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AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006
NOVEMBER 15, 2013
How do you like your THE MYTHOLOGY OF QUITTING
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his coming Monday, Nov. 18, will mark the 35th anniversary of an ugly tragedy. On that day in 1978, the largest loss of civilian life in American history occurred, a record that stood for almost a quarter of a century, until September 11, 2001. The 1978 event was the mass suicide — some say the mass murder — of 909 members of the Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana. The followers of cult leader Jim Jones intentionally drank grape Kool Aid (or a product like it) laced with cyanide. You think that was bad? There’s something even sadder than Jonestown, and it’s happening in 2013. The Centers for Disease Control says 440,000 deaths every year in the United States are directly attributable to cigarette smoking. Do the math. That is an average of 1,205 people per day. Every day. Jonestown was a drop in the bucket. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in this country, and it’s also a major cause of premature death: overall life expectancy is at least 10 years shorter for smokers, says the CDC. What’s the main difference between smokers and the members of the Peoples Temple? One group took enough poison to cause death within five minutes; the other takes it in doses that may take decades to kill. +
Some of the 909 Jonestown victims
t’s not likely a Medical Examiner reader would be a smoker, you say? Don’t be so sure. Our readers want better health, and something like 70 percent of all smokers want to quit. So it would be perfectly logical for a soon-to-be-ex-smoker to turn to the Medical Examiner for help in breaking a pernicious habit. Standing in the way could be belief in a few myths. Allow us to debunk them for you here. E Is For Easy The very latest trend in quitting is to puff on an e-cigarette. It has a certain logic. It’s a nicotine delivery system, pure and simple. No nasty tar, no cyanide, nor any of the dozens of other chemicals in tobacco. Just nicotine. You can use e-cigarettes to begin to taper off, then quit. And even better, with e-cigarettes you can choose from hundreds of flavorings. Smoke cinnamon-scented nicotine, or licorice, Belgian waffle, banana split, or vanilla cupcake-scented nicotine. There’s just one problem: nicotine, however it may be scented or flavored, is so toxic it’s used as an insecticide. Inhaling it is not all that different from pulling a Jonestown and drinking poison with grape flavoring. And it’s more addictive than heroin. Is this really a good strategy for those wanting to quit? One other factor: e-cigarettes are new enough that they fall
through the cracks of existing laws. They are currently unregulated, meaning you’re trusting the honesty and integrity of someone you don’t know who has no one to look over their shoulder and keep them honest. And then you’re taking their product and inhaling it into your lungs. Not a wise move. F Is For Fat “If I quit I’ll gain weight. I hate exercise enough as it is. I’ll never lose that weight.” Has it ever occurred to you that you hate to exercise because you’re a smoker? Give your lungs a breather and you won’t be getting short of breath with sixty seconds. As you’ve heard anyway, even with a few extra temporary pounds you’re far better off, healthwise.
smoked as little as one cigarette a day (and as many as four). Over time, even these light smokers were five times more likely to die of lung cancer than non-smoking women. Men defined as “light” smokers were three times more likely to die of lung cancer than non-smoking men, and both men and women were three times more likely to die of coronary artery disease, even if they were light smokers.
C Is For Cash The cash you can’t afford to spend on quitting. People look at the expense of gum, patches and medication and find it daunting, but overlook the fact that they’re spending thousands a year on cigarettes.
M Is Also For Me “It’s all about me. If I decide to smoke, it’s nobody else’s business. I can decide what to do with my body.” Of course you can. But don’t believe the myth that you’re not affecting others. Do you really think your family members won’t care — and grieve — when you kick the bucket, on average, ten years early, when you could have kicked the habit instead? Even worse, do you think they won’t care if they become one or more of the nearly 50,000 Americans who die every year from the effects of second-hand smoke? The reality: it’s not all about you. No man is an island.
M Is For Moderation “I only smoke socially, or when I’m stressed. A whole pack can last me a week.” That’s a comforting myth to tell yourself, but science is not on your side: there is no safe level of smoking. In fact, a long-range study in Norway tracked women who
N is for Not Addicted “I can quit whenever I want.” You are so funny! As we said above, of the 70 percent of smokers who want to quit, only a handful (4 to 7 percent) succeed without help. But more help is available than ever before. Ask your doctor. +
“For more information about lung cancer, keep smoking.” — from a smoking awareness campaign in British Columbia