Final Posting

      Today has been 46 days after my last cigarette. I’ve saved about $230 since I decided to quit. I really enjoyed creating this blog from beginning to end. Even though this was an English assignment, it didn’t really feel like it. I had a lot of fun writing this, finding pictures, and even researching. The statistic from my Introduction post says only 4.6% of smokers succeed in quitting each year. Hopefully I am part of that 4.6%, and continue on to resist these cancer-sticks.

       This being my final post in this blog, I wanted to reflect on the blogging experience as a whole. I really did learn a lot from this blogging unit, and I think it’s an interesting way to learn and teach. I believe that this project was assigned at the perfect time, coinciding with my decision to quit smoking. I really enjoyed this project and found it much more enjoyable to work on a blog than multiple papers. This is one of few English classes that actually engaged my interest and I could write about something that I actually wanted to write about. I think that it turned out really well, and I would recommend this class to my peers, because of this informative, creative, and unique project.  I want to thank everyone that actually read this, as well as my teacher and my family for supporting me through these times.

Britan, I. (Photographer) (2010). Retrieved from

        http://www.freefoto.com/preview/11-49-12?ffid=11-

        49-12&k=No+Smoking

Week 5

          Today, April 29th, 2010, marks the 38th day since I’ve smoked a cigarette. The day that I smoked my final cigarette, March 22^nd, will be a day that I remember for a long time. That day was the start of a new life, that of a non-smoker. I continue to feel improvement mentally, physically, etc. every day that passes by. It has become increasingly easier and easier to resist the urge to light up. The hardest time, for me, was the first week.
              I went to go pick up lunch at a local restaurant that I frequent today. I noticed when I pulled up to the restaurant; there was a car-full of middle-aged women (whom I assume were on their lunch break) who were ALL smoking cigarettes before they went inside to eat! This was surprising to me for 2 reasons, one because I don’t really see older women smoking a lot, especially 4 of them in one car. Secondly, when I did smoke, I prefer to have a cigarette after my meal, not before it. This was of course because of recent anti-smoking legislation; smokers (such as the 4 women in the car) have to resort to smoking before and/or after they eat. Even when I did smoke I didn’t find women smoking attractive. But after I quit, I noticed that I find it more unattractive.
               If you remember my last post with the President Obama cartoon, I talked about the health issues of smoking. I was browsing through the Internet the other day and stumbled across an article that was titled, “Quitting cigarettes increases diabetes risk”. I found this interesting because I didn’t think that quitting smoking had any negative effects. The first line of the article says, ‘FOR smokers under pressure to give up in 2010, it will seem like the ultimate excuse: quitting smoking appears to increase the risk of diabetes.’
             The study says that smokers are on average 30% more likely than non-smokers to develop type 2 or adult-onset diabetes. Now a 10-year study of 10,892 adults has found that in the first six years after giving up, former smokers are 70% more likely than non-smokers to develop the disease. This doesn’t seem too bad, because the chances of getting diabetes after you quit smoking are still better than that of a smoker.
            Hsin-Chieh Yeh and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, found that the risk of diabetes is highest straight after quitting and gradually reduces to that of non-smokers (Annals of Internal Medicine, vol 152, p 10). This is most likely because quitting makes people more likely to put on weight, which is known to increase the risk of diabetes. 

               The results shouldn't discourage people from quitting, but former smokers should gradually increase the amount of exercise they do, suggests Martin Dockrell of the UK anti-smoking charity, ASH. I believe that putting on weight from not smoking is a myth, but regardless, I am still exercising regularly (or trying to).

            
Citations:

(2010). Quitting cigarettes increases diabetes risk. New Scientist, 205(2742), 6.  
           Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Englehart, B. (Artist) (2010) Retrieved from
            http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/8422b6a2-9226-485a-93c2-
            131b84fe9a40.html

             

Visual Rhetoric

            This cartoon portrays how public smoking is becoming ‘extinct’. I believe that the targeted audience, in my opinion, is current smokers. I think that this cartoon could really show smokers how smoking in public is frowned upon almost everywhere you go now days.  A secondary audience would be people who don’t smoke, who are pushing for all of these anti-smoking bills/laws.  The person sending this message is the cartoonist, David Horsey. 
            I believe that this image uses logos, or an appeal based on logic or reason, to connect to the audience. You can tell that the public smoker is following closely behind these animals that have factually gone extinct already. Based on logic and reason the reader can easily tell that the public smokers are going to become extinct very soon. I believe that this cartoon is credible, because of all the anti-smoking legislation coming into affect, especially in Virginia.

