I have often questioned why so many people in this day and age choose to smoke. I understand that back in the days of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando, smoking was considered glamorous, and even up until the early ’70s or so, no one really knew the harmful effects of smoking. Now, however, everyone knows it causes cancer in the lungs and many other places like the heart, liver, bladder and throat. Smokers risk heart disease, stroke and emphysema.
Yet even with all the risks, 43.4 million Americans (almost 20 percent of the population) continue to light up, according to a CNN.com article. This is somewhat good news, though, as this is the first time in 50 years the United States has seen numbers this low. The national health objective, however, is 12 percent by 2010, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to make it.
Interestingly enough, it turns out the rest of the world isn’t as knowledgeable about the effects of smoking as we are. In Britain, one survey, as reported by About.com, found that 99 percent of women did not know that smoking could cause cervical cancer. In China, 60 percent of adults didn’t know smoking causes lung cancer and a whopping 96 percent didn’t know it could cause heart disease. Another survey in Britain found that 50 percent of smokers thought smoking “can’t really be all that dangerous, or the government wouldn’t let cigarettes be advertised.” This somewhat excuses them from smoking so much, but we Americans know better.
The Center for Disease Control says 90 percent of heavy smokers began in high school. More than 3,500 kids under 18 try a cigarette for the first time every day. More than 1,100 teens become regular smokers daily. That’s a lot of smoking from one generation. The About.com article said 50 percent of teen smokers go on to smoke 15 to 20 years, if not a lifetime, so this isn’t simply a phase. Many adolescents choose to smoke to get into the popular crowd, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.
Many experts blame movies and celebrities for influencing teen smokers, according to CNN. There has been an increase in smoking in movies in the last 10 years, which seems to glamorize it once again. Icons like Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Laura Bush are some of the few political figures we’ve seen struggle with the habit. There are also plenty of movie stars that have been caught on film smoking, such as Katherine Heigl, Eva Longoria Parker and Patrick Swayze.
The CNN.com report showed there has been a flip in demographics of smokers. Back in the ’50s, it was the highly educated, highly trained, “sophisticated” members of society that participated in the activity. This is quite contrary to the now pervasive smoking among the lower income, uneducated class.
So why this flip? The only reason I can think of is that educated people tend to agree with science, so when they’re told something is bad, they believe it. This still doesn’t explain things to me convincingly, as there are studies, labels and warnings present everywhere. There is no reason someone would not know smoking is bad for them.
The cost of smoking is quite large as well. It causes an increase in car and health insurance and social security. Dry cleaning and teeth cleaning bills will be higher, while resale value of houses and cars will be lower, according to MSN Money. An MIT longitudinal study says the total cost of smoking, including insurance, private and social cost is $106,000 for a woman and $220,000 for a man over a lifetime. That’s the cost of a small house! Factoring in these costs, the impact of a pack of cigarettes is actually $40. That’s quite a chunk of change for an unessential item.
In 2007, About.com reported smoking a cigarette takes approximately five minutes, which coincidently is about how much time it takes off your life span. Very heavy smoking can cut off a few years, excluding the high chance of protracting some kind of cancer. The American Lung Association says, “Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death,” killing more women per year than breast cancer.
Nevertheless, people still smoke. An adult education curriculum by Marjorie Jacobs for the state of Massachusetts lists several reasons why adults smoke including stress, weight loss, unemployment, drug addictions and abuse. Most say it’s relaxing or that “it calms them.”
Notice no one says they like the taste or the effects. In which case, why not do something different that helps keep one calm without all the harmful side effects? If it’s just for nerves there has got to be a million and one ways out there that don’t have all those risks (or at least has less) and is cheaper.
Smoking also disrupts taste buds and olfactory receptors, making food taste and smell less appetizing. From where I’m standing, there seem to be nothing but negatives in the pro/con list for smoking, so my initial question still remains: Why are people still smoking and how much will it cost them? Perhaps people should try picking up a new method of relaxation. Yoga, anyone?
Hannah Kaase is a sophomore majoring in animal and dairy science. She can be contacted at [email protected].