WEDNESDAY, Sept. 9 – Researchers have found that nicotine, the addictive component in cigarettes, “tricks” the brain into creating memory associations between environmental cues and smoking behavior. This could help explain why former smokers miss lighting up when they are in a bar or after a meal.

The findings from researchers at Baylor College of Medicine are in the Sept. 10 issue of the journal Neuron.

“Our brains normally make these associations between things that support our existence and environmental cues so that we conduct behaviors leading to successful lives. The brain sends a reward signal when we act in a way that contributes to our well being,” study co-author Dr. John A. Dani, professor of neuroscience at BCM said in a college news release. “However, nicotine commandeers this subconscious learning process in the brain so we begin to behave as though smoking is a positive action.”

Dani said that environmental events linked with smoking can become cues that prompt the smoking urge. Those cues could include alcohol, a meal with friends or even the drive home from work.

Dani and Dr. Jianrong Tang, instructor of neuroscience at BCM and co-author of the report, recorded the brain activity of mice as they were exposed to nicotine.

The mice were allowed to roam through an apparatus with two compartments. In one compartment, they received nicotine. In the other, they got a saline solution. The researchers recorded how long the mice spent in each compartment and brain activity within the hippocampus, an area of the brain that creates new memories.

“The brain activity change was just amazing,” Dani said. “Compared to injections of saline, nicotine strengthened neuronal connections — sometimes up to 200 percent. This strengthening of connections underlies new memory formation.”

Dani said understanding mechanisms that create memory could have implications in future research and treatments for memory disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, and for dopamine signaling disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease.

More information

The National Institutes of Health has more information on nicotine here.

LANSING, Mich. – Will it soon cost more for an ice cold brew? A coalition is urging lawmakers to hike the beer and tobacco tax to raise money for the needy.

Most of the hands went up when the Coalition for the Needy was asked if it supported a beer and cigarette tax hike, which is now on the table.

27 groups from the Catholic church to the Michigan Federation of Children are telling lawmakers to stop cutting the social safety net. The advocates argue that children will die if more of these services are terminated.

“I think we will see an increase in infant mortality. We’re going to see an increase in teen deaths due to kids not having anything to do after school that’s positive and worthwhile,” said Jack Kresnak, president of Michigan’s Children.

The coalition contends that the face of poverty in Michigan has change dramatically. It’s not just the homeless and welfare families any more.

“We have people that used to be middle income wage earners that are now part of the population that is considered poor. We have a great deal many more children that are poor today than were poor five or ten years ago,” said Paul Long of the Michigan Catholic Conference.

The last time the beer tax was adjusted was in 1966 when it was lower to 1.9 cents a bottle. The proposal on the table now is to boost it to 3.8 cents per bottle.

“We can’t continue to have sacred cows like the beer tax that we don’t touch for decades,” said Sharon Parks of the League for Human Services. “Would you rather cut your schools? Would you rather cut police and fire or would you rather raise the beer tax?”

But here are the political facts of life in Lansing. Many are running for re-election next year. They know that beer drinkers and smokers vote, and lawmakers don’t want to offend them.

The chair of the Senate Taxation Committee wants no part of any tax hike. “I don’t think an increase at all is necessary, broad based tax increase, and I would really caution the governor to be very careful to go back on her promise that she made a couple years back… which was no more taxes,” said Sen. Nancy Cassis.

The coalition disagrees. It says the state needs to raise more revenue to protect those who need it most.


© Myfoxdetroit

A new study finds that men and women who had one heart attack, but ate chocolate were three times less likely to die from second heart attack.

News media reported the study suggesting that eating chocolate may cut the risk of dying from heart attack. But the study results could be misleading.

The study was conducted by Janszky from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and colleagues and published in the journal of Internal Medicine. The researchers wanted to know if chocolate consumption may affect the risk for heart disease.

Previous research already suggested that antioxidants like flavanol in cocoa could help lower blood pressure and improved the flow of the blood in the body.

Janszky and colleagues followed up 1,169 men and women aged 45 to 70 who had had at least one heart attack for eight years. At the beginning of the study, participants were questioned about their dietary habits.

