May 26 2008

The “Gateway” Drugs: Tobacco, Alcohol, Marijuana, and Inhalants

Published by dodo at 1:04 am under Baby, Children, Infant, Parenting

Few children and adolescents start a career of drug use by snorting cocaine or injecting heroin. The path usually begins with products from the corner store—tobacco, alcohol, or household products that are inhaled—or with marijuana, which some mistakenly consider safe.

Tobacco—the smoking gun

No drug habit has a greater negative impact on our national health than tobacco, which is implicated in more than four hundred thousand deaths in the United States each year. The list of disorders caused or aggravated by tobacco is staggering. Among these diseases are cancers of the lung, mouth, vocal cords, and other organs; chronic lung disease; asthma; ulcers; clogging of the vessels that supply blood to the heart and other organs, causing heart attacks, strokes, amputations, and premature deaths. Babies and children who breathe smokers‘ exhaust at home are at risk for respiratory infections, asthma, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

KidsThe vast majority of diseases related to tobacco take their toll later in life after subjects have had years of exposure. So why is adolescent tobacco use such a major concern?

Nicotine is extremely addictive.Nicotine’s hook is set quickly and, once in place, is extremely difficult to remove. Some research indicates that smoking as few as two to four cigarettes during adolescence imparts at least a 66 percent risk for becoming a regular smoker. A few hits of nicotine produce a unique combination of relaxation and alertness, and withdrawal produces unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms. As a result, fewer than 10 percent of smokers can limit their habit to five cigarettes or fewer per day.

Almost every long-term smoker first lights up during adolescence.Nearly 30 percent of any high school graduation class are regular smokers, as are more than 70 percent of their peers who dropped out of school. Over the past two decades, the average age at which tobacco use begins has dropped from sixteen to twelve. The younger one becomes nicotine dependent, the more cigarettes will be smoked as an adult.

A huge amount of money is spent every year to make smoking appear glamorous andexciting.The tobacco industry’s annual multibillion-dollar advertising budget is supposedly intended to encourage adults to switch brands, but the cartoon characters, sexy young couples, macho men, and liberated women in cigarette ads have clearly been shown to influence children and adolescents. Heavy visibility of these ads at sporting and cultural events also sends definite signals that tobacco is hot stuff. Warnings issued in health-education class pale in comparison. In one survey of high school smokers, more than 95 percent were aware of health risks, but 70 percent claimed they were not concerned enough to stop.

Cigarettes keep very bad company.Smoking is associated with significantly poorer school performance and a higher likelihood of sexual activity. Because the use of alcohol and marijuana is significantly greater among adolescent smokers, tobacco is identified as a “gateway” drug—one that increases the odds of using even more dangerous substances. It is the last of these points that should sound the alarm for parents of adolescent smokers. If your teenager is smoking cigarettes, he is eight times more likely to be using illicit drugs and eleven times more likely to be drinking heavily than his nonsmoking counterparts.’

Smokeless (chewing and snuffing) tobacco, which has been made highly visible (and glamorized to some degree) by users who are professional athletes, is not a safe alternative to cigarettes. The use of smokeless tobacco has nearly tripled in the past twenty years, with a dramatic increase among adolescents. A 1990 report published by the Centers for Disease Control included a survey that showed that nearly 25 percent of white, male high school students acknowledged current use of smokeless tobacco. Usage rates are even higher in many Native American populations. Chewing tobacco is clearly associated with damage to the gingiva (the soft tissues surrounding the teeth) and with aggressive cancers of the mouth. Furthermore, both chewing and snuffing deliver powerful jolts of nicotine. A 1993 report from the National Institutes of Health indicates that a typical dose of snuff contains twice the amount of nicotine in a cigarette, while a wad of chewing tobacco contains fifteen times that amount. Needless to say, addiction to these substances is very common, as are withdrawal symptoms when use is stopped.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
The “Gateway” Drugs: Tobacco, Alcohol, Marijuana, and Inhalants

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply

LogoAlexa CounterFeedBurner Counter r();?>