Smoking is an act of inhaling toxic substances that are addictive and can cause diseases. It has been one of the leading causes for lung cancer, small cell carcinoma, reproductive effects, and other miscellaneous effects and continues to be a problem every year. It is mostly popular for its highly addictive drug called nicotine inside of cigarettes and other tobacco related products and continues to kill people every year. As reported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC 2016), 15.5% of the population 18 and over smoke and about one in five kids under 18 smoke. This is not including the people affected by second hand smoke which has killed around 2,500,000 nonsmokers since 1964, according to the CDC. Smoking is mainly popular due to the amount of media that promotes the act and makes it seem more appealing. It is also shown in many movies and television shows that portray smoking to be the ideal thing to do. Advertising companies create a big impact on recruiting consumers to keep the tobacco industry trending. Tobacco industries on average need to recruit around two million new consumers each year to keep their profits up. This issue occurs all around the world, especially in low income areas, but the most concentrated areas of smoking around the world include places such as China, Luxembourg, and Russia. New inventions for smoking habits have promoted more popularity with items such as wax pens, vapes, and e-cigarettes. Even though statistics have shown the percentages of smokers dropping, these recent products could potentially change these findings and increase the percentages instead. However, resources such as The Telegraph(2018) believe that these percentages can and will continue to drop and possibly end smoking by 2050 due to these decreasing rates. This would mean that smoking in the future would not be seen as much as an issue and could possibly be the end for tobacco companies if they do not meet the profit requirements. Etiological factors would include teenagers being the target age for these tobacco industries and advertisements, along with the amount of tobacco and nicotine inside of cigarettes.
How to Solve the Public Health Problem
The easiest way of preventing becoming addicted to these products would be to not try any form of cigarettes or nicotine products at any time. Spreading awareness on the dangers and potential risks associated with smoking could help people not get addicted or even help quitting. Intervention programs mostly involve school campuses and pledge programs to prevent early age addictions or to provide help to those already hooked. Once addicted, it is very hard to quit and many are unable to do so which is why products such as nicotine patches, gum, and prescription drugs are made to help this issue. Another way of preventing more smoking would be to raise the prices on products even more to an amount that people are not willing to pay. Tobacco industries have already raised the prices of their products due to federal regulations, but increasing the price even more could be very beneficial to a healthy environment. This would force the majority of the smokers in poor areas to realize that it is becoming too expensive to keep purchasing these items. The CDC releases stories on different people and how they were able to quit. One article explains the story of how a woman named Amanda was able to quit. She explains that at the age of 13, she smoked everyday and continued this throughout the end of college. She became engaged and soon realized she was pregnant and her baby was born 2 months earlier than the original date. This showed her that smoking is very serious and can affect others rather than just herself. Ever since then, Amanda has been smoke free and is glad that this situation is what helped her get out of her bad habits. These types of situations are what could initially change the perspective of smoking and be a major impact on helping to quit. Another example of smoking prevention includes a program called The Truth and they mainly broadcast commercials mostly on MTV and explain statistics and how much they affect teens. They have their own website where teens can go online and pledge to not participate in smoking or the use of tobacco. On the website, they also list different facts and events they hold for people to take part in. Because many people who smoke now were introduced to it at a young age, intervention programs aim towards teens and children. One example is called Philip Morris USA and their main priority is investing in numerous states to promote their projects called We Card(2010). In this program, they communicate to schools and hold assemblies to show the complications of smoking and what it does to the body. With these types of commercials being broadcasted for many people to see, information is being promoted to help educate people and will keep continuing for as long as technology furthers its creations.
Public Health in the Future
Isolating yourself from cigarettes or tobacco products in general is the best way to prevent any of the potential risks and effects. Smoking is 100% a self decision to participate in and being able to not give in to peer pressure or avoid curiosity is very beneficial to the body. I have had my own personal experiences with my close relatives and their smoking habits. One of my family members had smoked all of their life ever since they were 9 years old and it became so intense to the point where they would smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. It soon caught up with them when they were diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2013 and ended up passing away 6 months later. When they were diagnosed with cancer, they tried to quit by using patches and vapor cigarettes but the damage was already too severe. To this day, it still affects myself and my whole family and has made me realize the severity of smoking. Some of my other family members decided to quit smoking soon after this event because they too did not want to go through the same situation. Many intervention programs have been introduced to our society today considering the new technology being invented and showing more health effects compared to 50 years ago. Rachel Cooper from The Telegraph(2011) states that these interventions are one of the best ways to educate and convince people to either quit or even be turned away from the idea. If showing the health complications rather than just saying what could potentially happen can make a bigger difference, than the technology that is being created now and in the future will create a big difference in the way people think about this drug and make them have the serious decision of keeping their body healthy. Educating and promotion of the dangers of all these products are also an important part in tobacco and addiction prevention. Rehab facilities are also a good source of commitment, but usually pertains to those that are highly addicted and have strongly been recommended for more help other than other prevention products.