Playing with fire
National cigarette sales jump in 2021 was first in 20 years, researchers hope it’s ‘just a brief blip’
Working from home has proven to be beneficial, not only for employees but also for their companies, who have discovered people cannot only be trusted to do their jobs but are doing more than is expected of them. However, one of the fallouts of the work movement is that smokers are free to smoke.
“What I’ve observed is a lot of people were not smoking at work but now that they’re working from home they have free reign to smoke whenever they want,” said Aimee Richardson, who is a tobacco treatment counselor for Henry Ford Health System.
This coupled with the stress, due to people being isolated from their families and the uncertainty of everything changing constantly during the pandemic, may be contributing to a trend that has health care experts concerned.
A report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shows annual cigarette sales have increased for the first time in 20 years. Its Cigarette Report released during November’s lung cancer awareness month shows cigarette sales by manufacturers increased from 202.9 billion in 2019 to 203.7 billion in 2020.
The report does not indicate if the pandemic had anything to do with the increase in sales and did not include the sale of e-cigarettes.
But this also is an area of concern said Richardson.
“Specifically with teens,” Richardson said. “Over the years vaping among middle and high school students has increased although the flavor ban and prevention intervention in schools has helped.”
One of the ways youngsters were reached was through texting programs that allowed parents and students to ask questions about vaping or help available for those looking to quit.
— Dr. Matthew Schabath, lung cancer epidemiologist at Moffitt Cancer Center
Dr. Matthew Schabath, a lung cancer epidemiologist at Moffitt Cancer Center said the growing numbers are concerning because cigarette smoking is directly linked to a number of different cancers.
“There is not one single health benefit associated with cigarette smoking,” Schabath, said in a report by the Moffitt Cancer Center.
“For many of these cancers we’ve seen firsthand the reductions in cancer incidence rates over the last several decades attributed to drastic reductions in cigarette consumption,” he said. “Reversing the public health successes of the decline in cancer incidence rates and cigarette consumption rates would be disappointing and tragic.”
Schabath added the biggest consumption of tobacco consumption fell drastically in the United States following the publication of the landmark 1964 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report,which concluded cigarette smoking is responsible for lung cancer among men.
The Center for Disease Control also
“There is not one single health benefit associated with cigarette smoking.”
stated those who quit smoking lower their risk for cancer of the lung, larynx, oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, pancreas, bladder, stomach, colon and rectum, liver, cervix, kidney, and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).8
“Again, it took around 20 years before incidence rates started to drop,” Schabath said. “Hopefully, what we are seeing today is just a brief blip.”
Just to be sure the public is likely to see more information about how to
quit smoking in the coming weeks, which also follows the traditional resolutions that people make in the New Year.
“Tomorrow is my smoke free anniversary,” said Michelle Mathis, who used Henry Ford’s Freedom From Smoking program to quit last year. “I smoked my last cigarette on Jan. 6. The next morning I put on the patch and haven’t had a cigarette since.”
In her case it was not a New Year’s resolution that prompted her enrollment but a conversation with her nutritionist who encouraged her to make the move after learning that her two biggest goals were to lose
weight and quit smoking.
“I went into the program and I stopped smoking for three days but then I started again,” said Mathis, who always believed the only reason she smoked was because her husband did. “I always said, ‘I can stop anytime.’ But it was a lie that I told myself for years.”
After a divorce, Mathis decided to give the program another try.
“I took what I learned in the first session and applied it again,’” she said. “I think the first time I didn’t do everything I could have done.”
Richardson pointed out what works for one person might not work for another.
What worked for Mathis
the second time around was the nicotine patch. She also took the advice of counselors and even enlisted the help of a cousin who quit smoking years ago to serve as her smoke-free buddy.
“She was able to do with will power,” Mathis said. “If I felt like I needed a smoke I would call her.”
She wasn’t always available but just stopping to make the call helped to change her mind and to keep her hands busy instead of picking up a cigarette she had an arsenal of fidget toys including a yo-yo and Rubik’s Cube.
“The temptation is still there but I’m like, ‘No, I am never smoking again,’” said
Mathis, who recommends the program to others.
The group prepares for a shared “quit day” (session four) by learning about medications that can help them stop, lifestyle changes and tips that make quitting easier, and how to stay smoke-free for good. As the weeks continue, participants receive structured support and advice from fellow group members, staff or members of their family.
Mathis said she smoked on and off for 30 years and while she never noticed a smoker’s cough, shortness of breath or other health issues, she has noticed that since she’s quit her blood
pressure is better.
She also has more energy, which will help her achieve her initial goal in losing weight.
“I think the pride of knowing I quit also makes me feel better,” she said, and knowing what she did will help her live longer. “I don’t have any grandchildren (yet) but I would love to live long enough to see that happen.”