Even in small quantities smoking, including second hand, produces immediate damages to one’s lungs and DNA, reads a US official report released on Thursday.
US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin stated that chemicals in the smoke reach the lungs very fast and that the damage from them is immediate. She added that, given the risks, the US should pursue more fervently taxes and bans on tobacco products as well as give more assistance with treatments that can lead to smoking cessation.
She explained that tobacco smoke can also produce damages to the DNA, leading to modifications in the normal cell structure and in many cases to cancer.
The report underlined that tobacco products are designed by the producers to be addictive and, although tobacco companies claim that their new products are safer, they are just as addictive and dangerous to health as the older versions. One in every three persons who try smoking becomes a daily consumer of cigarettes.
The document also pointed out that studies show a yearly death toll of 443,000 people because of health problems associated or caused by smoking, such as lung cancer and heart disease.
Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, said that President Barack Obama made the reduction of smoking on of his priorities and she listed the administration’s efforts in this direction, such as regulation of tobacco products and increased efforts to reduce the number of smokers, including through smoking cessation treatments being included in health insurance plans.
She added that the annual costs caused by tobacco consumption go as high as 193 million dollars in healthcare expenses and reduced productivity.
However, the Center for Disease Control said that, over the past few years, efforts in this direction have been lesser than before. The decade of 1998-2008 saw the number of smokers in the United States drop by 3.5 percent, to 20.6 percent from 24.1 percent of the population.