The Federal Government has fired up its anti-smoking campaign with new national regulations forcing tobacco companies to include large colour photos of diseased and cancerous body parts on cigarette packs.
Previous anti-smoking warnings have proven to be impotent against the ‘evil’ and vicious cycle of nicotine addiction and it seems smokers’ attempts to kick the habit would continue to be futile without these other more strident warnings and bans planned to come into force state by state.
So instead of the tamer text warnings that have become so ubiquitous, smokers are seeing a range of photographs of lung disease cases, tongue cancers and even a dissected brain. As of 1 March 2006, it has been obligatory for these warnings to cover 30 per cent of the front and 90 per cent of the back of the box. The graphics are meant to leave no doubt about what medical experts already know – that smoking kills.
These new regulations are part of a series of recent changes that include the implementation of a nationwide policy of smoke-free pubs as well as other enclosed public spaces.
Tobacco smoking is a serious public health problem. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 17 per cent of Australians aged older than 14 years smoke daily. That’s about 3.4 million people. These people make up our beloved families, friends, neighbours and work colleagues. They commit themselves to a life plagued by lung and heart disease and potentially to cancer of the mouth, colon and every organ in between. Their passive smoke has also been implicated in reduced birth weights, lower respiratory illnesses and chronic respiratory symptoms in children.
Globally, tobacco products are responsible for one in ten adult deaths each year (about five million people). But why do so many still insist on inhaling?
Tobacco is profoundly addictive and the culprit is nicotine. Nicotine addiction is one of the most prevalent addictive behaviours worldwide. The physiological basis for nicotine addiction has been hotly debated for more than 40 years. A current theory proposes that nicotine has a dual response in the body. Initially, it stimulates the pleasure response from the brain but when taken over longer periods, it creates a relaxed state.
Like a double-edged sword, nicotine withdrawal is a painful one, disproportionate to the pleasure often attributed to it. Withdrawal symptoms are time-limited and proportional to the depth of nicotine dependence. They