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DOCUMENT RESUME CG 025 634 ED 372 332 AUTHOR Slade, John Facts on Nicotine and Tobacco. Clearinghouse Fact TITLE Sheet. Rutgers, The State Univ., Piscataway, NJ. Center of INSTITUTION Alcohol Studies. PUB DATE 92 4p.; The New Jersey Alcohol/Drug Abuse Resource NOTE Center and Clearinghouse serves institutions of higher education, state agencies, communities, and school districts throughout the state of New Jersey by providing technical assistance, training, and resources in alcohol and other drug abuse education and prevention. Clearinghouse fact sheets may be reproduced for educational use. PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Etiology; Health; Intervention; Pharmacology; *Smoking; Substance Abuse; *Tobacco IDENTIFIERS *Nicotine; Smoking Cessation ABSTRACT Nicotine, the most abused drug in the United States, is the psychoactive drug in tobacco. It exerts diverse, often subtle effects on the central nervous system and can stimulate or relax, or do both simultaneously. Tolerance to this drug develops easily and addiction is common among people with other drug problems, especially alcoholism. Most tobacco use begins in childhood or early adolescence and is due to a number of factors, such as peer pressure, adolescent rebellion, marketing, and easy availability. Nicotine is the most widely promoted drug in the country. Tobacco directly causes one in every six deaths in this country and can lead to heart disease, cancer, respiratory problems, and other maladies. Stopping tobacco use has both immediate and long-term health benefits for the user and his or her family. Although many people stop smoking without formal assistance, that does not mean that quitting is easy. Many quit by relying on informal networks of support among friends and relatives, by restructuring their environment, or by drawing on lessons learned during prior unsuccessful attempts at quitting. Sometimes, all that is required to quit are a few pointers and some simple advice from a health professional. Steps that offer a reasonable chance of bringing the tobacco epidemic under control include: (1) deal with tobacco as part of the overall drug problem; (2) increase excise taxes; (3) countermarket tobacco products with pro-health messages; and (4) require indoor air spaces used by nonsmokers to be free of tobacco smoke pollution. (RJM) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** FACTS ON NICOTINE AND TOBACCO by John Slade REST COPY AVAILABLE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educallonal RelaarCh and improvement "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER (ERIC) s. CYThis document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization 641-f--F/e- originating it CV 0 Minor changes have been made lo improve rePrOdUCtiOn Quality Points ol view or opinions staled in this docu- merit do nol necessarily represent official OE RI position or policy TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES 2 c.) INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) New Jersey Alcohol / Drug RESOURCE CENTER AND CLEARINGHOUSE Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University FACTS 0 .E.YANP-TORACCO John Slade, M.D. Nicotine support the widely held notion that it is a is the most widely abused drug quently with brief or even prolonged peri- in the United States. It is intensely mar- bad idea to stop smoking at the same time ods of remission. Sustained abstinence is one stops taking dther drugs that have keted with advertising and promotion cost- often achieved: nearly half of all men who ; caused problems. Cigarettes and chewing have ever smoked regularly have quit. ing about $3.6 billion a year. It is available from more than a million outlets nation- tobacco have been shown to be "gateway drugs" for other drug problems. While people often believe they begin wide at low cost in products that are inher- ently dangerous when used as intended smoking because of peer pressure or ado- by the manufacturer. Not only can tobacco lescent rebellion, environmental forces products cause enormous harm to those ; such as marketing and easy availability, addicted to nicotine, but tobacco smoke despite laws prohibiting sales to minors, pollution is a major environmental health are important factors leading to wide- NEW JERSEY risk to all. While many have become absti- spread nicotine addiction. For the past 15 nent from nicotine without formal help, years, females have started to smoke at others benefit from treatment for this ad- higher rates than males. As a result, there NO CIGS dictive disease. Prevention efforts in the will soon be more women smoking than U.S. remain rudimentary in proportion to men. GARDEN STATE the enormity of the problem, but a number of effective strategies