Jump to full article: whyquit.com, 2009-09-29
Author: John R. Polito, founder of WhyQuit and author of Freedom from Nicotine - The Journey Home
Intro: A rash of recent studies declare the insanity of city and county councils continuing to allow nicotine addiction industry marketing to transform neighborhood stores into subliminal child and teen brainwashing centers. Local elected leaders continue to act as though students are immune from the cumulative weight of thousands of invitations begging them to give nicotine a try, as though experimenting a few times with cigarettes or oral tobacco is normal, expected and can't hurt.
On June 22, 2009, Congress passed and the President signed "feel good," do nothing legislation called the Family Smoking Prevention Act. The Act does vastly more harm than good. . . .
What's most amazing about the dependency onset process, and should probably be considered a symptom, is how rapidly and completely durable nicotine-use dopamine memories bury all remaining memory of what life was like before nicotine took control. Slave to a stimulant that increases the heart rate by up to 17 beats per minute, ask the next smoker you see if they have any remaining memory of the calm and quiet mind they once called home. Ask them to try and recall what it was like to go day after day and not once think about wanting to smoke nicotine.
At some point in the loss of autonomy process the dependency threshold gets crossed. Once hooked, the student may experience an emotional anxiety train wreck when attempting to end nicotine use, as their dopamine deprived brain works vigorously to down-regulate receptor counts and restore natural sensitivities.
How often can a teenager smoke nicotine before losing control? . . .
Clearly, experimentation with that first cigarette is far more gripping than previously recognized. The Surgeon General asserts that nicotine enslaves the same brain pathways as heroin and cocaine. . . .
City and county councils across America have abrogated responsibly for protecting young, gullible and immature minds from a legal industry that, by economic necessity, must lure, entice and hook them. Sadly, evidence of local government's long history of reckless indifference is impossible to miss. Nationwide, 26% of high school students report current use of cigarettes, cigars or smokeless tobacco. . . .
Look closely at the tobacco marketing signs hanging above candy, pastry and chip racks inside neighborhood convenience stores. Do you really think they're hanging there by chance? Here in South Carolina roughly half of convenience stores are engaged in the practice. What subconscious message is delivered to youth when the industry associates cigarettes with candy? . . .
It's time for city and county councils across the land to rise up and move to protect youth from the influence of those who seek to enslave them. Consider an immediate test vote of where council now stands. Simply propose the erection of a billboard on a highly visible public lot that teaches youth a simple yet critical dependency prevention lesson such as, "Don't be fooled by tobacco industry pleasure and flavor advertising. Nicotine is highly addictive and enslaves the same brain pathways as heroin and cocaine. It may only take smoking or using oral nicotine products once or twice before your brain begins begging for more."
Congress, the President and Supreme Court have spoken. It's your job. Other than extremely watered-down cigarette pack health warnings, that should begin appearing by July 2010, don't expect help from Washington. They've handed youth protection to city and county council. Addiction research screams that the time for action is now.
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