They found a link between fatal heart attacks and the amount of chocolate eaten. That is, those who ate more chocolate were less likely to die from heart attack.

The association was still significant even after other factors such as obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption were considered, according to the study.

Readers need to be aware that the study is not a trial, that is, a causal relation between chocolate consumption and risk of death from heart attack was not established, meaning that eating chocolate does not necessarily lead to a lower risk.

A couple of factors may have affected the results.

First, we do not know what the participants ate during the 8-year follow-up. And second, those who had more serious cardiovascular conditions might have quit eating chocolate prior to enrollment in the study due to the concern about their health status.

In any case, no one should jump eating lots of chocolate as a measure to reduce their risk for heart disease or heart attack. Chocolate should be used as a food largely for pleasure and it should not even be used as a major energy source because of high levels of saturated fat in the food.

As a matter of fact, an Australian trial has demonstrated that eating dark chocolate, which contains large amounts of flavanol, did not lower high blood pressure, a risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Ried K, Frank O. R. and Stocks N. P. from the University of Adelaide in Australia published the trial results in the July 2009 issue of BMC Complement Alternative Medicine.

Here is how they conducted the trial cited in verbatim from the study Abstract:

Our trial consisted of two phases: a randomised controlled three-group-parallel trial over 12 weeks (phase 1) followed by a crossover of the two active treatment arms over an additional 12-week period (phase 2). Group 1 received a 50 g daily dose of dark chocolate with 70% cocoa containing 750 mg polyphenols, group 2 were allocated one tomato extract capsule containing 15 mg lycopene per day, and group 3 received one placebo capsule daily over 8 weeks followed by a 4-week washout period. In phase 2 the active treatment groups were crossed over to receive the alternative treatment. Median blood pressure, weight, and abdominal circumference were measured 4-weekly, and other characteristics including physical activity, general health, energy, mood, and acceptability of treatment were assessed by questionnaire at 0, 8 and 20 weeks. We analysed changes over time using a linear mixed model, and one time point differences using Kruskal-Wallis, Fisher’s-Exact, or t-tests.

Below is what they found cited in verbatim from the study Abstract:

Thirty-six prehypertensive healthy adult volunteers completed the 6-month trial. Blood pressure changes over time within groups and between groups were not significant and independent of treatment. Weight and other characteristics did not change significantly during the trial. However, a marked difference in acceptability between the two treatment forms (chocolate or capsule) was revealed (p < 0.0001). Half of the participants allocated to the chocolate treatment found it hard to eat 50 g of dark chocolate every day and 20% considered it an unacceptable long-term treatment option, whereas all participants found it easy and acceptable to take a capsule each day for blood pressure.

The authors concluded that “Our study did not find a blood pressure lowering effect of dark chocolate or tomato extract in a prehypertensive population. Practicability of chocolate as a long-term treatment option may be limited.”


By David Liu (davidl@foodconsumer.org)

MANILA – “Want to quit smoking? Try electronic cigarettes – the odorless, cancer-free, and healthy way to smoke!”

The sheer novelty of this claim is probably what attracted smokers and non-smokers alike to electronic cigarettes or “e-cigarettes,” a product that has created a lot of buzz in the Philippine market in the past month. It is typically marketed as a “safer way” to smoke or quit smoking.

Marketing executive Baroy Morga, 31, is virtually the only e-cigarette user in the company he works for, and only one of a few Filipinos who are trying out the product. He has been smoking an average of 15 sticks a day for 10 years now and has been trying to quit the habit.

The e-cigarette, he said, has eased off the amount of nicotine and tar levels he used to get from real cigarettes while at the same time satisfying his cigarette cravings.

“I want to quit, so lowering the nicotine levels is a good start. I’ve tried the nicotine patches, but it only addresses the physical [need for nicotine]. The e-cigarettes address the oral fixation, the act of smoking. So that’s possibly a good combination,” he said.

Tagged as “revolutionary” and “pioneering” products, these battery-operated plastic devices look like and are used like real cigarettes, except that they give off an odorless mist.

As such, they can be used in airports, workplaces, or restaurants – a definite plus for Morga, who can puff on an e-cigarette at his desk when he feels the need to.

