THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TOBACCO USE

The negative effects of tobacco use go well beyond health problems.

College student tobacco use is also associated with mental health issues,
lower academic performance, high-risk drinking, illicit drug use, and high-
risk sexual behavior.
• Health Effects
• Environmental Tobacco Smoke
• Tobacco and Mental Health
• Tobacco and Other High-Risk Behaviors
• Tobacco and Lower Academic Performance
• References

Health Effects of Tobacco Use:

• Smoking causes more than 440,000 US deaths per year, accounting
for 1 out of every 5 deaths (CDC, 2003).
• Smoking is associated with coronary heart disease, stroke, ulcers,
respiratory infections, lung cancer (as well as cancer of the larynx,
esophagus, bladder, pancreas, stomach, & uterine cervix),
bronchitis, emphysema, early menopause, and stillborn & premature
children (NIDA, 1999).
• Smokeless tobacco users, and pipe and cigar smokers are more
susceptible to mouth cancer, cancer of the larynx, and cancer of the
esophagus (NIDA, 1999).
• College students who smoke have higher rates of respiratory
infections and asthma as well as a higher incidence of bacterial
meningitis, especially among freshman living in dorms (Halperin,
2002).
• Women smokers with human papilloma virus (HPV) are at
increased risk of progressing to cervical dysplasia or cancer.
Women who smoke and use oral contraceptive pills are at higher
risk for thromboembolic diseases such as stroke (Halperin, 2002).
• Of the 15 million college students in the United States today, it is
estimated that 1.7 million will die of smoking-related illnesses, most
prematurely (Halperin, 2002). That amounts to over 10.0% of
current college students.
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Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS):
• Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS), or “second-
hand” smoke, is harmful to both smokers and nonsmokers alike.
 ETS is an important student and employee issue on college
campuses.
• ETS has been classified as a Group A carcinogen by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, 1993).
• ETS causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths per year in US
nonsmokers (EPA, 1993).
• The CDC estimates that ETS causes 35,000 ischemic heart disease
deaths per year in the U.S. (CDC, 2002).
• Nonsmokers exposed to ETS have a 20.0% increased risk of heart
disease (Brownson, 1997).
• ETS contains higher concentrations of ammonia, benzene, nicotine,
and carbon monoxide than the mainstream smoke that smokers
inhale (Brownson, 1997).
• The workplace and the home are the top sources of ETS exposure
for nonsmokers (Brownson, 1997). Implementing worksite smoking
policies has been found to have to significantly lowered people’s
exposure to nicotine and the other dangerous substances in ETS
(Hammond, 1995).
• Beyond health risks, people find ETS irritating and uncomfortable.
As far back as 1986, well before the anti-tobacco campaign was
moving at full steam, 71.0% of people reported being annoyed by
ETS (Brownson, 1997).
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Tobacco and Mental Health Problems:
• Mental health disorders have been strongly associated with
smoking, especially among adolescents and young adults.
• Smoking has been associated with suicidal tendencies. College
students who are daily smokers are more than five times more likely
to have either seriously thought about or attempted suicide than non-
smokers (Halperin and Eytan).
• Adolescent smokers are two times more likely to develop a major
depressive disorder than adolescent nonsmokers. (Brown, 1996)
• The relationship between depression and smoking among
adolescents is bidirectional. Depressed teens are more likely to
smoke, and those who smoke are more likely to become depressed
(Brown, 1996).
• A National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) 25-year study
concluded that smoking is connected with several mental health
disorders in adolescents and young adults. Heavy smokers (>20
cigarettes/day) were 6.8 times more likely to develop agoraphobia,
had 5.5 times the risk of generalized anxiety disorder, and had 15.6
times the risk of developing panic disorder than non-smokers and
light smokers. These drastic risk increases are thought to be tied to
 the damage that nicotine can do to the blood vessels that lead to the
brain (NIDA, 2001).
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Tobacco, High-Risk Drinking, Illicit Drug Use, and High-Risk Sex:
• College students who smoke are more likely to participate in the
risky behaviors that pose some of the greatest health threats to18-24
year olds.
• Concurrent dependence on tobacco and alcohol occurs in about
10.0% of young adults ages 21-25 (Anthony, 2000).
• Adolescents who smoke are seven times more likely to abuse or
become addicted to illicit drugs than are nonsmoking teens (Brown,
1996).
• The Harvard College Alcohol Study determined that student tobacco
users are 4.62 times more likely to smoke marijuana and 3.6 times
more likely to engage in high-risk drinking than are nonsmokers
(Rigotti, 2000). Smokers are more likely to use illicit drugs than
high-risk drinkers (Halperin and Eytan).
• College students who are smokers are 50.0% more likely than
nonsmokers to have had two or more sexual partners in the last
month (Rigotti, 2000). Even light smokers are over three times more
likely to participate in high-risk sexual behavior when concurrently
using alcohol or other drugs than nonsmokers (Halperin & Eytan).
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Tobacco Use and Lower Academic Performance:
• Smokers have lower grade point averages (GPA) than nonsmokers.
The Harvard College Alcohol Study found that smokers are 27.0%
less likely than nonsmokers to have an above B grade average
(Rigotti, 2000). Daily smokers were found to have even lower GPAs
than high-risk drinkers (Halperin and Eytan).
• Smoking prevalence in colleges has been found to be lower at
highly selective schools (Wechsler, 1998).
• Lower individual performance among students results in lower
academic overall standings for colleges.
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Teens and Smoking Tobacco

