When it comes to smoking, we have all seen the disturbing facts and figures. One in three cancers is attributable to tobacco. Tobacco kills one in five Americans and is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in California. In one year alone, smoking caused over 37,000 deaths in California. These deaths also have a major economic impact, resulting in lost productivity costs of more than $8 billion. Tobacco kills more Americans than AIDS, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, homicides, suicides, car accidents and fires combined.
In days past, smoking used to be called a habit. But that term does not reflect the reality of nicotine addiction for California’s four million smokers, nearly 11 percent of whom are Asian (Asian adult men smoke at a rate of 15 percent, while the smoking rate of Asian adult females is 5 percent. Specific Asian groups have higher than the general population smoking rate of 13.3 percent: Filipino males have a 23.7 percent smoking rate, Cambodian males smoke at 24.6 percent, Vietnamese males smoke at 31.5 percent and Korean males smoke at 35.9 percent). Research on the brain shows that smoking causes chemical changes that create a vicious cycle of cycle of craving, smoking, calming and craving. Within hours of the last cigarette, withdrawal symptoms of anxiety, depression, restlessness, irritability or aggression, and craving for nicotine. Addiction experts tell us that quitting smoking is just as hard, if not harder, than quitting heroin or cocaine. In addition, Asians are less likely to receive smoking cessation counseling from physicians.
Thankfully, the public is fed up with the tobacco industry and new laws have been put in place to ban smoking in the workplace and in eateries. But these are only first steps. The time has come for policymakers and the media to see the merits of helping those who are addicted to nicotine break free from their addiction.
A recent study by the President’s Cancer Council concluded that tobacco cessation services and medications should be a standard part of all health insurance. Researchers say that counseling or drug therapy or a combination of both help people quit smoking and remain smoke-free. And according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, helping people quit is one of the most cost-effective health care benefits available. But still not enough employers or government health care programs provide the coverage.
Helping people quit is too often ignored as attention is paid to efforts such as taxing cigarettes and banning smoking in cars or in public places, which tend to stir up anti-tax and freedom issues. Also, the problem with helping people stop smoking is they often relapse. Nicotine users typically try to quit and fail at least six times.
National guidelines recommend comprehensive smoking cessation benefits to help smokers through this long process. These benefits include: both counseling and FDA-approved medications, including prescription and over-the-counter cessation aids, at least four counseling sessions of at least 30 minutes, and the elimination of co-pays and deductibles for treatment.
In California, smoking cessation is part of the Medi-Cal program, but not enough doctors and patients know about the benefits. Assembly Bill 595 (Dymally) would give doctors and patients the information necessary to expand these benefits and would make Medi-Cal offer counseling and/or all FDA-approved smoking cessation medications.
We are doing a great deal to prevent people from starting to smoke and to stop people from smoking in public places. Now is the time to help those that do smoke to quit, once and for all.
If you smoke, find out more about how to quit by calling the California Smokers’ Helpline, which offers a free confidential service to anyone who wants help quitting smoking.
» Mandarin & Cantonese: (800) 838-8917
» Korean: (800) 556-5564
» Vietnamese: (800) 778-8440
» English: (800) NO-BUTTS (1-800-662-8887)
Roxanna Bautista is the chronic diseases program director at the Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum.