LETTER: Best tobacco addiction cure is prevention
November 19, 2011 at 5:23 pm in Grand Forks Herald
The best cure for an addiction is prevention. The more we can get the word out about the harmful effects of smoking, the better-educated people are in making the decision to not light up in the first place. Continue Reading
Dr. Rice,
While I agree with much of what you say, I disagree that with enough education people will make better choices. Unfortunately history has proven the classical belief that with enough education mankind will cease his/her folly and become “good.”
You will find no argument from me in regards to a baseline education laying out clearly and unambiguously the facts: IF YOU CHOOSE TO SMOKE YOU ARE CHOOSING TO DIE. Short, sweet and to the point. It is very similar to the message we give regarding promiscuous and unsafe sex practices: IS SLEEPING WITH THIS PERSON WORTH YOUR LIFE?
Beyond the basics education becomes largely preaching to the choir. Once people know and understand smoking is one of the leading causes of premature death,they either believe it and act accordingly or choose to ignore it; virtually guaranteeing their demise.
You cannot educate or legislate common sense or morality. As a society (Judeo-Christian) and a country (Prohibition) we have tried and failed.
Rather than spending money on a level of education that is no longer affective (hit the basics hard as early as pre-school and continue throughout the school age and adolescent years), we need to concentrate on holding people accountable for their behavior.
If you choose to smoke (if you can choose to quit your behavior is a choice) YOU WILL pay more for your healthcare. The same can be said for alcohol or any of the other social ills we as a society choose to partake in.
Addiction is a complex and intractable problem. Education is part of the solution but unfortunately only a small part. Almost all smokers know what they are doing is bad for their health. Alcoholics and drug addicts are the same. Have you ever met a drunk who honestly believes their life is better because of alcohol?
The problem is not education.
As a society we are more comfortable with blaming the supply rather than the demand. Holding drug dealers and tobacco companies responsible for the problems their substances cause is easier than looking in the mirror or holding loved ones responsible for their actions.
As healthcare providers we too often feed into the victim mentality that enables these behaviors. This does no one, the patient or society any good.
Basic education is vital. Beyond that it is a waste of resources. Resources that could be better spent curbing the demand.
In the war on drugs we have found locking up the dealers is useless. Economics 101: Whenever a demand exists a supply will arise to fill that demand. If we as a country are serious about ending the drug epidemic in our country, we would stop locking up dealers and start locking up users.
The same is true with alcohol and tobacco. Blaming the supplier is easier, but ineffective. The problem is not the supply but the demand.
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My apologies. I wrote this on an iPad (very difficult to edit). There are several glaring grammatical and word choice errors. No more editorializing without putting it down on Word first.
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