They also need to include an ammendment to increase Federal taxes on cigarettes, it would at least be a step in the right direction. I’ve always considered myself a pretty strong person in both mind and spirit. Fairly intelligent and somewhat well read. All that being said, up to a few weeks ago, I could never break my 30 year habitual addiction to cigarettes. It’s a habit that I rationalized as giving me pleasure, although it was one that caused the premature deaths of many friends and relatives. You would think that just by the fact that its needlessly taken the life of so many loved ones, my eyes would have opened long ago, but why didn’t it? In 2008 I enrolled in a residential Smoking Cessation program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and it’s a program I will be eternally grateful for. So far it’s only been a few weeks smoke free for me, but that to me is a miracle in itself, I have tried on my own and met with no success. The program they offer provides no miracle cure, instead it’s a medically supervised program of education, treatment and prevention. Why is smoking so addictive? What gives it its hook? This is my understanding. Nicotine heads to the brain which causes the brain to release dopamine which is neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and addiction, there’s the hook. Delivery by smoking it, makes it heads to the brain faster than if you injected in your arm. When you try and quit, the brain which is now used to the higher levels of dopamine, resists and it now wants these elevated levels maintained. Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia are all present in cigarette smoke. More than 4,000 chemical compounds have been identified in tobacco smoke. Of these, at least 43 are known to cause cancer. Unlike global warming or other major issues where some facts can be disputed, some facts can’t be disputed about cigarette smoking.

1. CDC (Center for Disease Control) states “Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body; causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.. The adverse health effects from cigarette smoking account for an estimated 438,000 deaths, or nearly 1 of every 5 deaths, each year in the United States. More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.” The fact that 1 out of every 5 Americans die just because of smoking is such a hideous way to end good people lives.
2. Tobacco is one of the least-regulated consumer products in the marketplace. The tobacco industry’s political and economic influence has allowed tobacco products to be exempted from virtually every consumer health and safety law enacted by Congress.
3. There are no safe levels of use for cigarettes, every cigarette does damage to the body.
So keep in mind, although it causes more death and illness than drug & alcohol use, murders, motor vehicle accidents all combined, it’s exempted from virtually every consumer health and safety law enacted by Congress, make me wonder who the Congress works for, certainly in this case its not the health and well being of its citizens. Just imagine the family and friends they could have saved, the suffering prevented and the ultimate example of leadership it would present.
I wish I knew if I would be smoke free a month for now, a year from now, but I don’t.. Thanks to the staff at the Mayo Clinic, at least I have tools and hopes that give me a fighting chance of success. In my experience it has shown to be a powerful addiction in my life that doesn’t want to leave. It’s also one that I deeply regret ever letting in.
It’s one of the few wars that’s winnable, I just don’t understand why it’s one we as a country don’t choose to fight. Wish me luck, it’s a well financed, manipulative enemy, that doesn’t give up without a fight.

The government needs to leave us alone. If I smoke or not is none of their damn business. It’s not their job to tell us what we can and cannot do.

Tobacco corporations must have all their products reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration in the 10 weeks. A law passed in 2009 permits the FDA authority to regulate tobacco as a drug. The merchandise review is a provision demanded by that law. Tobacco products that have been altered or introduced since Feb 2007 must have their ingredients approved by the Food and Drug Administration to continue being sold. Otherwise they might be checking out installment loans in order to get their products accepted.