The differences between subjective feelings of those who smoke and those who
don’t are shown in behavioral changes that are more apparent in teens than adults.
Teens seem to be more abrasive when smoking or they feel like they are older and
wiser when they smoke. Why do they smoke when we have seen billions of dollars
spent on antismoking campaigns? The American Lung Association estimates that
every minute four thousand eight hundred teens will take their first drag off a
cigarette. Of those four thousand eight hundred, about two thousand will go on to be
chain smokers. The fact that teen smoking rates are steadily increasing is disturbing.
We are finding out that about 80% of adult smokers started smoking as teenagers.

We now see a lot of smokers giving each other rewards in social aspects such as
conversations, companionships, and other common social contacts. Research has
proven the fact that nicotine has the ability to suppress feelings, suppress appetite for
food, is used as stimulation after sex, and is a good way to relax from troubles and
feelings of insecurities. People that smoke go to designated areas and congregate
around the one that has the light, even when the weather is sub-zero. There they are
huddled up against each other in an area, taking in the last drag before the break is
over, or they find some kind of shelter to smoke their cigarettes.

Teens like to act as if they are someone special or dangerous. By smoking they can
act on those feelings. Because it is so forbidden it becomes more alluring to teens. The
problem is that when they take that first puff, they can become addicted. The idea that
they are breaking the law or going against their parents and schools is an addiction
within itself. Kids like to get attention; it does not matter if it’s good attention or bad
attention. They crave attention and by smoking they get big attention. The other teens
look at them in all kinds of ways and the adults get upset and don’t know what to do.

Nicotine is considered the number one entrance drug into other substance abuse
problems. Research shows that teens between 13 and 17 years of age who smoke daily
are more likely to use other drug substances. The use of other drugs is part of the peer
pressure that our children have to face. The earlier that our youth begin using tobacco,
the more likely they will continue using into adulthood.

Why is tobacco so addicting? It is because nicotine acts as a stimulant, which is

stimulating the mind, body, and spirit. When the body tolerance levels high then one
ends up needing to use larger doses of nicotine to maintain a certain level of the
physiological effect. When the body becomes accustomed to the presence of nicotine,
it then requires the use of the chemical to help the body to function normally. This
level of dependence is referred to as an addiction.

Here are some common experiences from teens who smoke.