E-cigarettes are charged using a special unit, and are fitted with replaceable cartridges that contain nicotine (but some come without it), flavorings, and propylene glycol which produces the smoke-like vapor.

The products were invented in 2004 by a Hong Kong-based firm.

Not too many places to buy

Since they are not yet available in commercial establishments, these products are usually purchased online or in select stores like Cash & Carry.

“The issue with it is it’s not distributed properly. It’s not advertised, and not a lot of people know about it. There’s a problem of accessibility,” Morga said.

Morga bought his first e-cigarette pack at a franchise show about a month ago. For around P900, he got a battery-charging pack, the e-cigarette device, and 6 vanilla-flavored cartridges. Refills reportedly cost around P300 for 6 cartridges, which, Morga said, can last you for about 15 to 18 days.

SkiNova company’s website www.bestcigarette.com claims to be the best and cheapest online source of electronic cigarettes in the Philippines.

It sells electronic cigarette starter kits for $39 or P1,800 (inclusive of a starter guide and a variety of chargers), electronic cigarette value packs for $64 or about P3,065 (with 50 extra nicotine cartridges), and 10-piece cigarette cartridge sets for $6 or about P290.

While it costs about double the daily amount you spend for regular cigarettes, Morga said the product never fails to draw interest.

“There are a lot of people who saw me smoking it [who] are really interested in buying one. But there’s the issue of accessibility… But I think it’s worth it if you look at it [in the] long-term because you reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke,” he said.

Health concerns

However, the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) recently raised concerns about the product, saying the electronic cigarette isn’t as healthy or “cancer-free” as its retailers claim.

In a laboratory analysis of two e-cigarette samples, the FDA’s Division of Pharmaceutical Analysis found “detectable levels of known carcinogens and toxic chemicals to which users could potentially be exposed.”

These include diethylene glycol (an antifreeze ingredient that is toxic to humans) and tobacco-specific chemicals that are carcinogenic (cancer-causing).

Lab tests also showed that there were nicotine traces in cartridges labeled as having little or no nicotine.

In a statement issued on its website, FDA representatives also noted that quality control measures in e-cigarette manufacturing are nonexistent, and there is no guarantee that the products are safe.

The e-cigarette products sold in the Philippines do not come with a warning label or a list of ingredients, and the Bureau of Food and Drugs has yet to issue an approval.

E-cigarettes have been banned by Israel, Australia, Canada, and Mexico over safety issues, while the US has strictly monitored e-cigarette shipments at its borders.

Despite its potential risks and skepticism among health advocates, Morga said he will continue to use the product as long as he sees and feels the benefits.

“Of course, there are carcinogens and all, but then again, regular smoke has [too]. Walking along EDSA is dangerous to your health [too]. But if you want to quit, it’s not a perfect route, but it’s a possible route. I’m sure in the long run, [the hazards] will be a lot less than smoking real cigarettes,” he said.


© Cbnnews

A government report recommends that the military set a timeline to stamp out tobacco on military bases.
The Institute of Medicine, in a study prepared for the Pentagon, suggests the military:
Stop selling tobacco products in military commissaries and exchanges or, at least, not sell tobacco at a discount.

Treat tobacco use in the same way as other health-related behaviors, such as alcohol abuse and poor physical fitness, which impair military readiness.

Prohibit tobacco use anywhere on military installations.

The report, “Combating Tobacco in Military and Veteran Populations,” said taxpayers coughed up more than $1.6 billion per year on military personnel’s tobacco-related medical care, increased hospitalizations and lost days of work. In 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs spent more than $5 billion to treat veterans with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is strongly associated with tobacco use, the report said.

Nowadays, tobacco use on military bases is limited to places 50 feet from a building. Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base offer tobacco-cessation programs. In December 2002, Fort Bragg complied with a presidential mandate for all military recreational centers to go smoke free or limit smoking to designated, separately ventilated areas.

“I hope they don’t get carried away with it,” said Bruce MacKay, 59, a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War.

“There’s a place for everything.” MacKay said. “One thing will lead to another. Too much interfering with your life. If you stop tobacco altogether, it’s going to be like trying to stop booze. You aren’t going to be able to do it.”

