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Deadly in Pink:
Big Tobacco Steps Up Its Targeting of Women and Girls
New Wave of Cigarette Marketing Targeting Women and Girls
As smoking rates decline in the United States and efforts to further reduce tobacco use increase, the tobacco industry is once again stepping up its marketing of tobacco products specifically to women and girls. In the last two years, Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds. To read more, click here.
Widow of Chain Smoker get $8 Million...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Feb. 19) -
While one Florida jury neared its decision that Philip Morris must pay a smoker’s widow $8 million in damages, another panel was being selected in the same courtroom for the next tobacco case before the same judge. To read more click here.
Doctors Lack Smoking Cessation Training
10.26.08, 8:00 PM ET
MONDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Few doctors or other health-care providers have enough smoking cessation training to help their patients quit smoking, a U.S. study suggests.
It found that 87 percent to 93 percent of doctors and other health-care workers receive less than five hours of training on tobacco dependence, and less than 6 percent know the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) treatment guidelines for tobacco dependence, including the signs of nicotine withdrawal. This lack of knowledge about treating tobacco dependence may affect quit rates among smokers, suggested lead researcher Virginia Reichert and colleagues at the North Shore-LIJ Health System Center for Tobacco Control in Great Neck, N.Y.
They surveyed 322 prescribers (physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants) and 278 nonprescribers (pharmacists, registered nurses, social workers, counselors, respiratory therapists, and students).
The researchers found that 87 percent of prescribers and 93 percent of nonprescribers received less than five hours of tobacco-dependence training. Only 6 percent of prescribers and 5 percent of nonprescribers knew the AHRQ treatment guidelines for tobacco dependence.
The study also found only 16 percent of prescribers and 8 percent of nonprescribers knew which U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved medications were over-the-counter and which required a prescription.
The findings were to be presented Monday at the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) annual meeting, in Philadelphia.
'Without appropriate training in tobacco dependence treatment, health- care providers may lack the knowledge and confidence to help their patients quit smoking,' Reichert said in an ACCP news release. 'Furthermore, providers may not recognize that tobacco dependence is a chronic relapsing condition and become frustrated when patients do not quit when advised to do so.'
Previous studies have found that about 70 percent of smokers want to quit but believe it will be too difficult without assistance, and that smokers are 30 percent more likely to kick the habit if they receive help from their health-care provider.
More information
The American Cancer Society offers advice about quitting smoking.
You Can Quit Smoking
Five Common Myths About Quitting Smoking
Five myths still exist about quitting. You can get the facts here.
Myth 1: Smoking is just a bad habit.
Fact: Tobacco use is an addiction. According to the U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline, Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, nicotine is a very addictive drug. For some people, it can be as addictive as heroin or cocaine.
Myth 2: Quitting is just a matter of willpower.
Fact: Because smoking is an addiction, quitting is often very difficult. A number of treatments are available that can help.
Myth 3: If you can’t quit the first time you try, you will never be able to quit.
Fact: Quitting is hard. Usually people make two or three tries, or more, before being able to quit for good.
Myth 4: The best way to quit is “cold turkey.”
Fact: The most effective way to quit smoking is by using a combination of counseling and nicotine replacement therapy (such as the nicotine patch, inhaler, gum, or nasal spray) or non-nicotine medicines (such as bupropion SR). Your health care provider or smoking cessation clinic is the best place to go to for help with quitting.
Myth 5: Quitting is expensive.
Fact: Treatments cost from $3 to $10 a day. A pack-a-day smoker spends almost $1,000 per year. Check with your health insurance plan to find out if smoking cessation medications and/or counseling are covered.
For More Information
To get a free copy of other consumer products on quitting smoking, call any of the following toll-free numbers:
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 800-358-9295.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 800-CDC-1311
- National Cancer Institute, 800-4-CANCER
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CFAHEC Tobacco Program
