Decide Guide

Parts of the body affected by tobacco use

WHAT’S IN CIGARETTES, VAPES & SMOKELESS TOBACCO?

There are about 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When burned, they create 7,000+ chemicals. Ingredients vary across vape devices and smokeless tobacco, however, many contain toxic chemicals and metals.

Most people know cigarettes, vapes & smokeless tobacco are harmful, but don’t know exactly what’s at risk.

Smoking

Smoking can cause serious health problems like cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and stroke.

Things in tobacco smoke that cause damage:¹

• Nicotine: Narrows blood vessels, speeds heart rate, and makes blood thicker, which can cause clotting

• Carbon monoxide: Cuts oxygen flow to the heart, brain, and other tissues

• Tars: Solids that can irritate and damage organs

Other health concerns

• Cough and phlegm: Coughing and breathing problems from mucus build-up

• Fertility: Decreased fertility in women and men

• Impotence: Not able to get or maintain an erection (erectile dysfunction)

• Healing: Wounds take longer to heal

• Immune system: Harder to fight sickness

Vaping

Scientists are still learning about the long-term health effects of vapes. Here is what we know now. Source: CDC.gov

Vapes are not safe for youth, young adults or pregnant women. Vape aerosol that users breath from the device and exhale can contain harmful substances including:

• Ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs

• Flavoring such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to a serious lung disease

• Volatile organic compounds

• Cancer-causing chemicals

• Heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead

Chew

Chew contains at least 28 chemicals that can cause the following health problems:

• Cancer of the mouth, tongue, cheek, gum, throat and pancreas.

• Mouth Lesions. About 3 out of 4 daily smokeless tobacco users have leukoplakia, white patches in the mouth that can cause cancer.

• Heart Disease. Nicotine in chew can make heart rate and blood pressure go up, which can lead to heart disease.

• Gum Disease. Even with regular dental care, chew can cause tooth loss, receding gums, stained teeth and bad breath.

• Cavities. Chew contains a lot of sugar that can weaken teeth and cause cavities.

Health Risks for those Around You

Tobacco smoke, vape aerosol, and smokeless tobacco all contain chemicals that are harmful to pregnant women and young children. There is no risk-free level of secondhand exposure to these products.

Tobacco Smoke

Over half of California’s kids are exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke, which contains about 70 cancer-causing chemicals. ¹

If you smoke around infants and young children, the risks go up for:

• SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) – infants are three times more likely to die of SIDS if born into a house with smokers.
• Illness – secondhand smoke can cause ear infections, asthma, pneumonia, and bronchitis.
• Learning problems

If you smoke when pregnant, the risks go up for:

• Preterm labor – can cause baby to be born early and too small
• Low birth weight – baby is born less than 5 lbs 8 oz and can have trouble with eating, gaining weight, and fighting off illness
• Less oxygen – slows growth and harms the heart, lungs, and brain
• Placenta issues – baby can’t get enough food to grow
• Birth defects – can include a cleft lip or palate
• Miscarriage – pregnancy loss before 20 weeks
• Stillbirth – pregnancy loss after 20 weeks

Vapor or Aerosol

Vaping is on the rise, especially among youth. The U.S. Surgeon General states that while vapes generally emit fewer toxic chemicals than cigarettes, the aerosol that is emitted from these devices is not just water vapor. Most is a mixture of nicotine, tiny particles of heavy metals, and chemicals. Vape aerosol, like cigarette smoke, contains ultrafine particles, which settle deeply into the lungs when inhaled by people using it or near it.²

Vapes contain e-liquid that comes in thousands of flavors, many of which appeal to kids, like bubble gum and grape. These sweet flavors may tempt kids to drink the e-liquid or put vapes in their mouth.

Let’s take a look at why it’s so tough to kick the habit.

When you smoke or vape, nicotine enters the bloodstream and reaches the brain within seconds. Nicotine causes a release of “feel good” chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters.

The problem is, after repeated nicotine use, the brain becomes used to the increase in neurotransmitters. This is when you start to use nicotine just to feel normal.

When you take nicotine away, the brain doesn’t get the neurotransmitter activity it’s used to getting. This causes discomfort. For some people it results in irritability, sadness, depression, and other withdrawal symptoms.

Just as the brain learns to respond to nicotine, it can learn to respond to different cues—it can learn other ways to make you feel good without addiction and dependency. For some, this means eating healthy meals, meditating, listening to music, or getting more physically active. What will it mean for you?

Check Your Motivation: Make a Pros & Cons List

Identify your reasons to use and your reasons to quit. Looking at both sides and writing down reasons for each will allow you to see which way you’re leaning.
It’s not how many reasons there are, but how meaningful those reasons are to you. You can decide whether your motivation is strong enough by considering the pros and cons.

COMMON REASONS TO QUIT

You may have strong reasons to quit, but you may not think you can do it. It’s important to build your confidence.

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably thinking you will quit sometime—maybe even soon.

At the same time there may be lots of reasons to put it off. Many people worry about being around other people who use, and how they’ll handle stress, irritability or withdrawal. Here are some things to consider so that these situations don’t get in the way of your decision to quit.

Other people who smoke, vape or chew

• Prepare for this. Tell others about your plans to quit, asking them in advance not to use around you.
• Make your house and car tobacco-free zones.
• Walk away for a bit if you’re feeling tempted by other people who are using. Remind yourself why you chose to quit. You can be a positive example for other people.

Mood/Stress

• Remind yourself that using doesn’t really help. It may make you feel okay in the short term, but it doesn’t solve any problems.
• Talk about it. Before the situation gets too big, talk with someone about how you feel.
• Know that it gets better. Mood generally improves within the first week or two of quitting.

Withdrawal

• Although it may not seem like it, withdrawal is mostly a good thing—it’s a sign that the body is getting healthier and becoming free of toxins.
• Symptoms can last 2-4 weeks, but usually peak soon after quitting.
• Keep in mind that some people have no withdrawal symptoms.
• If you’re concerned about how withdrawal might affect you, it’s a good idea to talk with your doctor. You may want to consider Quit Aids to help reduce withdrawal symptoms.
• Expectation and preparation can play a role in how severe withdrawal is and how long it lasts. Believing that withdrawal is manageable, and being ready with coping strategies, will help you get through the tough spots. Here is a list of some possible withdrawal symptoms:

Putting together a solid plan before you try to quit is important.

You can make a plan by thinking about the challenges you’ll face when you quit and how you’ll deal with them.

Predict trigger situations.

• When you think of quitting, what situations will be most difficult?
• For each day in a full week, predict the times you’re most likely to have cravings.

Find coping strategies.

• What will help you get through your trigger situations?
• Figure out specific strategies for specific situations. What will you do instead of using when you’re stressed, or first thing in the morning, or when you’re driving? Determine a strategy (or strategies) for each trigger situation.
  

Practice.

• Try out your plan before you quit.
• For situations where that is not possible, imagine yourself doing what you planned.
• Click here for a pre-quit-day checklist.

Quit.

• What will you do on your quit day?
• Put your plan into action: use the strategies you’ve prepared to handle the difficult situations that come up. Repeat.

How do you stay quit?

• Repeat your strategies each day when they are working. Adjust your strategies when something isn’t working.
• Keep doing the same things for a full week. Repeat this pattern until it feels natural.