MacKay was one of several military veterans who stopped by Tobacco Road Outlet at Reilly and Cliffdale roads Monday afternoon for tobacco products.

The suggestions could force soldiers to drive off post to smoke a cigarette, someone said. A ban on on-post sales could benefit off-post tobacco shops, someone else added. If you didn’t smoke in the 1970s, you couldn’t take a break, another veteran observed.

“Most people start smoking in their early teenage years,” said Karen Goepfrich, a registered nurse and program manager for tobacco cessation on Fort Bragg. “You can’t really blame the Army on getting people started smoking like they used to. But because of the high-tempo environment, the stress, the long hours, it makes it harder for them to quit.”

Fewer than one in five Americans uses tobacco, but more than 30 percent of active-duty military personnel and about 22 percent of veterans use tobacco, the report said.

“Of greater concern, the rate of tobacco use in the military has increased since 1998, threatening to reverse the steady decline of the last several decades,” the report said. “Furthermore, smoking rates among military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan may be 50 percent higher than rates among nondeployed military personnel.”

Goepfrich said stress management is one of the reasons for tobacco use in the military, especially overseas.

“It’s also the downtime,” she said. “You’re going from being on the go, running 10 miles an hour, high adrenaline, to now it’s time to rest. Unless they have a plan of what to do with their downtime, a lot of them will dip.”

It is difficult to be subtle about cigarettes, especially children and cigarettes. Whatever we can do, as a society, to keep our kids far, far away from smoking is laudable. Unless, of course, these efforts are ridiculous.

Last month, the House of Commons passed an amendment to the Tobacco Act, Bill C-32, that prohibits the sale of individual little cigars and blunt wraps. Little cigars are sold in specialty shops that are, statistically, not popular with the under-25 set. Blunt wraps are rectangular snatches of flavoured tobacco used to wrap loose leaf tobacco or, much more likely, marijuana.

Both are currently illegal to sell to minors.

Once the amendment becomes law, hemp stores like Jupiter on Whyte will be forced to sell blunt wraps in packages of 20–which will cost more than $40. The stated purpose of the bill is to keep children away from tobacco.

“Who’s selling tobacco to minors?” said Tom Doran, a jazz drummer and co-owner with his wife, Denyse, of Jupiter. “How are kids getting them? I’ve never seen kids on the street smoking flavoured tobacco. They smoke cigarettes, if they smoke anything, and we don’t sell cigarettes.”

The amendment was carefully drafted to avoid changing the way large multinational companies like Imperial Tobacco do business;menthol cigarettes, for example, were exempted from the new regulations.

“I feel like big tobacco and the government have colluded just for the photo op,” said Demetra Georganas, co-owner of HBI Canada, a small Vancouver company that distributes blunt wraps to retailers like Jupiter.

“It only hurts family-owned businesses like ours and like Jupiter. But how was anyone going to vote against this, in the House of Commons? It would look like you support children smoking.”

Jupiter is a jolly place, with colourful glass pipes and bongs, and a friendly bull terrier named Brenda. Doran’s very organized wife Denyse is helping to co-ordinate opposition to Bill C-32 nationwide. They already have thousands of signatures, though she admits it’s a lost cause.

“You have to be 18 to buy blunt wraps,” she said.

“End of story. A significant percentage of our customers are 18 to 25, but the highest percentage, by far, of the people buying these products are between 30 and 40.”

Denyse and Georganas both stressed, on Monday, that the real source of cigarettes for minors are those who deal in contraband.

“We’ve been policing this all along for the government,” said Georganas, “and now they’re calling us children’s tobacco pedlars. They’re attacking small businesses instead of going after gangs and hoodlums, and people operating on (native) reservations. Forty-eight per cent of cigarette butts found on Ontario schoolyards are contraband.”

Jupiter staff aren’t allowed to display the blunts; they keep them in drawers. The Dorans opened a package of blunt wraps for me, and the tobacco did smell dreamy. Flavours are boundless, from cognac to blueberry, mojito to lychee to maple syrup.

Health Canada didn’t study the issue, but it does make anecdotal sense that flavoured tobacco would be more appealing to children, or anyone, than tobacco that tastes like, well, a cigarette. But blunts are a tiny percentage of the tobacco market, and it couldn’t be clearer that they’re actually built for the marijuana market.

