Cigarette Smoking and Its Social Movement

Cigarette Smoking and its Social Movement
Tobacco is a product processed from the dried leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. Extracting from ingredients of some medicines and being used as a pesticide shows its strong hold on society. Its name is considered as any plant of the genus Nicotiana of the Solanaceae family, also known as the nightshade family. Tobacco is most commonly consumed as a drug. It is acknowledged as the product manufactured from the leaf used in cigars, cigarettes, snuff, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and flavored shisha.
Native American tribes have traditionally grown and used tobacco with some cultivation sites in Mexico dating as far back to 1400-1000 B.C. This product was accepted as a trade item and was considered a gift from the creator. It was believed that the exhaled tobacco smoke carried one’s thoughts and prayers to heaven. Over time the users of the product came to realize inhaling rough tobacco without quickly damaging the lungs involved smoking and small quantities and using innovative products such as pipes, bongs, and hookahs.
Following the American civil war, a change in demand and a change in labor force allowed inventor James Bonsack to create a machine that increased cigarette production sufficiently. This increase in production allowed tremendous growth in the tobacco industry until change of laws, regulations, and realization set in during the mid-20th century. Tobacco is consumed through a variety of different methods that have evolved over the years. These methods consist of beedi, chewing tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, creamy snuffs, dipping tobaccos, gutka, hookah, kreteks, roll-your-own, pipe smoking, snuff, snus, topical tobacco paste and water. All of these ways of smoking tobacco has showed that people have become bored with just a simple cigarette and have created different forms of consumption. Major producers of the product consist of China, Pakistan, Brazil, and India. Numbers of farmers for this industry range from 90,000 upwards of 150,000. The product is not as profitable as cotton or sugar cane for countries like China but still maintain atop of the charts.
Tobacco plants are also used in plant bioengineering and ornamentals plants. The addictive alkaloid nicotine is popularly considered the most characteristic ingredient of tobacco but the harmful effects of tobacco consumption can also derive from the thousands of different compounds generated in the smoke. As most people know smoking cigarettes and using tobacco products has a huge impact on both your bank account and your health. Thankfully for the way media has evolved every smoker has her that the habit can lead to cancer, emphysema, reduced lung function, and so on. Health factors are not only detrimental to ones on life but their families as well. Whether its medical bills or emotions setting in, having a family member who smokes can take a huge toll on the family. These attributes consists of stress, financials, smell, health, and depression.
The cost of smoking that many fail to consider is enormous. The effects that this habit has not only on your health but as well as your wallet can be considered detrimental to one’s lifestyle. Most smokers look at the short term effect of cost of cigarettes rather than the long term. Coming up with money pack by pack, day by day, or even carton by carton, week by week may not be as difficult but when you consider the long term aspect it has a sufficient impact on one’s income. The average cost for a pack of cigarettes in America is $5.50 and smokers tend to smoke a pack a day. With this being said the monthly average consists of $165.00 being spent on cigarettes, that’s $1,980 dollars a year. After five years you would have spent nearly $10,000 on cigarettes when you could have invested that money and made minimum $2000 off of it. These numbers come from the Average in the country. When it comes to the top 10 states in the country the numbers increase sufficiently. These states consist of New Jersey, Rhode Island, Washing D.C., Massachusetts, Connecticut, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, and the number one most expensive pack of cigarettes is $12.50 in New York. These top ten most expensive states to buy Cigarettes start at $8 and rise to $12.50. What this shows is that the example we had nearly doubles for people who live with these states.
Being from Massachusetts, we will use their $8.50 per pack of cigarettes as an example. Smoking a pack a day would lead to $59.50 a week and $238 a month. With that being said a consumer of cigarettes in Massachusetts spends about $2,900 a year on their addiction. These costs don’t even include the effects smoking has on your body and what the expenses introduce themselves through these effects. Whether it is sore throats, doctor visits, lack of exercise, lost experience, or missed opportunities all these circumstance consists of a loss when it comes down to this addiction.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention smoking is the leading preventable cause of death. CDC states that smokers loose an average of 14 years of their life from the addiction. Cause of death usually consists of cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. The National Cancer Institute reports that 438,000 deaths are attributed to cigarette smoking each year. If that doesn’t surprise you maybe the 38,000 deaths caused by secondhand smoke will. Cigarette smoke can harm nearly every organ in the body. Medline Plus has stated that 87% of ling cancers would disappear if every person in the United States stopped smoking. Smoking can affect one’s health causing cancer, damage to the heart and cardiovascular system, as well as negatively effecting child birth through infertility, preterm delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome.