            Another appeal used by this cartoon is pathos, or appeal based on emotion. I believe that the text at the top that says, ‘The March to Extinction…’ definitely hits the audience emotionally when they read that. This rhetorical strategy communicates a powerful message to smokers and non-smokers. I believe that the artist isn’t trying to portray his own beliefs onto people, but simply just share with people that public smoking isn’t going to be around forever. People are not tolerating it anymore and it is becoming anti-social. Viewing this from an ex-smoker’s perspective, I can tell you for a fact that current smokers don’t find this cartoon amusing.  

           This cartoon above shows two people who seem to be smoking and drinking inside of a building. Ironically, right next to this couple is a sign that says, “THANK YOU FOR NOT SUCCUMBING”. I believe that the target audience for this message is mainly smokers.  The purpose of the message, in my opinion, is to show smokers that their actions do affect them (via second-hand smoke). The person sending the message is the cartoonist, whom I can’t make out from their small signature. 

            I believe that this cartoon uses logos, or logical appeal to connect to the audience. The reader can logically see the smoke travelling from the inconsiderate couple is hitting this poor, non-smoker right in the face. One can also logically tell that there are cigarettes still burning in the ashtrays next to each of them (producing more, unnecessary, second-hand smoke), and that the couple is drinking alcohol. Now my blog isn’t about alcohol, but we all know that it’s not good for you.
            The cartoon also uses the pathos, or the emotional appeal. For me, the sign that says, “THANK YOU FOR NOT SUCCUMBING”, was the first thing that I noticed in the image. I thought I knew the definition of succumbing, but to make sure I looked it up myself. The definition is to submit to an overpowering force or yield to an overwhelming desire; to give up or give in. I think that this image is credible. There is nothing suspect about it besides the fact that it portrays smokers in a bad manner. It seems as if the person who drew this is a non-smoker who can’t stand people like the couple in the picture.

            To conclude, I wanted to share two other appeals that these cartoons didn’t use. Those are ethos, or the reputation of the speaker. And mythos, the sum total of stories, values, faith, feelings, and roles that make up the social character of a people.  I believe that even though the cartoons that I analyzed above have two different artists, I think that they share the same message that they want to send. The cartoonists use these rhetorical appeals to get their messages to the targeted audience. The message that they’re trying to send is that smoking in public places is a past time. There’s probably not going to be many places in the near future where you ARE allowed to smoke inside. I can definitely connect to these cartoons as an ex-smoker. When I did used to smoke, I was at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. I assumed that because I was outside, I was allowed to smoke… WRONG. Within seconds of me lighting up, a zoo employee came up to me and told me that I wasn’t allowed to smoke outside! This was definitely news to me, as I didn’t think people could be told not to smoke out in the open air. Well, it’s true people; we’re going smoke-free as a country. Even our president is trying to quit smoking.

Citation:

Editorial cartoon: Smoking bans: March to extinction (n.d.). Issues & Controversies.   Facts On File News Services. Retrieved April 9, 2010 from  http://www.2facts.com/article/ic000144.

Week 4

        

          It’s been 23 days since I put out my last cigarette. I just recently passed the 3-week mark (when the nicotine leaves your body completely), and I’m feeling great. I haven’t had any desire to light up at all this past week. The health benefits of quitting are gradual, so I’m continuing to get healthier everyday. You may notice the cartoon of President Obama at the doctor’s office. I thought that for this posting, I would discuss the subject of health effects of smoking.

The fear of contracting lung cancer didn’t make me quit because I believed the risk was rather like walking through a minefield. If you got away with it – fine. If you were unlucky you stepped on a mine.  You knew the risks you were taking and if you were prepared to take the risk, what had it to do with anyone else?