The amendments to Bill C-32 won’t put Jupiter out of business, but it will hurt the clean little store. Some customers will pay$40 for 20 blunts instead of $2 for one.

But since the law will do precisely nothing to keep cigarettes away from children, it can only be a stealth move to cripple the only legitimate, tax-gathering portion of the marijuana industry.

Marc Emery, the high-profile Vancouver pot entrepreneur who has been sentenced to prison in the U. S. for selling hemp seeds, is stopping in Edmonton this week on his farewell tour. He’ll join his supporters on Thursday afternoon at Beaver Hill House Park at 104th Street and Jasper Avenue.

The Dorans are a much more low-key family of advocates, who agree that children shouldn’t be smoking anything.

If marijuana is ever properly decriminalized, or legalized, taxed and regulated, the Doran family of Whyte Avenue would make a thoughtful team of consultants for the federal government.

But for now, they ought to be left alone.


© Edmontonjournal

Billy’s News and Smoke Shop in downtown Calgary caters to a diverse clientele, from the workers and tourists in nearby towers and hotels, to the teenagers fond of loitering at the adjacent LRT stop. There is tobacco here from around the world, from homegrown staples to imports, and cigarillos tarted up with cherry, banana and licorice flavours.

Ask the kind cashier to sell you some and, if you lack sufficient wrinkles or grey around the temple, she’ll likely ask for proof you’re over 18. Ask her how often this test arises when it comes to selling U. S. cigarettes, such as Marlboro cigarettes, Camel cigarettes and Winston cigarettes, and she’ll tell you, bluntly, it doesn’t. “Only the adults,” she says, seem to have a taste for the famously potent flavour of American Blend tobacco. “The older customers” and tourists.

But a side effect of a new bill aimed at banning tobacco marketed at kids may render most American brands illegal here, as the government races to pass Bill C-32 before MPs and senators recess for summer. That’s stirred warnings from Washington of violated trade deals, at a delicate time when Canada has pressed others to avoid recession-inspired protectionism, such as Washington’s stimulus-spending “Buy American” clause.

The “Cracking Down on Tobacco Marketing Aimed at Youth Act” is the outcome of the Prime Minister’s promise last year to ban fruit or candy-flavoured cigarillos, often sold in small packs, for a few bucks, which he said made them perfect for hooking kids. “These products are packaged as a candy, and this is totally unacceptable,” he said in September. On the way to Parliament, though, the legislation appears to have grown broad enough to sweep up not just kiddy-styled smokes, but some of the roughest-, toughest-tasting U. S. brands, too.

This week, five congressmen and a senator wrote U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton complaining C-32 “unfairly discriminates against U. S. tobacco growers” representing an “unfair assault” on the economy of tobacco-belt states Kentucky and Tennessee. They also wrote our health, industry and trade ministers, cautioning C-32 could “violate several trade agreements,” including NAFTA. American farm, commerce and manufacturing groups are rallying more politicians to protest, while several Canadian counterparts are urging Ottawa to narrow the bill to keep adult-oriented tobacco brands legal, and avert trade trouble.

This may not be what the Conservatives anticipated when they promised to eliminate flavoured smokes. But it’s the bitterness of American “burley” tobacco that has caught it in C-32′s broad parameters. Burley is used in American Blend cigarettes, such as Marlboro and Camel (Canadian manufacturers primarily use Virginia tobacco), its harsh natural taste softened slightly using a tiny dose of sweetener, often chocolate. The taste may be undetectable and packages don’t advertise the sweeteners. “I compare it to lunch meat,” says Roger Quarles, head of Kentucky’s Burley Tobacco Cooperative. “When you bite it, you taste baloney, not the preservatives.” Also, U. S. smokes may be no less healthy than Canadian ones. But in banning “additives that have flavouring properties or that enhance flavours” in cigarettes, Health Canada’s bill makes no exceptions. “We know that the addition of flavours and additives makes them more appealing to youth,” says ministry spokeswoman Christelle Legault. Americans will have to develop new products if they want into our market, where U. S. brands account for just 1% to 3% of sales.
But Liberal MP Joyce Murray, the committee’s vice-chair, wonders if the government was hasty in its eagerness for publicity points. She staunchly favours laws protecting kids, but says Health Canada failed to consult manufacturers, importers and retailers about collateral implications. She says she has yet to see research from the ministry detailing the kiddy-cigarette problem and how C-32 addresses it.

