Utah Addiction Center University of Utah Health Sciences Center 410 Chipeta Way, Suite 280 Salt Lake City, Utah 84108
Non-profit Organization
Utah
The
U.S. POSTAGE PAID Salt
Special
No. 1529
Volume 2 Issue 15
Report
October 2012 Dedicated to research, clinical training, and education in chemical addiction
Drugs: A Historical Perspective
Tobacco Trends and Challenges
Contact Us
University of Utah Health Sciences Center 410 Chipeta Way, Suite 280 Salt Lake City, Utah 84108 Phone: (801) 581-8216 Fax: (801) 587-7858 E-mail: abbie.paxman@hsc.utah.edu Internet: http://uuhsc.utah.edu/uac/
Edition
Addiction Center
Lake City, Utah Permit
The Utah Addiction Center is based in the office of the University of Utah Senior Vice President for Health Sciences
Over the past 20 years, society’s attitude about tobacco has changed dramatically. The use of tobacco has gone from being INSTITUTIONAL ADVISORY BOARD chic, a mark of sophistication, and the drug of the famous and A. Lorris Betz, M.D., Ph.D. the powerful, to a filthy habit with major deadly consequences Louis H. Callister, J.D. not to be tolerated in public. This dramatic shift in attitude is Edward B. Clark, M.D. illustrated by the findings of the Monitoring the Future survey M. David Rudd, PhD, ABPP of high school seniors demonstrating that from 1998 to 2011, Patrick Fleming, LSAC, MPA the monthly use went from 37% to less than 20%. A similar Raymond Gesteland, Ph.D. reduction of ~50% in tobacco use has occurred throughout the Jay Graves Ph.D. adolescent and adult population in this country. In addition, John R. Hoidal, M.D. because of danger from “second-hand smoke”, almost all states Glen W. Hanson Ph.D, D.D.S. and communities prohibit the use of smoking tobacco in all Maureen Keefe, RN, Ph.D public places such as stores, office buildings, restaurants, Jannah Mather, Ph.D. transportation facilities and even on public streets in some Chris Ireland, Ph.D. places. These refreshing changes in perspective have been John McDonnell, Ph.D. based to a large extent on scientific discoveries that in addition Barbara N. Sullivan, Ph.D. to the highly addictive nicotine, tobacco also contains >4000 Ross VanVranken, ACSW chemicals, some of which are highly toxic such as carbon Kim Wirthlin, MPA monoxide, acetaldehyde, nitrosamines, and tar that can cause severe tissue and organ damage as well as a number of potentially deadly cancers. While the overwhelming concern about the adverse effects of using tobacco has done much to mitigate the terrible public health consequences of these products, its impact is still very disturbing. For example, tobacco-related products continue to cause: • 440,000 deaths/year (1/5 total deaths in the U.S.) • Annual costs of ~$200 billion due to health care and lost productivity by both the user and from second-hand smoke Statistics such as these remind us that even today tobacco continues to be one of the most widely used addicting substances in the U.S. with ~58 million cigarette smokers, 13 million cigar smokers, and 8 million consuming smokeless products. In fact, continued reduction of tobacco use is still the single most effective method for reducing health care costs in our country and in many other countries around the world. It has been proven that the benefits of quitting the use of tobacco in any form are almost immediate and profound; e.g., within 24 hours of quitting smoking blood pressure is significantly reduced and the likelihood of a heart attack is diminished. Research has found that a 35 year-old man who quits smoking can expect to live an additional healthy 5 years. Findings such as these remind us that while we have made great strides in the battle against tobacco use, we must not let our guard down because the fight against tobacco use is far from over. For more information see NIDA Research Report Series, “What are the Extent and Impact of Tobacco Use,” July 2012 online, NIDA.gov
1