So if a non-smoker ever tried to make me aware of those risks, I would use the typical evasive tactics that all addicts invariably adopt.


1. “You have to die of something.”
Of course you do, but is that a logical reason for deliberately shortening your life?
2. “Quality of life is more important than longevity.”
Exactly, but you are surely not suggesting that the quality of life of an alcoholic or a heroin addict is greater than that of someone who isn’t addicted to alcohol or heroin? Do you really believe that the quality of a smoker’s life is better than a non-smoker’s? Surely the smoker loses on both counts – their life is both shorter and more miserable.
3. “My lungs probably suffer more damage from car exhaust than from smoking.”
Even if that were true, is that a logical reason for punishing your lungs further? Can you possibly conceive of anyone being stupid enough to actually put his or her mouth over an exhaust pipe and deliberately inhale those fumes into his or her lungs?

THAT’S WHAT SMOKERS EFFECTIVELY DO! Think of that the next time you watch a poor smoker inhale deeply on those “precious” cigarettes!

Many doctors are now relating all sorts of diseases to smoking, including diabetes, cervical cancer, and breast cancer. This is no surprise to me.  I truly believe that the greatest hazard that smoking poses to our health is the gradual and progressive deterioration of our immune system caused by this gunking-up process.

All plants and animals on this planet are subject to a lifetime of attack from germs, viruses, parasites, and the like. The most powerful defense we have against disease is our immune system. We all suffer infections and diseases throughout our lives. However, I do not believe that the human body was designed to be diseased, and if you are strong and healthy, your immune system will fight and defeat those attacks. How can your immune system work effectively when you are starving your muscles and organs of oxygen and nutrients and feeding them with carbon monoxide and poisons? It’s not so much that smoking causes these other diseases; rather, it works like AIDS, gradually destroying your immune system.

Allen Carr says in his book, “ One of the great evils about smoking is that it fools us into believing that nicotine gives us courage, when in fact it gradually and imperceptibly dissipates it. I was shocked when I heard my father say that he had no wish to live to be filthy. Little did I realize that twenty years later I would have exactly the same lack of joie de vivre.“

This kind of got me thinking about becoming a father myself. When I read that, I thought about that if I do have children, I want to live past 50 and watch them grow up. Forcing your child to breathe in secondhand smoke is appalling.  There is nothing good that comes from smoking around your children. I feel bad for children when I see parents smoking with them in the backseat or even just walking next to them.  They shouldn’t be subjected to smoker’s decisions. Not to mention the bad example that you’d be setting for your child. Don’t you think they’ll take some of dad’s cigarettes to try them when they get curious? That’s all it takes for them to become hooked.

Although the health risks of smoking tobacco are well established, in Canada the prevalence of smoking among young men remains well beyond that of the general population. Up to 30% of young men aged 20-24 years, and 25% of young men aged 25-34 years reported being cigarette smokers in 2006. Also, 15% of households in Canada reported daily exposure to a smoker in the home, and 9% of children under the age of 12 years old were estimated to be exposed to secondhand smoke on a regular basis in 2006. (Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey 2006)

As men and women enter child-bearing years and become parents, the decision to reduce or quit smoking moves to the forefront of their lives influenced by: (1) the de-normalization of tobacco use during pregnancy for women, and (2) the negative effects of second-hand tobacco smoke on children. Despite much attention on women’s efforts to reduce or stop smoking at this time, less attention has been directed to fathers’ decisions and experiences in modifying their smoking. Researchers reported that fathers who demonstrated better knowledge of the effects of passive smoke on an infant were more likely to have made attempts to quit during the pregnancy.

Analysis of interviews with 20 fathers revealed that men used smoking as an expression of masculinity, portraying themselves as risk takers, resilient to the harms of smoking. Constructions of smoking as a deeply ingrained part of their lives, a source of enjoyment, and as an aid to being a responsible father precluded the men from viewing their partner’s efforts to stop smoking for pregnancy as an opportunity for smoking cessation. Nevertheless, fatherhood challenged men’s freedom to smoke, and prompted them to modify their smoking to minimize its impact on others.

