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Finding It Hard to Quit Smoking? Ask Obama |
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Thursday, 01 March 2007 |
"I've never been a heavy smoker," presidential candidate
Senator Barack Obama told the Chicago Tribune recently, "I've quit periodically
over the last several years. It's hard to stay on the wagon. Now I've got an
ironclad demand from my wife that in the stresses of the campaign I don't
succumb. I've been chewing Nicorette strenuously."
 Dr. Ernest Levister, Jr.
The 1982 Surgeon General's Report called "cigarette smoking
the major single cause of cancer death in the United States." This statement is
as true today as it was in 1982. Because cigarette smoking and tobacco use is
an acquired behavior, that the individual chooses to do, smoking is the most
preventable cause of premature death in our society.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), 48.2 million US
adults were current smokers in 2001 (the most recent year for which numbers are
available). This is 22% of all adults (25.2% of men, 20.7% of women) nearly 1
in every 4 people. 22.3% of African-Americans smoke.
The CDC says more than half of all current smokers have
tried to quit at least once. Alarmingly almost 27% of 18 to 24 year olds were
current smokers. Nationwide, 22.9% of high school student were current smokers
in 2002. White and Hispanic students were among the highest in terms of
cigarette use.
Each year a staggering 440,000 people die in the US from tobacco
use. Nearly 1 of every 5 deaths is related to smoking. Smoking is a known cause
of cancer, heart attack, stroke and chronic lung disease. The CDC estimates that a typical adult male
smoker loses an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers lose 14.5
years of life because of smoking.
Cigarettes and other forms of tobacco are addicting. The
benefits of quitting are enormous: People who stop smoking by age 35 avoid 90%
of the risk of dying early. Even smokers who quit after age 50 substantially
reduce their risk of dying early.
Quitting smoking is a life or death choice. Join Sen. Obama,
chose life!
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