Tahir Junaid

Tobacco Use By: Date: Abstract Tobacco use is a global epidemic with serious threats to human wellbeing. It is the most known preventable disease in the world. In U.S every one death out of five is caused by the smoking or tobacco use. [ CITATION Tob12 \l 1033 ] It is consumed in many ways in U.S and around the world. It is highly addictive activity with ominous consequences on human wellbeing. The main reason for its addiction is the nicotine substance. Most of the people do engage to tobacco use due to experiment or try something new in early age. It is also perceived as stress relief substance which it is not. It engages the user to inhale more and more nicotine with the passage of time to get the same amount of pleasure which he was seeking earlier. Hence the user becomes addictive and it becomes difficult to quit the tobacco use. This paper is consisted of five sections with subsections and a conclusion in the end. I have elaborated the types of tobacco use in section A. In section B, I have explained the impact of tobacco use on human well being (health and economy). Section C, illustrates the analysis of Tobacco related disparities in U.S regarding the tobacco use. Strategies are pointed out in Section D to reduce the tobacco use in U.S. The developments or concrete measures taken by the government of U.S are highlighted in last section. In the conclusion, I have given my feedback and what I have learnt about the topic while preparing this paper. References are furnished on the last page of the paper. A. Types/Forms Tobacco products are available in many forms and none of them is safe. All of them contain addictive substance known as nicotine. There are mainly two categories of the tobacco products; [ CITATION TYP \l 1033 ] a. Smoking Products In this category main products are Cigarettes, Cigars, Bidis, Pipe, Hookah, and Kreteks. Some of them are regional products but all of them are with high nicotine consumption. None of them are the better alternates as all of them are as dangerous as conventional smoking is. b. Smokeless Products Smokeless products of tobacco are Chew, Dip, and Spit. They are to eat/chew and sniff mainly. The tobacco chewing can develop oral diseases. B. Impacts on Wellbeing There is no doubt about that tobacco use is not compatible and viable for human well being. Here are the key impacts of tobacco use on the human wellbeing; a. Health The death toll in U.S due to the diseases caused by tobacco use is 480,000 per year. More than 20 million Americans have died due to the tobacco use since 1964. This includes the direct inhaling of smoke and exposure or secondhand smoking. The 23% of U.S population is addicted to tobacco used. Around 16 million U.S citizens are currently suffering from tobacco based illnesses. [ CITATION The3 \l 1033 ] Tobacco use has serious repercussions to human health. According to American Lung Association there are about 7,000 chemicals in the smoke of a cigarette. At least 69 of them are known for the cause of cancer. Tobacco smoking is responsible for the 90% of deaths due to the lung cancer. Lung cancer is the main disease caused by smoking. Chronic lung disease is over 70% among the current generation of smokers. [ CITATION Ame \l 1033 ] Among other effects are on blood pressure, heart, fertility, respiration and brain chemistry mainly. b. Economy Tobacco use costs U.S taxpayers worth $326 billion annually, mainly because of the smoking-related illness. Medical care and lost productivity are the main factors for the expenditure according to the Happy People 2020. [ CITATION Why \l 1033 ] It is the 1% of the GDP of U.S. This is an enormous amount of money to spend on health care of tobacco related diseases. This amount could have been spent on the human wellbeing. C. Tobacco-Related Disparities Although tobacco use is wide spread in U.S but there are certain patterns of consumption among the different ethnicities and races. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), following races and ethnic groups have different level of tobacco usage because of the socio-cultural, educational, and economic backdrops. [ CITATION Tob16 \l 1033 ] a. African Americans: It is estimated that African American community is the 13% of overall population in the U.S with over forty two million people. Almost 30% of the population of the African Americans is a consumer of Tobacco related products. Major death reasons among African Americans are cardio diseases, cancer and stroke. Tobacco is the main contributor in all these diseases. b. Native Americans: Among all groups and races in U.S, Natives have the highest prevalence of Tobacco. However, often tobacco is used in the socio-cultural and religious backdrop as well for example religious, ceremonial, and medication. Native Americans are 2% of the whole U.S population. The tobacco use among this community is over 43% which is quite high; almost half of them are addicted to tobacco use. c. Hispanic/Latinos: Only 20% of Hispanic/Latino is the current tobacco user in U.S which is a general trend in this community. While they are 17% of the whole U.S population with over 55 million people. They have low prevalence of tobacco use but it may vary among sub-groups within the community as whole. Only Asian Americans have lower prevalence of tobacco use than Hispanic community in U.S. D. Strategies There is a framework devised on strategies to reduce the tobacco use by Healthy People 2020. It is based on the conducted researches on the tobacco use. Following are the key components of the strategic framework; Make tobacco related products expensive by increasing the prices Enacting comprehensive smoking free policies Provide cessation treatment to everyone Ruthless media campaign Fully funded tobacco use control programs Limiting the access of tobacco products including alternates such as e-cigarettes Limiting the marketing campaign of tobacco products especially directed to teenagers. E. Developments Since 2009, major advancements have been made to lessen the tobacco use in U.S. According to Healthy People 2020 these are the key steps taken to deal with the tobacco epidemic in U.S; The Food and Drug Authority (FDA) has been entitled to regulate the marketing and sales of tobacco products in U.S since 2009. The tax on tobacco from federal government was increased from $0.61 to $1.01 on each pack of cigarettes. More than 15 states have it over $2. Over 25 states have banned smoking in public places including workplaces as of 2015. According to the Act of Affordable Care 2010, every citizen is entitled to the access of smoking cessation treatment. Awareness campaigns are encouraged and facilitated by the government as in 2012 CDC conducted a campaign which resulted 1.6 million attempt to quit smoking. Conclusion To me, tobacco use is the worst thing a human can consign to himself. It is like buying your own slow death and people around you. I am all in support of the strategies devised by Happy People 2020 for making this country better place to live. Smoking cessation should be supported ad promoted by all states. There should be permanent ban on smoking at public places in all states. I was shocked to notice the death toll due to the tobacco use. I have learnt that it is our collective contractual obligation to counter and discourage the tobacco use in our society. It is vital for the governments’ regulatory bodies like FDA to take tough decisions, so that our upcoming generations have healthier and prosper future. Works Cited Association, A. L. (n.d.). Health Effects of Smoking. http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/health-effects-of-smoking.html? The Toll of Tobacco in the U.S. (n.d.). https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/problem/toll-us . Tobacco Control State Highlights 2012. (2012). https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco . Tobacco-Related Disparities. (2016). https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/disparities/index.htm . TYPES OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS. (n.d.). http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/hems/tobacco/tobacco_products.pdf , 1-5. Why Is Preventing Tobacco Use Important? (n.d.). https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/tobacco-use .