♣ They tried their first cigarette in sixth or seventh grade

♣ They often do not perform well in school
♣ They feel like they are not a part of the school
♣ They become isolated from other students
♣ They can’t perform as well at sports events
♣ They feel like they have little hope of going to college
♣ They feel like they need a job to support their smoking habit
♣ They are reported to school officials for skipping classes
♣ They start using other illegal substances
♣ They begin experimenting with alcohol and other drugs
♣ They experience pressure from home and school and use tobacco as a form of
relief
♣ Teen smokers enjoy trying to hide their smoking

This has made school more fun for some tobacco users. These types of behaviors
get attention because the initiation of smoking is influenced by having a friend,
particularly a best friend, who smokes. The risk factors do not apply because those
who are young think that they are indispensable. The peers who use or have favorable
attitudes toward tobacco use are more likely to use other illegal substances. On the
other hand, if the teen becomes a member of a pro-social group, such as those
participating in sports, cheerleading, or any club that promotes healthy living, the
likelihood that the teen will attempt to stop smoking improves.

The amount of teens smoking cigarettes dropped about 28% in 2001. The following
are some reasons why:
a) The increase of cost in the retail price of cigarettes has gone up 70%
b) The schools have implemented efforts to fight the use of tobacco (teen smoking).
c) There is an increase in youth exposure to both state and national mass media
campaigns.
d) The truth on the effects of nicotine that are in tobacco products.

When tobacco companies lost the lawsuit that made them pay for anti-smoking ads,
they raised the cost of cigarettes. Young people are having a harder time finding ways
to smoke because smokers are paying top dollar for their cigarettes. We are also
seeing teens speak out in the media and in person and they have been capturing the
attention of their peers and changing attitudes about how un-cool and unhealthy teen
smoking is.

The times are changing; what the public and science did not know twenty years ago
is now coming to the surface. The fact is that smoking cigarettes can cause many
health problems including emphysema, high blood pressure, and various forms of
cancer. We are seeing people live longer and healthier lives and the old idea that
smoking makes you cool and attractive is gone. This is the truth about cigarettes; they
are loaded with harmful chemicals and the end result is that they are a dangerous drug
that can seriously harm people.

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Teen smoking had been on a sharp decline since the mid-late 1990's, but recent data shows that the
adolescent smoking rates are rising slightly.

According to a 2005 study done by the CDC, 23% of high school students reported smoking
cigarettes in the last month. This is compared with a previous study of high school students that
showed 21.9% in 2003. While this data is somewhat discouraging it is far better than the 1997 level of
the same survey at 36.4%. The rise appears to be greatest among white and Hispanic teens while the
rates of teen smoking declined among black teens.

There is no concrete evidence at this time to show why the teen smoking statistics have declined since
1997, but some believe it is in better awareness efforts. Some also feel that it is due to a decline in
media glamorizing smoking.

The CDC study showed that 80% of smokers begin before the age of 18. A similar study which
was published by the American Lung Association website shows 90% of smokers begin before the age
of 21.

A study that was done by the CDC also found some interesting facts and estimates:
1. About 3,900 teens under 18 start smoking each day.
2. Of the 3,900 teens that start smoking each day - 1500 will become regular smokers.
3. Those who smoke often have secondary behavioral issues such as violence, drug/alcohol use, and
high-risk sexual behavior.

Some of the contributing factors of teenage smoking are:

1. Low socioeconomic status
2. Use or approval of smoking by siblings/peers
3. Smoking by parents
4. Availability and price of tobacco
5. Lack of parent support / involvement
6. Lower self-image or self-esteem

Consequences of teen smoking:

1. Chronic cough - if smoking is continued
2. Reduced stamina
3. Bad breath
4. Yellow teeth
5. Stinky clothes
6. Expensive habit - 1 pack/day = about $1000/year.

Some tips for parents to help prevent teen smoking:

1. Educate your child about the dangers of smoking early on.
2. Be a good example. Only 2 percent of smokers have parents who don't smoke. (Mayo Clinic).
3. Don't leave cigarettes where children or teens may have access to them.
4. Teach the teen or child refusal skills

Monitoring the Future study

Cigarette smoking among American teens continues 8-year decline
Related story
Overall teen drug use continues gradual decline, but use of inhalants rises>
By Joseph Serwach
News Service

Smoking rates among American teens continue to decline, with the proportion who
are current smokers in 2004 down from recent peak levels in the mid-1990s by one-
half among the nation's 8th and 10th graders and by a third among 12th graders.