Cultural influences on men to ascribe to traditional masculine ideals which minimize self-care and concern for one’s own health, combined with dominant discourses about fathering that espouse equivalent child-care responsibilities, intersect with a strengthening social climate that promotes smoke-free environments, thereby creating an uncomfortable dilemma for fathers who want to smoke.  Fatherhood and the duties of parenting herald a need to reconstruct alternate male identities that reconcile or reformulate masculine ideals. The time when a man adapts his life and identity to becoming a new father may therefore present an opportune time for the introduction of new ideas and strategies about smoking cessation.

To conclude, I wanted to remind anyone out there who is still smoking that the health benefits of quitting are gradual, just like how we gradually destroyed our bodies by becoming addicted. In 72 hours, your bronchial tubes will relax, and your energy levels will increase. In 2 weeks, your circulation will increase, and it will continue to improve for the next 10 weeks. In three to nine months coughs, wheezing and breathing problems will dissipate as your lung capacity improves by 10%. In 1 year, your risk of having a heart attack will have dropped by half. In 5 years, your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker. In 10 years, your risk of lung cancer will have returned to that of a non-smoker. In 15 years, your risk of heart attack will have returned to that of a non-smoker.

Citations

Carr, A. (2005). The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. New York: Sterling Publishing, pp. 97-107.

Bottorff, J., et. al. (2009). Fathers' narratives of reducing and quitting smoking. Sociology Of Health & Illness, 31(2), 185-200. Retrieved on March 22, 2010 from MEDLINE with Full Text database.

              Picture Citation

Beeler, N. (Artist). (2010). Obama smokes. Retrieved from http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/f20bf6ae-56e3-4c9c-a34a-4919e0109dc2.html.

Week 3

Today is day 16, and I’m going strong. There’s nothing that I can see in my near future that’s going to make me relapse. I have resisted many tempting situations in these past 16 days, but I haven’t caved in. I’m continuing to feel better physically and mentally. I’m starting to notice many teenagers smoking cigarettes. I think that cigarettes are becoming more and more accessible to minors. In my opinion, the local/state governments can be doing more to prevent these cancer-sticks from getting into the hands of our youth. I became addicted to nicotine around the age of sixteen. My friends and I would all go to a certain store to get our tobacco because this store didn’t card anybody. I understand that as a business, you want to make as much money as you can. But from a moral standpoint, this is just wrong. That store was a huge influence on my addiction to cigarettes. If they weren’t so readily accessible, I wouldn’t have become addicted (or at least not at that age).

           Researchers agree that strong intervention measures to teen smoking need to be enacted—and successfully.  For example, CEO Nancy A. Brown of the AHA (American Heart Association) says that State lawmakers have not lived up to their promises to fund and enact more vigorous tobacco prevention programs. In addition, the statement says that 34 states and the District of Columbia had actually cut funding for tobacco prevention programs. Only one state – North Dakota – was funding tobacco prevention programs at the level recommended by the CDC. “State lawmakers have more than enough resources to make a huge difference in their communities,” Brown said in the statement. “Now they must back their promises with real and immediate results.”

           Brown said that proven tobacco control policies have reduced MI “hospitalizations and other chronic illnesses in states that implement these measures.” She also suggested that current regulations and tobacco taxes do not go far enough to help smokers quit. “The battle against tobacco must be fought on several fronts,” Brown said. “Although we’re making progress with smoke-free workplace laws, higher tobacco excise taxes and the enactment of federal legislation to regulate the tobacco industry, we must do more to give smokers the tools and resources they need to kick this deadly habit.”

           The average twenty-a-day smoker spends $100,000 or more in his or her lifetime on cigarettes. What do we do with that money? (It wouldn’t be so bad if we just set light to it.) We actually use it systematically to congest our lungs with cancerous tars, progressively to clutter up and poison our blood vessels. Each day we are increasingly starving every muscle and organ of oxygen, so that each day we become more lethargic. We sentence ourselves to a lifetime of filth, bad breath, stained teeth, burnt clothes, filthy ashtrays, and the foul smell of stale tobacco. It is a lifetime of slavery. We spend half our lives in situations in which society forbids us to smoke (churches, hospitals, schools, trains, theaters, and the like) or, when we are trying to cut down or stop, feeling deprived. The rest of our smoking lives are spent in situations where we are allowed to smoke, but wish we didn’t have to. What sort of hobby is it that when you are doing it you wish you weren’t, and when you are not doing it you crave it?