Why the facts you may ask? It is the tobacco, more importantly the nicotine that has contributed substantially to these addictions worldwide. This addiction not only effects the health of an individual but of those around them and those whom haven’t even stepped foot on this earth yet. Not only is health effected by cigarette smoking but as stated above so aren’t financials and society. During my time growing up, I have seen media play a much larger role in showing the effects of cigarette smoking. Take Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for example. The have come out with magazine, television, radio, and billboard adds to help create awareness to the effect smoking has on all individuals. CDC uses social media optimized images featuring tips from former smoker’s participants as a strong campaign. They can be liked and followed on both Facebook and Twitter. Content from their social media platforms comes from CDCTobaccoFree. The first example comes from “A Tip about Secondhand Smoke”. The message portrayed say’s “Don’t be shy about telling people not to smoke around your kids”. Within this message is a mother holding her kid to her chest that is wearing a breathing mask at the age of seven. This has a huge impact on me let alone anyone else that has a kid or knows someone with a kid. Growing up one of the harder experiences I had was dealing with child asthma. Although I had a healthy birth due to my mother not smoking or drinking, my father is indeed consumed within the cigarette addiction. Luckily for myself my father kept his smoking off to secluded areas whether it was in the basement or outside. I had a couple life threatening asthma attacks growing up due to both allergies and smoke which in contrary makes me a firm believer that every parent with a kid should stand up and tell cigarette smokers to step outside while they consume in their addiction. Personally if I saw someone smoking a cigarette inside a household with a child it would take a lot for me not to stand up and say something myself. Unfortunately not everyone is like that so portraying such a strong image through media can have a huge impact on society. The next three images are portrayed to the smoker themselves. The first portrays Buerger’s Disease, where a man with prosthetic legs is sitting on his bed trying to get dressed. The message states “allow extra time to put on your legs”. Brandon the man in the image was diagnosed at the age of 18 and is currently 31. The next image that portrayed a strong message to me is one of smoker Roosevelt that is lifting his shirt up showing the scar down the middle of his chest. On the side the message reads “Do your heart a favor. Quit Smoking.” At the bottom of the campaign next to the Centers for Disease Control logo is a message that says “You can quit. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW”. The last image that I saw that will have an everlasting effect on me is an image of Terrie, a lung cancer patient. Terrie is seen in this picture with a very sad, scared, depressed look on her face. She is wearing a breathing piece in the middle of her neck that she will have to live with for the rest of her life. The message on the CDC campaign says “Don’t tell people smoking is bad, show them”. This by far out of all the images I went through had the strongest impression on me. Smoking is a bad thing, cancer is a scary thing, and not doing something about either one is an awful way to live life. The tips from former smokers campaign is easily the best message you can send to the people. As we know the facts are out there but if someone who is living with an illness caused by smoking is portrayed as the image it will have a much larger impact rather than just reading on the negative effects that smoking has on both users and non-users.
I have been a part of the American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Wakefield now for over five years. Being a part of the Committee Board over the past 2 years has had a huge impact on my life. I have seen people who have been told they have cancer some who sit back scared others who push forward and fight. This all starts with the inner strength and the people who surround this individual. Smoking however is not only a leading cause of cancer but a leading cause of an emotional breakdown for the whole family. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention portray this message over and over again through mass media. CDC Tobacco Free is dedicated to protecting health and promoting quality of life. They envision a world free from tobacco-related death and disease. A vision of a world in which tobacco users quit and nonusers never start, a world free from the deadly effects of secondhand smoke, and a world in which all people regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status are protected from the harmful effects of tobacco use.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites, social media, and variety of campaigns allow for cigarette users and non-users to see the facts and effects of smoking. The greatest thing about the day and age we live in now is that everything is available to us. Whether it be the library, the internet, word of mouth, or our smart phones anything and everything you want to know is right at your fingertips. CDC gives tips on how to quit smoking, offers control programs, and on call help to get one started on the right track. Having this available makes the world of a difference. I know this because I’ve had friends and family that don’t like to talk about smoking as if they would rather hide from its negative impact on life and society. Having someone to talk to that does not know you personally can seriously change the whole aspect of quitting and teaching others never to start. I can contribute to this aspect personally as the classic response I have gotten from people is that it’s their choice as they choose to neglect the negative impact.
