On This Day: Surgeon General reports cigarettes addictive. Now, leading cause of preventable death - May 16, 1988

[jgo]

(edited from news article)
"
MAY 16, 1988
Cigarettes, tobacco are addictive

WASHINGTON -- Surgeon General C. Everett Koop announced unequivocally Monday that cigarettes and other tobacco products are addicting -- like heroin and cocaine -- and called for restrictions on their sale and distribution.

Levels of nicotine in the blood are similar in magnitude in people using different forms of tobacco, said the report. Once in the bloodstream, nicotine is rapidly distributed throughout the body, especially the brain and central nervous system.

'Some people may have difficulty in accepting the notion that tobacco is addicting because it is a legal product,' said Koop in the report. But he noted it fits the standard definition of drug addiction used by the World Health Organization and other health groups.

With drug addiction, and with cigarettes, Koop said the user's behavior is mainly controlled by a substance that stimulates the brain to alter moods. There is compulsive use of the drug despite damage to the individual or others. Also, physical dependence can occur, and is characterized by, a withdrawal syndrome that occurs during abstinence.
"
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/05/16/Cigarettes-tobacco-are-addictive/2547579758400/

(edited from article)
"
[Nicotine addicition]

Nicotine addiction is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1300 deaths every day.

Signs and symptoms

The time to first cigarette and total cigarettes per day are the 2 strongest predictors of nicotine addiction.

The physical effects of nicotine use include accelerated heart rate, increased blood pressure, and weight loss.

In addition to its physical effects, nicotine exerts a strong behavioral influence. Nicotine may enhance an individual’s level of alertness, although individuals with a tobacco use disorder may simulate a frantic, almost manic, picture. Speech may also be accelerated in line with behavior. Cessation after prolonged tobacco use can contribute to irritability, which is often relieved by a dose of nicotine.
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https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/287555-overview?form=fpf

(edited from article)
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[8 million deaths per year]

Nicotine addiction is a leading cause of death worldwide. The important causes of smoking-related mortality are atherosclerotic vascular disease, cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Smoking also can contribute to other diseases, such as histiocytosis X, respiratory bronchiolitis, obstructive sleep apnea, idiopathic pneumothorax, low birth weight, and perinatal mortality.

Worldwide, approximately 1.1 billion people smoke. Around 80% of the world's 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries. Also worldwide, tobacco use causes nearly 8 million deaths per year. More than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use, while around 1.3 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Through direct healthcare costs and loss of productivity from death and illness, the total global economic cost of smoking is estimated at around $1.85 trillion, or around 1.8% of global GDP. Cigarette smoking cost the United States more than $600 billion in 2018.

[Stimulant in the morning, depressant during the day]

Nicotine in cigarette smoke affects mood and performance and is the source of addiction to tobacco. It meets the criteria of a highly addictive drug, in that it is a potent psychoactive substance that induces euphoria, reinforces its use, and leads to nicotine withdrawal syndrome when it is absent. As an addictive drug, nicotine has 2 very potent effects, being both a stimulant and a depressant. Thus, cigarettes may both get a smoker going in the morning and “chill out” the smoker during the day.
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https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/287555-overview?form=fpf#a2

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[Aristus]

1. Still desperately trying to get my smoking patients to quit.

And wondering how the fuck they ever started in the first place.

Peer pressure (in the Army, no less!) wasn't enough for me to get used the horrible taste, the revolting smell, the spitting all the time, the messy ash and the polluting cigarette butts. It just never seemed like a pleasant habit to me. I guess that's just me.

And I can't believe people don't understand that the ones telling them smoking is glamorous and sophisticated, or the hallmark of rebellion, are the ones selling them the cigarettes in the first place.