Luc Martial, formerly with the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control and Health Canada, now lobbies for tobacco distributors. He says officials told him they didn’t conduct any specific studies. “We know absolutely nothing,” he says. “But suffice to say that anti-tobacco groups did their job well enough to shock politicians to the point that reason, and common sense and logic no longer matter.” But he believes that since most kids can easily buy any variety of contraband tobacco coming off reserves, and do it cheaply, C-32 doesn’t only open up risks on the commercial and trade front. There’s no certainty, he says, it will solve the very problem it was designed to address.
© Nationalpost

Kentucky burley tobacco farmers and the state’s congressional delegation are seeing smoke over a plan by the Canadian government to ban fruit and bubblegum flavors and other similar additives to cigarettes and cigarillos.

The lawmakers and the roughly 8,100 Kentucky farmers who cultivate burley tobacco say the proposal, designed to curb youth smoking, would result in a ban on American air-cured burley tobacco, which is used to make most of the nation’s cigarettes.

“One of the biggest things it does is it effectively bans almost all flavoring used in products other than menthol,” said Joe Cain, director of national affairs for the Kentucky Farm Bureau. “Where it becomes important to Kentuckians is that American blend cigarettes are about 25 percent burley. Burley gives it texture and body, but it’s bitter and kind of harsh. It needs that flavoring to take the edge off of it.”

Many growers and their supporters feel their industry is under political assault and are still reeling from last week’s congressional passage of legislation that gives the Food and Drug Administration regulatory powers over tobacco.

Lawmakers who voted against allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco and are protesting the Canadian measure include some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from tobacco manufacturers — Kentucky Republicans Rep. Ed Whitfield of Hopkinsville and Sen. Jim Bunning rank fifth and eighth with $218,935 and $194,166, respectively.

The Canadian measure, which that country’s health minister, Leona Aglukkaq, announced earlier this month on the heels of World No Tobacco Day, also requires a 20 pieces per package minimum on cigarillos and an advertising ban in publications generally read by children and young adults.

The Canadian Convenience Stores Association supports the proposal.

Stateside, the measure has lawmakers from tobacco-producing states crying foul.

“While there are reasonable steps that the Canadian Parliament could take to ensure tobacco products such as those with cherry, milk chocolate and banana split flavorings are prohibited, that goal can be achieved without risking the jobs of tobacco growers in the U.S.,” Whitfield, Bunning and Reps. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, Canadian-born Geoff Davis, R-Hebron, Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, and Harold Rogers, R-Somerset, wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

“If other nations were to follow Canada’s lead in banning legitimate products made with burley tobacco, the market for American tobacco could become non-existent outside the United States,” they wrote. “And, since 85 percent of burley tobacco is exported, our growers will be put out of business and their communities will be devastated.”

Members of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, a coalition of growers that includes burley tobacco producers, are also protesting the Canadian measure.

“No less than the future of the burley tobacco growing industry is at stake. If other countries follow Canada’s lead, the market for American-style tobacco products will be nonexistent outside the U.S.,” Wayne Pryor, president of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, said in a statement.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office declined to comment.

According to 2007 figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kentucky ranks second in overall tobacco exports, and the crop pumps $386.4 million into the state’s economy. The state is also home to the nation’s highest percentage of adult smokers, according to 2007 figures from the Centers for Disease Control.

Earlier this month, Whitfield sent a letter to International Trade Minister Stockwell Day warning that the Canadian bill would violate a number of trade agreements with the United States, including North American Free Trade Agreement, and could negatively impact U.S.-Canada relations.

“At a time when our economy is reeling, the last thing we need from our friends and allies is policies that hurt American industries and endanger jobs,” Whitfield said.

People succeed in quitting smoking every day, even habitual smokers who smoke every time they enter their cars, deal with stress, and/or drink a cup of coffee or sip on a beer.

