Defeating Smoking Addiction in the General Population

Despite a large number of measures taken to curb smoking among all age groups, authorities in the United States have failed to cut down the number of smokers considerably. Some are beginning to wonder if the fight can be won at all.

Considering the measures taken against the tobacco industry, this becomes a very valid question.

Advertising tobacco on TV is no longer allowed. Taxation is through the roof for cigarettes and related products, and smoking is banned in its entirety from restaurants, some bars, stores and airplanes.

Regardless of these protective measures, an estimated 400,000 Americans meet an untimely demise due to lung cancer brought on by smoking.

Public healthcare experts were hoping that fighting this habit aggressively would yield more tangible results, but thus far they seem to be engaged in a losing battle.

Regardless of the statistics, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Thomas Frieden recently selected fighting tobacco as one of several “winnable battles,” from a public healthcare perspective.

The list also includes teen pregnancy, auto injuries, healthcare infections, poor nutrition, obesity and AIDS, LiveScience reports. About 46 million Americans smoke today, statistics show .

“You get the early gains first, so the people who quit smoking based on initial anti-smoking strategies are not as 'tough' as those who keep going,” says Dr. David L. Katz.

“To a certain extent, we're pushing against a more immovable object,” the expert explains. He holds an appointment as the director of the Yale University School of Medicine's Prevention Research Center.

Recent studies have also revealed that quitting smoking is incredibly difficult from a psychological standpoint, as people tend to experience more and more intense nicotine cravings as time passes.

“It's a very difficult thing, but I think a lot of things can happen from a public policy standpoint that can make this a winnable battle,” says Columbia University assistant professor of clinical psychology Gillinder Bedi.

“What propagates the tobacco market now is that it's actively promoted with large sums of money. It is a poison being sold at a profit, at the expense of our society. It couldn't be more blatant. It should be completely banished from our culture,” Katz concludes.