Know Thy Self

This quote's sentiment can be important in quitting tobacco. It takes knowing yourself and why and when you smoke to be able to quit. In December I suggested writing in a journal, which I think is a good way to learn about yourself. This can be especially helpful when you delve into stressful situations and explore how and when you turn to tobacco.

There are also routines and rituals that are part of using addictive substances like tobacco. These can be times that a person always uses tobacco, an example of this would be after dinner or while talking on the phone. It can also be the routines used when smoking, how a cigarette is held, lit and smoked. These are all routines that are comforting and used to emotionally satisfy.

Many people think of cigarettes or tobacco as their best friend. It seems to meet emotional needs and to reduce stress. The relationship a person has to smoking needs to be explored before it can be stopped. It helps to explore your need for tobacco; the physical and emotional addictions that often coexist and make quitting difficult.

I encourage you to think about, write about and talk about the ways that tobacco meets needs in coping with stress, routines that are comforting, and thoughts about when smoking is most important to you. When you know more about all of these things then you will be able to find other ways to handle stress and develop other comforting routines. Defining why smoking is important to you helps clarify what you need to do to quit and helps you also clarify why quitting is important to you. Know Thy Self and to Your Own self Be True.

What is in Cigarette Smoke?

We know that cigarettes have around 4,000 ingredients. Here is a partial list of some of these substances found in cigarette smoke. Here is a partial list of some of the identified chemicals in cigarette smoking, and their common uses:

Acetone - nail polish remover
Ammonia - floor/toilet cleaner
Arsenic-rat poison
Acetic Acid - hair dye
Benzene- Rubber cement
Butane-cigarette lighter fluid
Cadmium-Rechargeable batteries
Carbon Monoxide-Car exhaust fumes
DDT-Insecticides
Ethanol-Alcohol
Formaldehyde- used to embalm bodies
Hexamine- Barbecue lighter
Hydrazine- Jet and rocket fuels
Methane- swamp gas
Methanol- rocket fuel
Nepthalene- moth balls
Nicotine- insecticide
Nitrobenzene- gasoline additive
Nitrous Oxide Phenols-disinfectant
Phenol-plastics
Polonium-dangerous radiation
Stearic Acid-candle wax
Toluene-industrial solvent
Vinyl Chloride-garbage bags & PFC2

Known Cancer causing agents:
B-Napthylamine Nickel
Benzp(a)pyrene Nitrosamines
Cadmium Nitrosonornicotine
Crysenes Polonium 210
Dibenz Acidine Toluidine
Urethane

Chemicals that Increase the Risk of Birth Defects:

This list is the MOST important list for the pregnant and new mom's who read this blog. I know you'll want to protect your baby from these poisons!

Acrylonitrile Arsenic
Benzene Butadiene
Cadmium Carbon Monoxide
Chromium Copper
DDT/Dieldrin Formaldehyde
Lead Magnesium
Mercury Nickel
Styrene Titanium
Toluene Vinyl Chloride

Metals:
Aluminum Gold
Copper Lead
Magnesium Mercury
Silicon Silver
Titanium Zinc

Information on this sheet is adapted from research available from the National Cancer Institute: http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact3_9htm

FDA Orders Tobacco Companies to Disclose Cigarette Ingredients

The FDA has told cigarette companies they must provide detailed information on their products by June. The FDA will then begin studying the composition in detail. They also must give the FDA any research they have conducted on the effects of cigarette ingredients. It is time to regulate this industry, we know that cigarettes are deadly but it is time to learn what additives increase the risk of smoking tobacco.

I recently spoke to a group of cigarette smokers and most of them were unaware of the ingredients of cigarettes. I gave a list of ingredients often found in cigarettes and they were surprised and sickened about what they were bringing into their lungs. They asked why the government wasn't looking our for smokers, wasn't it important for them to smoke cigarettes that were as safe as possible. They also wondered what all of the additives were put there for. The tobacco companies want cigarettes, and other tobacco products to be as addictive as possible, they also want them to burn evenly and have a pleasing flavor. They have spent millions of dollars researching ways to make cigarettes more addictive, and to manipulate the end product in ways that will make them more marketable and will sell more cigarettes. It is time for the government to act as a watchdog on these companies so that the ingredients aren't making these products even more deadly. I agree with these smokers, it is time that the government take responsibility in finding out what is in cigarettes and as they learn what ingredients or combination of ingredients make cigarettes more deadly that they limit or eliminate ingredients that add even more harm than just the burning tobacco does. This group of smokers had just assumed that this was being done, it is time for it to happen and I am glad that the FDA has taken on the challenge. Lawrence R Deyton, the director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, as been quoted as saying, "Tobacco products today are really the only human-consumed product that we don't know what's in them." It is time to study what is being consumed, the ingredients that we do know about are deadly and I hope that many of these additives will be eliminated.