have been demon- Nicotine is the most widely promoted drug ; strated both here and abroad. in the country. It is associated with an enormous variety of positive traits and Nicotine is the psychoactive drug in to- The most widely available form of nico- characteristics by slick advertising and pro- tine is the tobacco cigarette, the smoke bacco. An alkaloid, it exerts diverse, often motions. Despite a law banning cigarette subtle effects on the central nervous sys- advertising from television, cigarette from which is inhaled into the lungs. To- bacco is mid in the mouth in the case of tem. As with cocaine, the inhaled form of brands are featured on numerous sporting nicotine is the most addictive because in- chewing tobacco and oral snuff, and it is event broadcasts. During the 1989 broad- halation results in faster drug delivery to smoked in the forms of pipe tobacco and cast of the Marlboro Grand Prix, 5,922 cigars in a manner that usually does not the brain and in a more concentrated form ; Marlboro signs or logos were shown to the than when the drug is ingested by other involve inhalation, although people who national television audience. Marlboro has routes. It has the same addictive potential switch from cigarettes to pipes often in- been the leading "children's" cigarette in as cocaine and heroin. hale anyway. Tobacco smoke contains over the country, attracting about 70% of the 4,000 different chemicals, including many high school market, but Camel has re- Nicotine can stimulate or relax, or do both familiar poisons such as cyanide and form- cently cut into its lead. Among African- simultaneously, depending on the state aldehyde. Both tobacco leaf and tobacco American and Latino groups, Newport is smoke contain powerful carcinogens: and expectations of the person using the the leading children's brand. Some brands There is no safe way to use commercial drug. Tolerance develops easily, and acute are represented as being healthier, safer, tobacco products. Nicotine is preoent in abstinence is often accompanied by a with- and somehow better for the consumer, drawal syndrome of irritability, difficulty several medicines (nicotine gum and nico- despite the fact that the health benefits of tine patches) used to alleviate nicotine concentrating, headaches, sleep difficulty, smoking lower tar brands are minimal, if and increased appetite. Withdrawal ef- any. Much of the tar reductions are withdrawal in people who are undergo- ff :ts can persist for days to weeks, but ing treatment for nicotine addiction. achieved by merely diluting smoke with individuals usually can see improvement air through more porous paper and as nicotine-free days add up. Most tobacco use begins in childhood or through tiny holes drilled in the filter pa- early adolescence. It is unusual for people per with lasers. Addiction to nicotine is very common to begin smoking as adults. Each day in the l'(1 among people with other drug problems, U.S. about 6,000 people, mostly teenagers, Tobacco is the direct cause of one in every .1) and nicotine use is often linked with the begin smoking. The 3,000 of those who six deaths in this country. It causes nine use of other drugs, especially alcohol. become regular smokers just about bal- out of ten cases of lung cancer and nine out While stopping smoking at the same time ance the people who die from smoking or of ten cases of chronic lung disease. It is as stopping the use of other drugs may be who quit that same day. Nicotine addic- one of the three leading causes of heart d ifficult, there is no empir:cal evidence to tion often persists for many years, fre- attacks. Overall, tlbacco causes over 3 CLEARINGHOUSE FACT SHEET, 7992 REST COPY AVAILABLE St ing cigarettes and chew ing tobacco to mi- A large number of people who smoke 435,000 deaths each year in this country. opposing nors, the public health effort need help quitting. Sometimes, all that is Oral forms of tobacco cause cancers of the these forces is c,mnpara tively minuscule. required are a few pointers and some mouth and throat as well as gum disease. The following steps, taken in concert, offer simple advice from a health agency or a Tobacco smoke is harmful to the fetus and the to- a reasonable chance of bringing health professional. Other treatments in- to nonsmokers who ingest tobacco smoke bacco epidemic under control. Each of clude individual counseling, structured from the environment. Tobacco smoking these is being used successfully in some and unstructured groups, the twelve-step by pregnant mothers is a major cause of places, but all of them have not been tried recovery program of Nicotine Anony- low birthweight, perinatal dea th, and sud- simultaneously in one place: mous, and, in some cases, inpatient den infant death syndrome (SIDS). It can therapy. Often, people who are