Ellen Campbell -Grizzle
Nicotine is very addictive. Some persons struggle for years to quit smoking, others die from the habit. New recruits sustain the tobacco industry and women are a significant part of this cohort.
THE 2001 household survey commissioned by the National Council on Drug Abuse revealed that 4.6 per cent of Jamaican cigarette smokers are female compared to 20.5 per cent males.
A study done among Jamaican adolescents in 1997 by Dr. Ken Douglas found that cigarette smoking is highly associated with the use of illicit drugs. Lifetime ganja smokers were over seven times as likely to be cigarette smokers as non-smokers. Female current cigarette smokers were more strongly associated with using illicit drugs as they were more than 70 times more likely to be using cocaine and 67 times more likely to be using crack. The evidence is clearly showing that tobacco use among the Jamaican adolescent female population is opening the gateway to other drug use.
Cigarette smoking should not be taken lightly. Nicotine, the addictive drug in cigarettes, alters and controls special cells in the brain responsible for controlling our moods and memory. Experts say that nicotine from a puff of cigarette reaches the brain in just 10 seconds. As withdrawal increases, the smoker becomes irritable and anxious, craving another nicotine 'hit'. This process is well studied and clearly understood.
CANCER STICKS
Among women, lung cancer now causes more deaths than breast cancer. Tobacco contains cancer-causing tars that build up inside the air sacs of the lungs after prolonged cigarette smoking. Over a period of time, the air sacs lose their elasticity and rupture. This causes the smoker to slowly suffocate.
THE SMOKING FOETUS
Pregnant women who smoke have higher rates of miscarriages, still births and premature births than non-smokers. The growing foetus receives all the poisons from cigarette through the mother's blood stream. Carbon monoxide prevents the foetus from breathing properly as it takes away oxygen. Children of smokers are more likely to have chest infection, asthma, allergies and ear infections owing to the presence of environmental tobacco smoke.
POISONOUS CHEMICALS PRESENT
We know also that tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, some of which are poisonous. The list below shows some of the deadly chemicals that a smoker inhales and where these chemicals are found. These are:
Acetone ( nail polish remover)
Ammonia ( floor and toilet cleaner)
Arsenic ( poison)
Cadmium (rechargeable batteries)
Carbon Monoxide (car exhaust)
DDT (insecticide)
Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)
Hydrogen Cyanide (Gas chamber poison)
Nitrous Oxide (Disinfectant)
TIME TO QUIT
Here is some good news about the benefits of quitting. Within 20 minutes after you smoke that last cigarette, your body begins a series of changes, including reduced heart rate and lowered carbon monoxide levels in your blood, that continue for years. You cut your risk of heart disease in half after one year of smoking cessation. Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker after five to 15 years of quitting. After 10 years of quitting, cancer death risks decrease. If you are hooked on nicotine, transform your life chances by quitting today. There is no better time than the present.
Ellen Campbell Grizzle, president, Caribbean Association of Pharmacists; director, information and research, National Council
on Drug Abuse; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
