80% of Underage Smokers Were Not Refused When Buying Cigarettes: What Is Hindering Tobacco Control?

Smoking relieves stress, "improved cigarettes" are harmless to health, and smoking once in a while is no big deal... As a smoker, do you often use these claims to comfort yourself? Stop making excuses for smoking. One alarming reality is that China ranks first in the world in seven areas: tobacco leaf cultivation, tobacco leaf purchasing, cigarette output, cigarette consumption, number of smokers, tobacco tax and profit, and tobacco-related deaths. What is holding back tobacco control?

Is occasional smoking harmless? No. There is no safe level of smoking.

On August 25, a provincial training course on smoke-free environment advocacy capacity building and media mobilization opened in Weihai. The program was hosted by the Shandong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and a series of facts about smoking were deeply shocking.

Among smokers, the age at which they encounter their "first cigarette" is getting younger. According to the China Youth Tobacco Survey Report released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 9.4 million junior high school students have tried tobacco products, and one-third of them have already become tobacco users. Among students who had tried smoking, 82.3% first experimented by age 13 or younger. At the same time, 80.5% of cigarette smokers were not refused when buying cigarettes in the past 30 days despite being under 18.

Statistics show that as of 2015, China had 316 million smokers. The smoking rate was 52% among men and 2.7% among women, and smokers consumed an average of 15.2 cigarettes per day.

Smokers usually die about 10 years earlier than non-smokers. At least half of habitual smokers lose their lives to smoking at a relatively young age, and another quarter die in middle age.

Smoking not only seriously harms the smoker's own health, but also causes severe health damage to non-smokers, children, and fetuses through secondhand smoke and thirdhand smoke. The latest research shows that thirdhand smoke can cause DNA strand breaks and gene mutations, leading to cancer and other unpredictable harm. One U.S. study found that even 18 hours after smoking, thirdhand smoke still posed health risks to the body. Because children's immune systems are fragile and they often play and crawl on floors and carpets, thirdhand smoke is even more damaging to them.

Exposure to tobacco smoke in any form is harmful. Even smoking an occasional cigarette or being exposed to secondhand smoke is harmful. There is no safe level of smoking.

Believing that "improved cigarettes are harmless" is self-deception.

"I smoke to ease my emotions and relieve stress and fatigue," many smokers say. There is indeed a scientific basis for this. Experts explain that after nicotine in tobacco reaches the brain, it creates a relaxed and pleasant feeling for the smoker. At the same time, the repetitive act of smoking can also reduce anxiety, which encourages continued smoking. But once nicotine dependence develops, nicotine levels fall when the person does not smoke, causing discomfort and anxiety, and smoking itself becomes a source of negative emotions.

Many types of "improved cigarettes" have now been introduced to the market, such as low-tar cigarettes, light-flavor cigarettes, herbal additive cigarettes, and mild cigarettes, all claiming to effectively reduce the harm of smoking. However, large-scale population studies in China and abroad show that lowering cigarette tar does not reduce the harm cigarettes cause to human health. Even when tar levels are lower, cancer risk does not decline. In addition, smokers of low-tar cigarettes may inhale more deeply and smoke more, which could even increase the incidence of lung adenocarcinoma.

Herbal cigarettes are no different from regular cigarettes in terms of carcinogenicity and addictiveness. The carcinogens and nicotine released by herbal cigarettes are no less than those in ordinary cigarettes. Moreover, because many additives are used in herbal cigarettes, they may pose even greater potential health risks. U.S. courts have ruled that promoting these so-called "improved cigarettes" as less harmful than regular cigarettes constitutes commercial fraud.

Many people reassure themselves by saying, "A lot of longtime smokers never get cancer, and some even live long, healthy lives." Hu Dayi, president of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, said that these are only exceptional cases, not the general rule. It is never too late to quit smoking. Whether young or old, quitting smoking can significantly improve bodily functions.

Completely quitting smoking requires a doctor's help.

When smokers first try to quit, the drop in blood nicotine levels, combined with psychological and behavioral habits, can cause restlessness and irritability. This is known as withdrawal syndrome.

These symptoms are most obvious in the first week after quitting and gradually disappear after three to four weeks, but relapse is very common. Therefore, quitting smoking requires a certain level of medical support. Shandong Province has established national model smoking cessation clinics in six cities including Jinan, and requires all secondary-level and above medical institutions across the province to open smoking cessation clinics to provide medical services for quitting.

Smoke-free legislation in public places is an important means of tobacco control, and this is now widely recognized. At present, smoke-free legislation at the national level in China is being gradually advanced. However, many departments and industries oppose such legislation on the grounds that "tobacco control laws would reduce tobacco sales, decrease fiscal revenue, and affect employment and poverty alleviation." In response, experts believe that tobacco control legislation must place protection of public health above all else, and all public places should be completely smoke-free rather than only partially smoke-free. #p#Page Title#e#

At present, tobacco prices in China are generally low. Raising tobacco prices and taxes could substantially increase government revenue. It is reported that countries around the world impose heavy taxes on tobacco products. In EU countries, the tax share on tobacco generally exceeds 75%, and in many countries it even exceeds 80%. By contrast, China's cigarette tax burden of 56% is not high by global standards and is far below the 75% level recommended by the World Health Organization. Low-priced cigarettes make tobacco affordable to more people.