"That's the good news, and it is good news indeed," says Lloyd Johnston, the
researcher who is principal investigator of the Monitoring the Future study. "The bad
news is that the decline has decelerated sharply in the past two years, though it still
continues for the most part."
And the number of teen smokers is still substantial: 25 percent of 12th graders
reported smoking in the prior 30 days, along with 16 percent of 10th graders and 9 percent of 8th graders.
The study has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse under a series of investigator-initiated, competitive
research grants made to U-M. The authors of the forthcoming report on the 2004 findings are Johnston, Patrick O'Malle
Jerald Bachman and John Schulenberg—all psychologists and research professors at the Institute for Social Research.
After a sharp increase in teen smoking rates in the early 1990s, there was a turnaround after 1996 in the lower grades
and after 1997 among 12th graders. The investigators conjecture that a number of factors contributed to that turnarou
and to the substantial decline that followed it, including:
• The intense adverse publicity suffered by the tobacco industry during the 1990s, as their practices were brought unde
public scrutiny
• The master settlement agreement between the state attorneys general and the tobacco industry that led to a number
of changes in marketing practices
• A sharp rise in cigarette prices, partly as a result of the industry's need to recoup monies lost in the settlement
• Retirement of the Joe Camel character, which appeared in Camel cigarette advertisements
• The cessation of billboard advertising as part of the settlement
• The initiation of anti-smoking ads by a number of states and nationally by the American Legacy Foundation, which wa
created and funded under the settlement.
"We know that young people have come to see cigarette smoking as more dangerous, while they also have become les
accepting of cigarette use, and these changes continued into 2004," Johnston says.
A number of attitudes about smoking shifted in a negative direction. For example, the proportion of 12th graders who
say that they prefer to date people who do not smoke rose from 64 percent in 1977 to 72 percent in 2002, where it
remains in 2004.
There are some important subgroup differences in teen smoking. The gender differences in smoking are quite small at
present, but the differences associated with planning to go to college, or not, are very large. Students who plan to
complete a four-year college education are much less likely to smoke than those who do not have such plans. Youth
living in rural areas and small town areas are considerably more likely to smoke than those living in metropolitan areas
Those students with more educated parents are less likely to smoke, particularly at younger ages. Finally, African
American youngsters continue to have a substantially lower rate of smoking than do whites or Hispanics, and whites te
to have the highest rates of the three groups.
"Whether we will see teen smoking continue to decline in the future is likely to depend on what actions society and the
tobacco companies take," Johnston say