            Nicotine, a colorless, oily compound, is the drug contained in tobacco that addicts the smoker. It is the fastest addictive drug known to mankind. Every puff on a cigarette delivers, via the lungs to the brain, a small dose of nicotine that acts more rapidly than the dose of heroin the addict injects into his veins. Nicotine is a quick-acting drug. Levels in the bloodstream fall quickly to about half within thirty minutes of smoking a cigarette and to a quarter within an hour of smoking a cigarette. This explains why many smokers average about twenty per day. As soon as the smokers extinguishes the cigarette, the nicotine rapidly starts to leave the body and the smoker begins to suffer withdrawal pangs. 

            There is no physical pain in the withdrawal from nicotine. It is merely an empty, restless feeling, the feeling of something missing, which is why many smokers think it is something to do with their hands. If it is prolonged, the smoker becomes nervous, insecure, agitated, lacking in confidence, and irritable. It is like hunger – for a poison, NICOTINE. Within seven seconds of lighting a cigarette the smoker is supplied with fresh nicotine and the craving ends, resulting in the feeling of relaxation and confidence that the cigarette gives. The whole business of smoking is a series of conundrums. All smokers know at heart that they are fools and have been trapped by something evil. However, I think the most pathetic aspect about smoking is that the enjoyment that the smoker gets from a cigarette is the satisfaction of trying to get back to the state of peace, tranquility, and confidence that his body had before he became hooked in the first place.             

          You know that feeling when a neighbor’s burglar alarm has been ringing all day, or there has been some other minor, persistent aggravation. Then the noise suddenly stops – that marvelous feeling of peace and tranquility is experienced. It is not really peace but the ending of the aggravation. Before we start the nicotine chain, our bodies are complete. We then force nicotine into the body, and when we put the cigarette out and the nicotine starts to leave, we suffer withdrawal pangs - not physical pain, but an empty feeling. We are not even aware that it exists, but it is like a dripping tap inside of our bodies. Our rational minds do not understand it; they don’t need to. All we know is that we want a cigarette, and when we light one the craving goes, and for the moment we are content and confident again just as we were before we became addicted. However, the satisfaction is only temporary because, in order to relieve the craving, you have to put more nicotine into the body. As soon as you extinguish that cigarette the craving starts again, and so the chain goes on. It is a chain for life- UNLESS YOU BREAK IT.




Citations:
AHA: State lawmakers need to do more for tobacco prevention. (2010, February 25).        Hem/Onc Today, p. 42. Retrieved Monday, March 22, 2010 from Academic Search Complete database.

Carr, A. (2005). The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. New York: Sterling Publishing, pp. 38-49.

Picture Citation:

Photograph. (2009). Death Cigarettes. Retrieved April 7, 2010 from http://theafterlifeepitaph.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/deathcigarettes.jpg

Week 2

            Have you ever heard a smoker say it was easy – even enjoyable – to quit smoking? It has been 9 days since my last cigarette. I feel good, actually better than I have felt in awhile. The coughing has almost subdued and I can already start to feel improvement in my lungs.  I had been thinking about quitting for maybe the past 4 or 5 months. I made several attempts, but none have lasted more than 2 or 3 days. I remember an attempt to quit cold turkey on New Year’s Eve, but that lasted until January 2nd.

The main factor that helped me end my addiction was this book, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, by Allen Carr.  His book taught me a lot of things that I didn’t already know and re-inforced things that I did. Carr debunks many of the myths about smoking: smokers enjoy smoking, smokers choose to smoke, smoking is a social habit, smoking relieves boredom and stress, and smoking aids concentration and relaxation. He offers a step-by-step approach to stopping, and reveals how to handle withdrawal symptoms and temptation situations.