Media has had a large impact on Cigarettes and its Social Movement. As you can acknowledge I am using The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as my prime example. Running social media through Facebook and Twitter has allowed the movement to reach a substantial amount of users. CDC Tobacco Free has a Facebook following of 38,118 people. Their impact on portraying images of “Tips from Former Smokers” is substantial due to every time they post an image and message that is shared from one Facebook to another, that person’s mass amount of friends can all see the image, message, and where it came from. This allows for any viewer to easily access CDC Tobacco Free and Share their strong messages. As for the twitter account, CDC Tobacco Free currently has 12,344 followers while having fewer than 1,300 tweets. The minimal tweets show the large room for growth. Every time their twitter account tweets a positive influential message that is retweeted they again reach out to a broad market that eventually follows to all twitter accounts. CDC Tobacco Free tweets facts and strong messages to their following. As well they retweet news stations, health accounts, FDA, doctors, and many more. All of these tweets of course involve positive health, how to quit smoking, cause and effect, reaching out to family and friends, and overall portraying a positive message to spread to the world.
An article from Health.com states a prime example of how social media can help with quitting smoking. "I'm on my 800th quit attempt," announce by twenty eight year old Justin Randolph on a Facebook page created by the New York City Department of Public Health to help smokers become ex-smokers. Randolph noted that the support he's received from the Facebook group has been a major factor in his success this time around, Randolph says. "I really enjoy reading about other ex-smokers, and seeing that they have stopped for long periods of time is very encouraging," he says. "Sometimes, when you first quit, you feel all alone, and the online reinforcement is very comforting." When you come to think about the media has a huge impact on reassuring us no matter what the issue. Put up a status discussing your future and how undirected you feel and responses from friends and family will pour out telling you that “you will find your way” and that “you can do it”. It’s support like this that can get us through just about anything. Before social networking really began smokers who wanted moral support while quitting didn’t have many options. While there was support groups and clinics in the area that wasn’t much more after that which also involved time in one’s day. Randolph being able to see overwhelming support through the whole city of New York was just another push for him to continue along the positive road that he was travelling.
Although groups and clinics are a positive way to continue to stay smoke-free we now have social media to turn to. Some Facebook pages and twitter accounts are dedicated to helping me kick the habit and stay on the smoke free wagon. As I’ve previously stated the information and tools are out there, you just have to use them. The web including information, videos, pictures, and personal stories of past and present smokers is a strong connection to be made now a day. The Facebook page NYC Quits Smoking/I Quit Because now has more than 10,000 fans. As well twitter has non-smoking/quitting accounts such as Qwitter @iquit which has upwards of 500 followers. Its accounts and pages like these that have an everlasting effect on people and the message within itself.
Social Media allows people to interact with one another whether it is about current events, sports, or just life in general. Having all the resources available for those of who are trying to quit is largely significant. When people quit they may be doing it for themselves, family members and friends. For whatever reason whether it be to save money, make others happy, or protect one’s health quitting smoking only has a positive outcome. Unfortunately there is a process one must go through to quit smoking. From weaning off of cigarettes or going cold turkey a lot of people go through a depression or sad phase during this time that they need all the support they can get. Outside of keeping busy, drinking water, and chewing gum one needs human support. Facebook and Twitter allow non-smokers to have this overwhelming support. A lot of people when the quit smoking tend to put up a status or tweet stating something along the lines of “Day 1, Time for Change”. Whatever their message may be their friends and family will support them by instantly like their status or favorite their tweet. On top of this most close friends and of course family will comment on their post telling them “they can do it”, “you got this”, “stay strong”, “it will be worth it”, “I’m proud of you”, and so on. Its message’s and support like this that keep people from not going back to their old habits. Reminding them that they are on the right track and that they can only move forward from here is the greatest thing a friend or family member can give them along with their continuous love and support.
Not only does Social Media have an impact on updating us what is going on around the world but it also helps us stay connected to friends and family that we may not see very much. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow us to reach out to those in need to give them the motivation through thoughts, prayers, and advice that they may need at any given moment. Quitting is usually portrayed as giving up but when it comes to a bad habit, supporting someone who is ready to quit is a means of communication that needs to be acknowledged and supported. Although there are many methods to help quit smoking such as face-to-face counseling, e-cigarettes, patches and gum, there is the all mighty powerful electronic device we use every day. Smart phones have allowed us to communicate and stay connected with people we know and even those we don’t. With the use of this technology those in need can reach out to their media at any given moment of the day, but it’s up those who see these statuses, tweets, and text to respond with positive vibes, advice, and acknowledgement.