PARTY DRUGS

TOBACCO

• Tobacco is a green, leafy plant that is grown in warm climates. After it is picked, it is dried, ground up, and used in different ways. It can be smoked in a cigarette, pipe, or cigar. It can be chewed (called smokeless tobacco or chewing tobacco) or sniffed through the nose (called snuff).

Nicotine is one of the more than 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes and its smoke. It is the chemical that makes tobacco addictive or habit forming. Once we smoke, chew, or sniff tobacco, nicotine goes into our bloodstream, and our body wants more. The nicotine in tobacco makes it a drug. This means that when we use tobacco, it changes our body in some way. Because nicotine is a stimulant, it speeds up the nervous system, so we feel like we have more energy. It also makes the heart beat faster and raises blood pressure.

SMOKING RATES

• Male-14.4%
• Female-12.1%

DEATHS BY TOBACCO

• Tobacco smoking is one of the largest causes of preventable illness and death in Australia. Research estimates that two in three lifetime smokers will die from a disease caused by their smoking. The most recent estimate of deaths caused by tobacco in Australia is for the financial year 2004–05. Tobacco use caused a total of 14,901 deaths in that year. 



ILLNESS & DISEASES

• Cancer
• Heart disease
• COPD
• Chronic bronchitis
• Strokes
• Peripheral vascular didease
• AAA
• Type 2 diabetes
• Peptic ulcer disease
• Lower fertility (females)

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• Low bone density
• Periodontists
• Respiratory symptoms
• Faster decline in lung function
• Impaired lung growth
• Problems during pregnancy & childbirth (females)
• Erectile dysfunction

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• Tuberculosis
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Worsening asthma

19 March 2015, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) released a special supplement of their publication Tobacco Control, containing 15 peer-reviewed articles outlining the results of the first comprehensive evaluation of tobacco plain packaging legislation.

The BMJ Tobacco Control special supplement contains a number of studies undertaken by various authors, including articles relating to the following work commissioned by the Department:
The National Monthly Tobacco Plain Packaging Tracking Survey;
The evaluation of the early effects of tobacco plain packaging on adolescents; and
Research relating to Australian cigar smokers.

Tobacco smoke is made up of thousands of chemicals and many of them are very harmful. Around 70 of them cause cancer. Download What’s in Cigarettes to read more about these chemicals. Poisons in tobacco smoke include: carbon monoxide & tar

Long-term smokers are at a higher risk of developing a range of potentially deadly diseases including: cancer, lung disease, heart disease & poor blood circulation

Around 13 per cent of the Australian population smokes every day and most people who smoke want to quit. According to Quit statistics, 81 per cent of Victorians who smoke have tried to kick the habit at least once, while about 40 per cent try to quit each year.

Successful quitters see their past attempts as practice and experience to learn from and build on. Some people find that going ‘cold turkey’ – quitting completely and immediately – is a successful method for them. However, if you haven’t succeeded in stopping smoking on your own, getting extra support can increase the likelihood that you will quit successfully

Quitting at any age will reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic bronchitis and several other health conditions related to smoking. The earlier you quit, the greater the health benefit.

Your health will improve in the first few months after quitting, benefitting your heart and lungs, increasing blood flow to your hands and feet, and improving your immune system.

Although quitting can initially be stressful, after six months, your stress levels and mood may be better than when you smoked.

People who quit smoking by the age of 30 gain 10 years of life expectancy and avoid most smoking-related diseases. Even quitting at the age of 60 improves your life expectancy by a few years.

If you already have a smoking-related disease, quitting will improve your condition and help with your treatment.