The eye-opener that first attracted me to this book was that the author tells you to keep smoking like they usually do while they read the book. I found this peculiar and thought that it must work if he tells you to keep smoking. As I progressed through the book, I became more conscious of each cigarette I  smoked.  I finished it Monday, March 22, 2010. This also happens to be the day I put out my last cigarette.

            The first week was somewhat difficult, but not unmanageable. I have had urges to light up, but I know that this is the nicotine ‘monster’ inside me who is angry because he hasn’t been fed in awhile. After the initial 3 weeks, the actual nicotine should leave my body and that will end the physical cravings.

There is nothing positive that comes from cigarettes at all. I have saved about $60 so far in the twelve days that I’m going on without this habit. I used to throw away $5 everyday towards my addiction. I feel better physically, mentally, etc.  In addition, the ‘sin’ taxes have been going up almost every year on tobacco-related products. In some countries, tobacco is the source of local government income. This is literally , a killer, cash crop.

            
           Thinking about our U.S. obsession with lighting up, we are not the only nation.  For example, China has the largest smoking population in the world – 350 million. Every year, 1 million Chinese die of tobacco-related diseases. China is the largest tobacco producer in the world. During the past 10 years, it’s average annual production of leaf tobacco accounted for 35% of the world’s total. Also, while many industries are seeing a negative impact on business, the Chinese tobacco companies are thriving. Profits allowed the industry to pay $75.13 billion (U.S.) taxes in 2009, a year-on-year increase of 12.2 percent.  In June 2009, the government increased the tax on tobacco. The tax now on category A cigarettes rose from 45% to 56%, and category B cigarettes rose from 30% to 36%. This high-tax policy has transformed the tobacco industry into a major source of tax revenue in China and a backbone for fiscal revenue for some local governments.

             Among China’s top 500 companies in 2009, nine were from the tobacco industry. This industry is one of the few industries in China not open to foreign investors. The tobacco industry is a government monopoly in China, overseen by a supreme management entity. This entity is known as the STMB (State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau), which is tasked with restricting consumption, organizing production, and operation of monopolized tobacco products. According to the STMB, since tobacco products are special commodities and harmful to human health, they cannot be produced and sold randomly. Hence, China will not change its centralized and unified management policy toward the tobacco industry.

            To me, it sounds like China has government-run “population control”. For the government to monopolize the tobacco businesses in China, it seems like they want to control how many people are smoking and/or dying from their own government’s products (while the government makes money). I like how the STMB said that tobacco products cannot be produced and sold randomly, since they are special commodities and harmful to human health. Isn’t alcohol a special commodity and harmful to your health, as well? Why doesn’t China treat alcohol the same as tobacco?

Citations

- Lan, X. (2010, January 28). Tobacco dilemma. Beijing Review, 53(4), 44-45. Retrieved Monday, March 22, 2010 from Academic Search Complete Database. 

Living a Smoke-FREE Life

The purpose of my blog is to help me end my addiction to nicotine. Monday, March 22nd, was the first day in a long time that I have gone without a cigarette. My health is one of the biggest reasons alongside many others for me to end this terrible addiction. Over 400,000 Americans die pre-maturely from smoking cigarettes. This is more people in ONE year than the American death tolls from all of the World Wars combined. I don't want to end up being another "statistic".

I hated the feeling of not being able to 'survive' without a cigarette. I realized that I was addicted to nicotine, when my car was snowed in, and I started to walk to 7-11 at midnight to go get my "fix". Now is the time, not tomorrow, or a year from now, or 5 years from now to quit. There's no advantages of being a smoker, I'm proud to say that I'm done with cigarettes and I don't plan on looking back.

Here's a few interesting facts from TheTruth.com
43.9% of young adults who are college age, but do not attend college, smoke.
25.7% of college students smoke.
15% of college students smoke daily.
Each year only 4.7% of smokers succeed in quitting.
Each year 40% of smokers quit for at least a day.
About 70% of smokers say they want to quit.

Picture Citation
Smith, S. (Creator) Anti-Smoking. Retrieved March 26, 2010 from http://www.buzzvines.com/files/images/Anti-Smoking_0.jpg .