SUBSTANCE ABUSE: Tobacco and Its Effects Ms. Mai Lawndale High School

Tobacco and People All tobacco products are made from the dried and treated leaves of the tobacco plant Cigarettes and pipe tobacco are made from crumbled tobacco leaves, while rolled leaves are used to make cigars

Smokeless Tobacco Smokeless tobacco are made from leaves ground up that is inhaled or chewed rather than smoked Snuff is finely ground tobacco that is sniffed or dipped Chewing tobacco is coarsely ground tobacco that is chewed and held in the mouth

Tobacco’s Popularity Until the late 1800s, tobacco was widely used in pipes and cigarettes The popularity of smoking came in 1964 when 50% of all adults in the US smoked That year, the Surgeon General linked smoking to heart disease and lung cancer, and since then smoking has decreased to about 28%

Health Warnings In 1966, the government began requiring cigarette manufacturers to clearly label all packages with this caution: “Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health.” In 1970, the warning statement was changed to this: “The Surgeon General has determined that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health.”

Health Warnings Today, one of the following must be printed on every cigarette package: Smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and may complicate pregnancy Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide Smoking by pregnant women may result in fetal injury, premature birth, and low birth weight Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health

Health Warnings Federal law also prohibits ads for tobacco products on TV and radio State and local laws now ban smoking in many public areas Smoking is banned on all airline flights within the United States

Health Warnings In 1986, Congress passed a law requiring these warning to be put on all smokeless tobacco products: This product may cause mouth cancer This product may cause gum disease and tooth loss This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes

Why People Do Not Use Tobacco As you can tell, tobacco causes serious health problems and smoking is now more socially unacceptable Most teenagers and young adult prefer to date people who do not smoke because they think smoking shows poor judgment and is unattractive Tobacco also leave stains on fingers and teeth, and causes bad breath

Why People Start Using Tobacco Despite decreasing popularity of tobacco, there are still millions of users Studies have shown that stress, social pressures, and advertising are important influences on teenagers

Stress Stress is the body’s response to a physical or mental demand or pressure Many young people start using tobacco as a way of coping with stress or uncomfortable feelings (boredom, anger, frustration, depression, anxiety) For people who are jittery, it gives them something to do with their hangs

Social Pressures People often start using tobacco to be like someone they admire Many young people think that smoking is a sign of adulthood and will make them appear sophisticated and in control Most young people start using tobacco when it is offered by a friend and refusing it would be too difficult

Advertising In an effort to gain new customers, tobacco companies target advertisements towards young people Whatever the age of their target audience, tobacco ads always show users as healthy, happy, and attractive people They never show the coughing, wrinkled skin, stained fingers, breathing though a tube, etc.

How People Become Addicted Tobacco is not just a bad habit like biting your nails, it is an addiction An addiction is a strong physical and psychological craving for a substance The addictive substance is tobacco is nicotine Nicotine addiction causes tobacco users to progress from experimentation to occasional to regular use

Experimentation The first few times people try using tobacco, they may experience very unpleasant effects (dizziness, nausea) Inhaling also makes people cough, which makes people not want to smoke Others keep trying until they overcome the unpleasant effect Once users get used to the nicotine, each dose produces a brief “lift”

Occasional Use A small percentage of people who use tobacco use it only at certain times (at a party, after meals, going out with friends) Occasional use may seem harmless, but using tobacco in any amount can have serious health consequences For many young people, occasional use leads to regular use

Regular Use Most people who use tobacco regularly do so every day, usually in set patterns Whenever the nicotine levels in the brain and bloodstream drop, the user craves another dose Regular users are physically addicted to nicotine, and psychologically addicted to behaviors associated with tobacco

Cigarettes: The Busy Drug No other drug keeps a user as busy taking it as does tobacco When regular users try to quit or reduce, they become irritable, depressed, anxious, restless, and tired These are all common symptoms of withdrawal from nicotine and reasons why people continue to use tobacco

Tobacco’s Effects on the Body Tobacco contains more than 2,500 different chemicals, while its smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals Many of these toxic chemicals have been identified as carcinogens (substances that cause cancer)

Cigarettes Tobacco smoke is a combination of hot gases and tiny particles The three most dangerous substances in tobacco smoke are nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tars

Nicotine (deadly poison) Inhaling tobacco smoke is the fastest way of getting nicotine into the blood and to the brain Heavy smokers absorb enough nicotine in a day to kill them if it were put into their bloodstream all at once Nicotine causes a release in adrenaline, which makes smokers feel more alert by speeding up the heart rate and making blood vessels restrict

Carbon Monoxide One of the gases that cigarette smoke contains is carbon monoxide (car exhaust) Carbon monoxide is poisoning because it is picked up by the blood and takes the place of oxygen Lack of oxygen can affect the smoker’s vision, hearing, judgment, and shortness of breath

Tars Tars are tiny particles in cigarette smoke that forms a sticky mixture in the air passages and lungs This mixture interferes with normal air flow, and making it harder to breathe It is estimated that each year that one cup of tar is inhaled by a smoker This buildup of tar produces a chronic cough as the smoker tries to eliminate the mucus

Low-Tar, Low-Nicotine Cigarettes As health risks of smoking became widely known, tobacco companies began developing low-tar, low-nicotine cigarettes These are made with denser filters, thinner paper, and air hole, but do not reduce the risk of heart disease, lung disease, oral cancer, or other diseases They simply reduce the amount of smoke that reaches the smoker

Pipes and Cigars Pipe and cigar smokers do not inhale as much tobacco smoke so the risk for developing lung cancer is slightly lower However, the risks for oral cancer is higher because they contain more tars Pipe and cigar smokers also inhale more deeply, so there are still many health risks involved

Smokeless Tobacco As smoking declines, smokeless tobacco is steadily increasing because people think that it is safer than smoking The majority of new users each year are preteen and teenage males Although smokeless tobacco do not inhale carbon monoxide and tars, they do take in nicotine and are exposed to more dangerous carcinogens

Smokeless Tobacco Smokeless tobacco users have greater risks of developing mouth and throat cancer than smokers do Smokeless tobacco users experience dental problems such as gum disease and tooth loss more often than smokers

In Conclusion… There are no safe forms of tobacco The most dangerous substances in tobacco smoke are nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tars People who use smokeless tobacco are exposed to nicotine and to even higher levels of carcinogens than smokers