Smoking Among Teenagers

Young Adults and Cigarette Smoking. Cigarette smoking is a major cause of

lung cancer and many other illnesses. At least one out of five death in
American society caused by disease directly related to cigarette smoking.
The overall smoking prevalence in the United States has been reduced
considerably over the past 20 years; however, there have been only minimal
reductions in smoking prevalence among adolescents and young adults.
Among college students, the prevalence of use of cigarettes is still about
35%. Although smoking among adolescents and young adults is often
associated as a bad, but temporary habit, determinants of smoking among
college students and the amount of harm it causes to their health and health
of others are largely unknown. I once was asked a question for which I can’t
find the answer even today. Shortly before writing this paper I did some
research and asked a few of my friends the same question. Give me at least
one good reason why you are ignoring the danger that you know about so
well? Some say that they smoke to relieve stress from school. Others say it
gives them something to do at parties. Some say they get an intensified
sensation from mixing tobacco and alcohol. Some say they've tried to stop
so many times but can't. Others say that their grandparents have smoked all
their life and are still alive and healthy. Besides, dying of cancer in 40 or 50
years seems to them a long, long way off. And you never know-you could get
hit by a truck first. To be honest, none of these answers really answered my
question. Most of the young smokers try smoking for the first time in middle
school. But they don’t smoke often until they turn 16 and get a car. To them,
driving, music, and smoking Marlboro or Newport all go together. Their main
light-up time is usually right after school. That's the best cigarette of the day.
My friends and I belong to a generation of teens that have received more
education about the hazards of tobacco than any generation in history. As
kindergartners, alarmed by the dangers of smoking, we flushed our mothers'
menthols. We have been shown the tricks cigarette makers used to seduce
children. We have seen the anticigarette ads that use humor to prevent
smoking. And we have seen stomach-turning photos of smokers' blackened
lungs and ulcerated tongues. That kind of reminds me, this can happen to
me, but does it really make me stop smoking? Does seeing fat people make
you stop eating? You've got to do what makes you happy, and smoking
makes me happy. Nothing can stop us from getting rid of something that we
think to be just a bad habit, not even ruining health of other people that are
around us. Secondhand smoke is harmful to the health of nonsmokers.
According to John R. Garrison, secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and
increases the risk of heart disease. This leads to about 53,000 deaths that
are caused by cigarette smoke among nonsmokers in the United States.
Secondhand smoke affects the health of adults and children who can not
always protect themselves: “Children do not choose to live in smoke-filled
homes, and nonsmoking adults can not control the smoky air they breathe at
work.” Take for example Bucks County Community College, even though
smoking inside of all the buildings on campus is restricted, nonsmokers still
have to breathe the air full of smoke while walking along buildings’
entrances. Especially at the entrances to Penn Hall and Founders Hall large
clouds of smoke are rising up from the mouths of young adults who are
standing in a little groups that from far away look like ant - hills. Sometimes
the amount of smoke in these areas is so large that it is hard to see a person
that’s standing next to you. It also becomes very hard for people that do not
smoke to get in or to get out from the building. I have noticed how some of
them close his or her mouth, hold the breath and try to walk very fast, in
order not to breathe the polluted air. I understand the problems that are
caused by secondhand smoke and even though I also smoke I always try to
find not too crowded place and than have a needed dose of nicotine. Many
young adults and teenagers that do smoke often don’t realize the harm that
they cause to their nonsmoking friends even though the cigarettes they
smoke are always the best brands like Marlboro and Newport. Marlboro and
Newport are two the most popular brands among young smokers. The
companies that make these products are often blamed for their colorful ads
and commercials that attract young adults to by these cigarettes. I
personally think that this is wrong because the only people that do get
attracted by these commercials and advertisements are teenagers of 12 to
16 years old that are still trying to decide weather or not they should star
smoking. Yong adults, on the other hand, already made their choice and if
they chose not to smoke then not one, even the most colorful and sexiest
advertisement in the whole world would ever make them start. However, if
they chose to smoke then no commercials or ads would be able to stop them
from doing so. American Government is also trying to lower the percentage
of young smokers by raising up tobacco tax. But it seems that it doesn’t
bother young smokers more over the larger population of adult smoking
have to deal with it. It seems like nothing in this world can stop young adults
from smoking. Every year thousands of people in the United States are dying
form lung cancer and related decease caused by smoking cigarettes. Even
though the overall smoking prevalence in the United States has been
reduced considerably over the past 20 years the percentage among the
college students is still very high. Many people have been looking for a good
answer why do young adults choose to smoke but unfortunately not many
could find this answer. Their reasons why they choose to smoke are very
different; however, none of them are real reasons. They think the
antismoking commercials are corny and out of touch, especially those that
tell parents to talk to their kids about smoking. Their parents criticize them
smoking all the time, yet they still do it. And laws that punish teens and
young adults for buying cigarettes only make smoking more attractive.
Young adults ruin their health and health of their nonsmoking friends, family
members and neighbors by making them breathe in polluted by the
cigarettes’ smoke air. Finally, the decision to smoke is their choice. They just
think the risks are worth taking compared to the enjoyment they get. They
would much rather die at 65 and look back and say, “ I did what floated my
boat”, than live to 95 and say,” I didn't do anything.