Smoking Essay, Research Paper

Smoking

Studies of ex-smokers show that their risk of dying from smoking-related

disease decreases with each year of non smoking. Encouraged by such evidence,

more than 40 million people in the U.S. quit smoking in the year following the

1964 surgeon general’s report. The proportion of males who smoke decreased from

more than 60 percent to about 25 percent; however, the percentage of women who

smoke cigarettes increased. Smoking also became more prevalent among young

adults, with about 29 percent of high school seniors admitting to smoking in

1975; but by 1987 this proportion decreased to 18.7 percent. There are programs

that exist to help smokers quit. Some involve group support, whereas others use

aversive techniques in which participants smoke many cigarettes rapidly to the

point of becoming sick of them.

More than 30 million persons in the U.S. say that they would like to

quit smoking but cannot. One hypothesis to explain this problem is that the

smoker craves the effect of the nicotine in the smoke. In a 1988 report, the

surgeon general declared nicotine to be an addictive drug comparable to other

addictive substances in its ability to induce dependence. The report also called

the monetary and human costs far greater than those attributable to cocaine,

alcohol, or heroin. Attempts to help persons quit smoking through counseling,

participation in support groups, and, for those with a strong physical

dependence on nicotine, substitution of chewing gum containing nicotine to

lessen withdrawal symptoms.