Stubstance Abuse

After exploring the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website I decided to click on the link the stated Cigarette Smoking Decreases among all Adults except those aged 26 to 34. This tittle caught my attention; for one the age stated is my age bracket, and also I found it hard to believe that smoking is really decreasing. I’m personally not a fan of smokers, I have a long list of relatives who are smokers and to find out that there may be hope for them I had to read more on it.

The data shows how the smoking rates decreased between 2002 and 2011 for adults 18 years old and above except for the adults in the group 26 to 34. There are a few ways data is collected; this specific data was collected by administering a questionnaire to representative’s sample of the population through face to face interviews at their place of residence. The data use is to help us better understand the extent of health risk behaviors, preventive care practices and the burden of chronic diseases.

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States. What surprised me the most is how harmful the effects of smoking do not end with the smokers. Nonsmoking such as myself are exposed to secondhand smoke. Even brief exposure can be dangerous because nonsmokers inhale many of the same poisons in cigarette smoke as smokers. I first learn how secondhand smoke can be just as dangerous when someone I knew died of lung cancer and she never smoke a day in her life.

Research has documented the effectiveness of laws and policies to protect the public from secondhand smoke exposure by promoting the termination. For example, states have increased the unit price of tobacco products. Some states implement smoke-free policies, regulations, and laws. The state of Illinois is one state who implements the smoke free polices. There is no smoking in a public place at all. I personally think all states should implement this rule....