FETCH Session 10: Underage Smoking

FETCH Session 10: Underage Smoking From a report by Sherrie Sato, 11-25-2007

Tobacco risks • Tobacco-related illnesses account for more deaths than those attributed to alcohol, car crashes, homicides, illicit drug use and risky sexual behavior combined. • 440,000 Americans die each year due to tobacco addictions Joe Cool

Teen smoking in Hawaii • 10% of intermediate school students & • 20% of high school students say they are smokers • 4.2 million packs of cigarettes are obtained and smoked by youth under 18 in Hawaii each year • (Even though selling cigarettes to minors is prohibited)

How nicotine works • Nicotine: • Is both a stimulant and a depressant • Can boost a user up • Can calm an anxious person down • Is delivered to the brain within 10 seconds of lighting up • Releases adrenaline and glucose into the Central Nervous System • Increases dopamine (a mood enhancer) in the brain

However • The nicotine high starts to dissipate within seconds • The smoker experiences fatigue and slight depression • And wants to smoke again to restore the high • Smoking often becomes chain-smoking

Nicotine addiction • 1 pack a day = 200 hits of nicotine • The up and down of the nicotine high explains the fierce addictiveness • Of the 73 million U.S. smokers, 40% (46 million) try to quit each year • Less than 5% succeed

Smokeless tobacco is not safer: • Smokeless nicotine takes longer to absorb • Delivers a greater amount of nicotine over a longer period of time • Contains 28 ingredients that can cause cancer of the lips, tongue, cheeks, gums and the roof and bottom of the mouth

One case of mouth cancer caused by an addiction to chewing tobacco Sean Marsee at 19, just prior to death Sean Marsee at 17, school athlete

Early smoking is affected by having: • Parents who smoke • Friends who smoke • Low self-image • Low school achievement • Body image problems • (Girls trying to lose weight are 40% more likely to smoke)

Tobacco is a gateway drug: • Teen smokers (12-17) are: • 5 times more likely to drink • 13 times more likely to use marijuana • 7 times more likely to use heroin and cocaine • 13 times more likely to be drug dependent • at higher risk for depression and anxiety

Tobacco advertisers • Know that “children are the chief source of new customers” • Know that hooking the young is the lifeline for an industry that kills its customers • Present smoking as pervasive and part of a cool, rebellious life-style

Stages of tobacco addiction: • Stage 1: Youth forms a positive attitude toward smoking • Stage 2: Teen tries smoking one or two times • Stage 3: Teen smokes repeatedly but not regularly

Stages of addiction • Stage 4: Teen smokes regularly, at least twice a week • Stage 5: Tobacco dependency • Once addicted, teens have a harder time quitting. • Their failure rate is 29 times greater than that of the general smoking public

Short-term effects Bad breath Smelly body odor Stained fingers and teeth Reduced sense of taste and smell Chronic cough Shortness of breath Fatigue Suppressed appetite Long-term effects Lung cancer Breast cancer Lung disease (90% of deaths by emphysema) Heart disease (30% of deaths) Osteoporosis Effects of smoking

Signs of teen smoking • Odor on breath, hands, clothes • Nicotine stains on teeth and fingers • Cigarette butts in the yard • Hacking cough, shortness of breath, asthma attacks • Use of breath mints or sprays • Missing cash (cigarettes are expensive) Teen caught smoking behind the house.

Legalities • No one under the age of 18 can buy tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco • No smoking in enclosed public spaces • No smoking within 20 feet of entrances to public buildings

FETCH Session 10: Underage Smoking