School Smoking Program Leah Wright Pharmacy Intern Stueck Pharmacy Ltd

Why You Shouldn’t Smoke or Chew Tobacco Unhealthy Addictive Unattractive, un-cool Expensive

What Makes Tobacco Products Unhealthy? Besides all the harmful chemicals? Vinyl chloride (plastic) Acetone (paint stripper) Arsenic Hydrogen cyanide Ammonia (bleach) Naphthalene (moth balls) Pesticides Lead Tar Carbon monoxide (car exhaust) Formaldehyde

Mouth Disease Smoke and left over chewing tobacco increase plaque build up which attracts bacteria Too much bacteria causes an infection and leads to sores Infection rots teeth, bone and gums and leads to bad breath and tooth loss

Plaque causes yellow stuff Staining causes black stuff Risk of oral cancer is 50 times greater for chewers than non-chewers Surgery to remove a tumor can result in loss of tongue, cheek or lip

Lung Cancer Smoke, tar, nicotine and thousands of other chemicals travel to your lungs Chemicals can change the way cells behave, causing cancer to occur All it takes is ONE damaged cell to start a tumor growing

Alveoli are grape-like structures in your lungs that move oxygen into your blood stream Smoke damages the alveoli and prevents your body from getting enough oxygen

Tar and Your Lungs Rots your lungs Kills your cells Causes cancer

Cancer can also start in the mouth, esophagus, and anywhere else the chemicals from a cigarette can reach

Heart Disease Nicotine can have many effects on the heart Increased heart rate Increased blood pressure Irregular heart beat Leads to heart attack and stroke

The Rest of Your Body Chemicals can travel to other parts of your body through the blood stream Kidneys Liver Skin Brain Fingers Toes Eyes Mouth

What About Second-Hand Smoke? Second-hand smoke may increase your risk of lung cancer, heart disease, or asthma Second-hand smoke can lead to heart attacks and strokes

What About Second-Hand Smoke? Allergies Ear infections Red, itchy, watery eyes Headaches If someone in your house smokes, it is the same as if you are smoking Your health is at risk, you have the right to ask them to smoke outside

Why Do People Use Tobacco? Relieve stress Fitting in, acting cool Having fun??? Relaxation Cravings Habit

Is This Cool?

Is This? Damage to blood vessels and tissue Clogged artery Airway blocked by cancer Tongue Cancer

Can You Afford To It? You could buy a pack a day for one year or: New Clothes Vacation Save for a car Games

Benefits of Quitting Within 8 hours carbon monoxide levels drop Within two days sense of smell and taste improve and risk of heart attack declines Within 3 days breathing becomes easier Within 2 weeks nicotine is removed from your body Within 3 weeks you will be able to be 25% more active

Benefits of Quitting Within 6 months coughing, sinus congestion, tiredness and shortness of breath improve Within 1 year risk of smoking-related heart attack is cut in half Within 10 years risk of lung cancer is cut in half Within 15 years risk of heart attack is equal to a person who never smoked

Myths about Quitting My friends won’t like me anymore 99% of teens say they would support a friend who wanted to quit

Myths about Quitting I’ll gain lots of weight Many people don’t gain a lot of weight Those who do only put on about 5 pounds Healthy snacks, drinking water, and staying active will help prevent weight gain

Myths about Quitting Smoking won’t hurt me until I am older Cigarettes don’t know how old you are Even people in their 20’s can have lung cancer or heart attacks

Myths about Quitting I won’t get addicted Addiction has nothing to do with willpower or control, it is a physical change in your brain The more you smoke, the more nicotine receptors you will have in your body The more receptors you have, the more nicotine you will need in order to be satisfied, and the more difficult it will be to quit Once a smoker, always a smoker

So Quit Already Why do you or someone you know find it very difficult to quit?

So Quit Already Addiction Nicotine is the addictive substance The brain demands nicotine, without enough nicotine smokers go into withdrawal Nicotine has an addictive potential comparable to cocaine, for some people all it takes is one drag

So Quit Already Habit Smoking is associated with other things Having a good time Eating Drinking Being stressed

If it’s SO hard to quit, what can I do? Get help Friends Family Teachers Doctor Pharmacist Never say never…you can do it with help

One Step At A Time Does someone close to you smoke or chew? Parent Friend How can you convince them to quit?

Some people aren’t ready to quit Tell him/her you want them to quit Offer your support DON’T NAG - when does that ever work? Remember that quitting isn’t simple, addiction and habit need to be dealt with

Visit Stueck Pharmacy for more information on quitting today, tomorrow, or even next year