface of the lips.
• Smokeless tobacco increases the risk of these cancers by about 50 times.
• The constant flow of nicotine into your body can cause increased heart rate, increased blood pressure and irregular heartbeat leading to greater risk of heart attack and stroke.
• The products in smokeless tobacco permanently stain teeth.
• Smokeless tobacco contains high quantities of sugar. This sugar mixed with the plaque on your teeth forms acids that eat away at the tooths enamel, causing cavities.
• All brands of snuff are harmful and addictive. But some brands deliver more harmful chemicals and more nicotine than others do.
  Lowest
  Kodiak
  Medium
  Skoal
  Highest
  Copenhagen

Source: Texas Department of State Health Services, Bureau of Chronic Disease and Tobacco Prevention

Cigar Facts

There are several reasons for the popularity of cigars: clever advertising in Cigar Aficonado magazine, invitation-only smoker nights, and cigar-of-the-month clubs. Cigars fit in with other forms of self-indulgence (specialty coffees, microbreweries). Also, the lack of understanding by the public of the dangers of cigar smoking and celebrity glamorization of cigar have contributed to the mystique.

• The carcinogens and cancer-producing chemicals found in cigarettes are also found in cigars.
• All tobacco users are 5-10 times more likely to get cancer of the mouth or throat than nonsmokers.
• Cancer death rates among men who smoke cigars are 34% higher than among nonsmokers.
• Cigar smokers have 4-10 times the risk of dying from laryngeal, oral and esophageal cancers as nonsmokers.
• Cigar smokers have three times higher rate of lung cancer than nonsmokers.
• Cigar smokers are likely than nonsmokers to suffer from persistent coughs, phlegm, and also face an increased risk of peptic ulcers.
• Smoke condensates from cigars are as carcinogenic as condensates from cigarettes.
• Concentration of tar and nicotine are much higher in cigars than in cigarettes.
• Exposure to secondhand cigar smoke carries the same risks as exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke.
• 1994 marked the first increase in consumption of cigars since 1970. And in 1994, two billion cigars were sold to 10 million cigar smokers.
• Congress did not explicitly include cigars in the 1984 law requiring health warnings on cigarettes, so cigar packages bear no warning from the Surgeon General.
• Cigars are taxed at the Federal Level at a rate of $1.125 per thousand, as contained in the 1990 Budget Reconciliation Act.
• Tobacco Users cost American taxpayers $68 billion per year in medical expenses and lost productivity.

Source: Texas Department of State Health Services, Bureau of Chronic Disease and Tobacco Prevention

Tobacco Costs

Environmental

• It takes 3-5 years for one cigarette butt to decompose
• Cigarette butts are the number one source of pollution on beaches
• One ingredient found in cigarettes is carbon monoxide (as in car exhaust)

Money

• Sales for Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, and American Brand tobacco companies rose from $6 billion in 1984 to 35 billion in 1994.
• Tobacco companies spend $16 million every day to advertise cigarettes.
• A pack-a-day habit costs about $1000 a year.
• With the money spent on buying cigarettes, in one week you could save enough money to buy two movie tickets.
• In one year, youd have enough money for a new mountain bike.
• Getting your teeth cleaned to get rid of yellow and brown tobacco stains costs $55 per cleaning!

Advertising

• Tobacco companies in Texas spend 360 million on advertising.
• Cigarette promotions of televised sporting events heavily expose large numbers of youth to tobacco industry advertising messages. During a Marlboro Grand Prix telecast the Marlboro logo was seen or mentioned nearly 6,000 times and visible for 46 of the 94 minutes the race was telecast!
• Tobacco companies rely on reassuring images to make their product appealing by linking smoking with youth, happiness, attractiveness, and success, and avoiding mention of the fact that it is hazardous to your health.
• 36% of cigarette ads are in magazines that reach teens.
• "Old Joe," the cartoon camel used to advertise Camel cigarettes, is as familiar to 6-year-old children as Mickey Mouse. A study found that not only did 6 year olds recognize him, but were able to link him with cigarettes.

Source: Texas Department of State Health Services, Bureau of Chronic Disease and Tobacco Prevention

Benefits of Quitting Smoking

20 Minutes

• Blood pressure drops to normal
• Pulse rate drops to normal
• Body temperature of hands and feet increases to normal

8 Hours

• Carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal
• Oxygen level in blood increases to normal

24 Hours

• Chance of heart attack decreases

48 Hours

• Nerve endings begin to regrow
• Ability to smell and taste is enhanced

2 Weeks to 3 Months

• Circulation improves
• Walking becomes easier
• Lung function increases up to 30 percent

1 to 9 Months

• Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decreases
• Cilia regrow in lungs, increasing ability to clean the lungs, and reduce infection
• Bodys overall energy increases

1 Year

• Excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker

5 Years

• Lung cancer death rate for average former smoker (one pack a day) decreases by almost half
• Stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker 5 15 years after quitting
• Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, and esophagus is half of that of a smoker

10 Years

• Lung cancer death rate similar to that of nonsmokers
• Pre-cancerous cells are replaced
• Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases

15 Years

• Risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker

Sources: American Cancer Society; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention