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INTEGRIS Lifespan - Tobacco Myths
Myth #1: Secondhand smoke is harmless.
Exposure to secondhand smoke causes disease and death in nonsmokers. Children are particularly susceptible to its effects.
It is a cause of cancer, heart disease and stroke.
Sources: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1986; National Cancer Institute, 1999; National Toxicology Program, 2001
Myth #2: Secondhand smoke doesn't harm children.
In children, secondhand smoke causes lower respiratory tract infections (bronchitis and pneumonia), with 5-10% of cases requiring hospitalization.
Exposed to secondhand smoke, children have an increased risk of acute and chronic middle ear infections and is a risk factor for new cases of asthma.
Sources: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1986; National Cancer Institute, 1999
Myth #3: Secondhand smoke doesn't harm employees.
Looking at her chest x-ray, Colleen Farris' doctors thought she was a smoker. The Tulsa waitress for 20 years had spots on her lung and nicotine levels 2.5 times higher than employees in smoke-free workplaces.
Source: Tulsa County Health Department, TULSA WORLD
Myth #4: Smoking restrictions in restaurants hurt business.
The tobacco industry misleads restauranteurs with warnings business will suffer if smoking restrictions are implemented.
Sales tax data from 81 localities with smoke-free ordinances consistently demonstrate that restricting smoking has no negative effect on revenue.
Sources: Texas Department of Health, March 21, 2000 "Impact of Clean Indoor Air Ordinances on Restaurant Revenues in 4 Texas Cities"
Myth #5: Expensive ventilation systems are needed to protect the restaurant sales.
Big Tobacco pays ventilation system contractors to quote (significant) prices for restaurants to install separate ventilation systems. This diversionary tactic reinforces the myth that such investment is necessary, should restrictions be enacted.
Source: TobaccoScam.com
Myth #6: Designated "NonSmoking" sections protect nonsmokers.
Unless there's an enclosed and separately ventilated room, "drift" will bring smoke into the "nonsmoking" areas of the building. Even when such a room is provided, employees required to work in this area are still at risk.
Source: Oklahoma State Department of Health
Myth #7: Kids can safely "experiment" with tobacco and not get hooked.
This is how the world's largest tobacco company explains how smoking works:
"Smoking a cigarette for the beginner is a symbolic act. 'I am no longer my mother's child, I'm tough, I am an adventurer, I'm not square' ... As the force from the psychological symbolism subsides, the pharmacological effect takes over to sustain the habit."
Source: Action on Smoking and Health
Myth #8: Prolonged exposure is necessary to put nonsmokers at risk.
Symptoms of heart disease appear in the arteries and bloodstream after only 30 minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke.
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001; 286:462-463
Myth #9: Lung cancer is the only cancer caused by smoking.
Smoking causes 14 cancers. Seven cancers have long been known to be caused by smoking: Lung, oral cavity, esophagus, larynx, pharynx, pancreas and bladder.
But seven new cancers were recently proven to be caused by smoking: Stomach, liver, cervix, uterus, kidney, nasal sinus and myeloid leukemia.
Source: International Agency for Research on Cancer, www.iarc.fr (a branch of the World Health Organization) June 20, 2002
Myth #10: Cutting down to a few cigarettes a day eliminates your health risk.
Just three cigarettes a day is enough to trigger heart disease. Women are particularly at risk.
"Sadly, many young women continue to smoke because of fears of gaining weight, but the health risks from weight gain are minuscule compared to the health risks of smoking."
-- Research manager for ASH (Action on Smoking and Health)Myth #11: Oklahoma's cigarette tax is keeping pace with other states.
At just 23¢ per pack, Oklahoma has the nation's 13th lowest tax (at #37). In 2002, the State Health Department led an unsuccessful to raise the tax.
Higher costs per pack deter tobacco use; cheap cigarettes have the opposite effect -- making them more attractive, especially to youths.
Myth #12: Smoking is strictly a personal issue.
Because of the proven toll it takes on a population's health, productivity and life expectancy, it is not. Because of the $2 billion burden of tobacco-related costs Oklahoma taxpayers must shoulder, because of the pressure it puts on our healthcare system and because secondhand smoke is highly toxic to humans and animals, it is not.
Survival of the fittest still applies -- and tobacco makes any population less likely to survive.