It seems that most quitters, however, let themselves cave when they are at a bar. Or, at least when they are incredibly drunk.

This drinking and smoking phenomenon seems to have affected a lot of people who normally do not smoke, or who have recently ended the bad habit. It’s not a rare occassion to hear, “I only smoke when I drink” statements from friends and strangers in bars and clubs.

Not particularly helping the quitting situation, several bars in Columbus offer outside covered patios for smokers. Patios and smoking areas are convenient for smokers, but they do offer extra incentive to go outside, relax and light up.

Dan Abramson, 23, quit smoking a couple of years ago. An impressive feat, he ended his habit “cold turkey,” with no outside help. There was no looking back.

Before he quit, Dan used to wake up with trouble breathing, feeling as if someone had piled 50 bricks on his chest.

He said his apartment stunk, and so did his clothes.

“I felt nastier, especially in the mornings, and I always had a bad taste in my mouth,” Abramson said.

Not anymore. “I finally realized that it would kill me eventually,” he said.

Abramson was a smoker more than four years. After trying to quit in the past, and failing, he said he knew he had to truly motivate himself to stick with it.

“I tried to quit before, but it would only last a week at most because I had no real motivation to quit,” he said. “Once the weekend came, and I was out and around my friends who smoked, I would go right back to it.”

In the U.S., 80 to 90 percent of those who first try to quit relapse within six months, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Smokers who are trying to quit often face intense cravings to smoke, and have difficulty coping with stress without smoking, according to the American Lung Association.

Abramson and his friends used to joke that, “quitting smoking is easy, I’ve done it a thousand times.”

According to the American Lung Association, smokers who are addicted to smoking may be addicted for many different reasons. Smokers may have a physical addiction to nicotine, the substance found in cigarettes. Another reason could be a psychological addiction to having something in their hands or mouth, or an addiction to a routine that includes smoking cigarettes at different times throughout the day.

Amanda Blake, the wellness coordinator at The Student Wellness Center at The Ohio State University, said sometimes smokers are dependent on smoking in social settings, such as at bars or with friends.

“For some people, it’s the social aspect,” Blake said.

Smoking is not a pretty habit, and it has many harmful effects such as emphysema, cancer, cataracts and the diminishment of general health, according to the 2008 Report of The Surgeon General.

If negative health effects are not reason enough to quit, then the cost for the addiction should be. In Ohio, some cigarette brands are almost $6 a pack. The cost adds up, especially for those who smoke at least a pack a day and are on a college student budget.

Abramson said he was well-aware that he was spending too much on cigarettes.

“One night, my friends and I tried to figure out how much we spent on cigarettes a year, and it ended up being some ridiculous amount,” Abramson said.

As of 2008, Abramson has been nicotine-free, but it has not been an easy change. “It tested my will, and I wanted to prove to myself that I had the power to quit,” he said.

After the first three days without a cigarette, Abramson said he didn’t really want one.

“It was really hard for the first three days, but then I stopped wanting it, and when I smelled people smoking around me I thought it was gross,” Abramson said.

After a couple of weeks, Abramson said he was completely free of cravings.

Quitting cold turkey doesn’t work for everyone. However, if a smoker chooses to use that method to quit, they should pick a date and stick to it, even if their friends aren’t quite as strong.

Quitting for good is not easy, especially when you are a frequent bar-goer. Simply smelling cigarette smoke and seeing people with cigarettes in their hands can be a trigger to smoke, let alone the cravings ex-smokers get after a few drinks of their beers.

Ex-smokers and current quitters who love to go to the bar might have a hard time avoiding bars altogether, but they should make sure to surround themselves with a support network of friends who do not smoke. Ex-smokers need to have extra willpower and support in the summer, when bar-going is more prevalent and more people seem to be lighting up outside.

Stock up on gum, patches and plenty of friends (for social support) before heading to your favorite dive bars or rave-like clubs. Prepare to resist temptation and know how to react when a cigarette is offered. Avoiding bars altogether doesn’t have to be the solution to sticking to a quit, but thorough planning BEFORE heading to a bar is crucial.
Source: Examiner