Since 1984, on the second Wednesday of March every year, National No Smoking Day is celebrated. It aims to help smokers who want to quit, encouraging them to refrain from smoking for one day, taking a step in the right direction to quit for good. It’s also promoted as an opportunity for people to offer their support to their loved ones who are addicted to nicotine and are trying to give up. Although the campaigns have been well received and many have successfully quit subsequently, should we be doing more to promote a smoke-free society? How much of an impact can one day have on someone trying to quit?
An unhealthy obsession
When tobacco first arrived in Europe after being discovered during the conquest of the Americas, rather amusingly people considered it to have health benefits. It’s worth noting these are the same people who were very sceptical of potatoes. By the 1660s the consumption of tobacco was widespread throughout the continent and it was even promoted during the Great Plague of 1665, hailed as purifying the bad air causing illness.
We have managed to come a long way since then, considering no one was lighting up to protect against the Coronavirus. Smoking, however, remains the number one cause of preventable deaths worldwide. The NHS estimates that around 78,000 people in the UK die yearly, with many more suffering from smoking-related illnesses. 70% of lung cancer cases are linked to smoking. But it’s not only the lungs that are affected; it can cause cancer of the mouth, throat, and oesophagus (to name a few), damages your heart and blood circulation, and reduce fertility in both men and women. These are just some of the most horrifying facts about the dangers of smoking, but there are numerous.
These facts aren’t like Christmas Trees or Jack-O-Lanterns, they don’t just appear o for this one day of the year and then get forgotten about. Every single packet of cigarettes warns of the hazardous effects and yet, people still smoke? Smoking is highly addictive. Nicotine, a chemical in cigarettes, can alter the chemicals of the brain, making the smoker feel happier. The gratification is instant and people feel relaxed, and in a better mood. However, dependence on these nicotine hits can lead to people becoming relying on them, meaning when they go too long without them, it has the opposite effect, leaving them agitated and irritable. The reality is, people aren’t going to quit overnight in most cases because it is very difficult. So perhaps one day of encouragement isn’t sufficient in our fight for a smoke-free society, maybe we should be doing more.
Are we doing enough?
One of the most common control measures to reduce tobacco consumption is high taxation on tobacco products. According to the 2015 Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic by the World Health Organization, “tobacco tax increases are the single most effective policy to reduce tobacco use”. It deters people from taking up smoking, and it often results in a decrease in the quantity consumed by those who already smoke. High tax can also be used by the government to invest in a country’s health infrastructure and to provide health care to people suffering from smoking-caused illnesses, like lung cancer. The extortionate prices however don’t always put people off and there is always the risk that without proper support to beat substance dependence, some might turn to cheaper, often illegal, substances, which can be equally as harmful to their health in order to get their dopamine hit. Perhaps some of the money from tax should be invested into nationwide strategies to quit, as preventative measures are always better than curative.
Another radical approach that has been put forward is to make the sale of tobacco illegal. New Zealand has proposed that anyone born after 2008 will not be able to buy cigarette or tobacco products in their lifetime. It is a move that has aroused split opinion. On the one hand, some think that this is the correct step to protect younger generations from the harmful substances that are in highly addictive cigarettes. On the other, some are fearful that this will spark an influx in the sale and consumption of illegal cigarettes. This could potentially lead to an increase in gang violence and more smoke-related illnesses since cigarettes and other tobacco products wouldn’t be regulated.
Do you really need a day to quit?
If you’d had asked me a year ago whether a day would be enough to persuade someone to kick their smoking habit I probably would have laughed and said absolutely not. And that was my opinion as a smoker. Don’t get me wrong, every year I loosely set the target at the start of the year to quit or I would perhaps consider cutting down every now and again, but I thought: I’m in my 20s, I wouldn’t consider myself a heavy smoker, I’ll quit when I’m older, it’ll be fine.
My 2022 New Year’s Resolutions were the same as every year, with vague intentions of ‘quitting’, meaning going back to social smoking without a plan or any real drive or desire. On the eve of December 31st, however, something happened that forced me to take it a bit more seriously. Just before walking out the door to ring in New Year’s Eve, two little red lines appeared on my lateral flow test, and after two years of avoiding it, the time had come. I had finally got it; Corona. Thankful the symptoms were mild, but I had them all. Cough and sore throat included. To be completely honest, two symptoms I have experienced on and off over the past two years without having had Covid. I wonder what could have caused that. Hmm.
During isolation, I didn’t smoke. Partially to avoid aggravating my throat or chest but mostly because I only had two cigarettes left. Unable to leave the house, I had to ration them for an ‘emergency’, a bad craving despite my lungs feeling like they were filled with concrete and my throat with sawdust.
When I finally recovered and smoked my first cigarette after 10 days, I thought to myself: ‘Wow… disgusting.’ The taste was vile. How had this once been something I looked forward to, I wondered? I thought back on all the times I had used my nicotine dependence as an excuse to go outside and get some fresh air (and yes, I did believe that at the time). Had I become dependent on the substance or just the habit of having five-minutes to myself when I got stressed or needed a pick me up? Corona was the ‘reset’ I needed to prove to myself that smoking wasn’t actually something I liked doing. To this day, I still have the last cigarette sitting in the pack in my apartment.
So, is one day enough to really help encourage smokers to quit, if extortion costs and banning smoking in public places aren’t working? Maybe not, without the correct support networks in place. But maybe, just maybe it will be enough, to prove to those who want to quit that they are stronger than their habits.
Quitting smoking is a long-term investment into your health. Speaking to an expert can often be a helpful. Top Doctors helps you find the best specialists in your area, who can help you quit for good.