working cause lung cancer and fatal heart attacks in *Deal with tobacco as part of the overall at becoming abstinent benefit from taking adult nonsmokers, and it produces a vari- drug problem in all drug treatment and a medication to help with withdrawal or ety of serious respiratory problems in small prevention programs. with depression while undergoing treat- children. These problems can be com- ment. However, medication taken by it- Inc rease excise taxes to reduce purchase pletely prevented if people who do not 1 self, without an ownized treatment pro- by minors. smoke are protected from exposure to to- gram, is without benefit. There is a ten- Ban vending machines and promote bacco smoke. dency to gain weight when stopping smok- observance of age of sale laws. ing. However, people who smoke weigh Stopping smoking has immediate and Countermarket tobacco products with less than people the same age and build long-term health benefits for the person pro-health messages in diverse and who do not smoke, and in quitting the who smokes and for his or her family. The extensive ways. former smokers usually gain the weight risk of sudden death goes down practi- Ban anti-health promotions of tobacco they would have had were it not for the cally as soon as the nicotine and the carbon products. nicotine. If weight gain is a concern, a monoxide work their way out of the body, *Require adequate, highly visible thoughtful program of diet and exercise and the chances of having a heart attack warnings on all tobacco products. can help maintain the desired weight. steadily fall over the first several years of Require that all indoor air spaces used not smoking to the levels of people who by nonsmokers be free of tobacco While the tobacco industry makes over never smoked. Breathing difficulties from smoke pollution. $270 million annually in profits from sell- bronchitis and emphysema usually stabi- lize and often improve, and the chances of References getting cancer gradually diminish. Fami- lies benefit from having less tobacco smoke 324, New England Journal of Medicine, Blum, A. (1991). The Marlboro Grand Prix. pollution to avoid, from having longer 913-917. lived relatives, and from having nonsmok- ing role models. Journal DiFranza, J.R., & Tye, J. (1990). Who profits from tobacco sales to children? About 16% of adults who smoke are also 263, 2784-2787. of the American Medical Association, addicted to alcohol, and depression is much more common among people who 83, Circulation, Glantz, S., & Parmly, W. (1991). Passive smoking and heart disease. smoke than among nonsmokers. People 1-12. with either of these additional problems are more likely to need formal treatment Pierce, J.P., Gilpin, E., Burns, D.M., et al. (1991). Does tobacco advertising target for nicotine addiction in order to achieve a 266, 3154- young people to start smoking? Journal of the American Medical Association, stable abstinence. Although many people 3158. stop smoking without formal assistance, that does not mean that most of them have National Commission on Drug-Free Schools:Report U.S. Department of Education.(1990). an easy time quitting. Many who quit "on Washington, DC: Author. their own" do so by arranging an informal to Congress . network of support among friends and relatives, making sometimes dramatic Nicotine addiction: A Report U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1988). changes in their environments to reduce 88-8406). Rockville, MD: Author. of the Surgeon General (DHHS Pub. No. (CDC) the cues and triggers for smoking, and drawing on lessons learned during prior, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1990). Reducing the health conse- unsuccessful attempts at quitting. quences of smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General (DHHS Pub. No. (CDC) 89-8411). Rockville, MD: Author. The New lersev Alcohol/Drug Resource Center and Clearinghouse serves institutions of higher education, state agencies, John Slade, M.D. communities, and school districts throughout the state of New Jersey by providing technical assistance, training , and resources in alcohol and other drug abuse education and prevention. For information on the Clearinghouse, call or write to: is an internist specializing in addiction NJ Alcohol/Drug Resource Center and Clearinghouse medicine a( St. Peter's Medical Center in Cen'er of Alcohol Studies, Smatters liallBusch Campus New Brunswick NI and at the University itutgers University, Piscataway, NI 0885.5-0969 (906) 987 0964 FAX (900) 98141076 of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. vIN 1992 Riitttits He holds an adjunct appointment at the Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies. CLEARINGHOUSE FACT S iEETS MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY QUANTITY FOR EDUCATIONAL USE 4