The Pentagon Channel recently interviewed Dr. Jack Smith, the acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for clinical and program policy, about the Great American SmokeOut. The SmokeOut is put forth as an awareness day, encouraging smokers and other tobacco users to quit.
While highlighting the SmokeOut is important, and the day is certainly a noble cause – its aim is to get the entire nation to not smoke for one day in the hopes that users will see they can commit to completely quitting – it’s just as important to keep the idea in mind as we continue on after the SmokeOut.
Everybody who’s been through a school D.A.R.E. program, the Boy or Girl Scouts, or just about any other youth organization knows what smoking can do to you. Your risk for lung, mouth and throat cancer increases; you breathe in carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, benzene and tar (to name a few); and you stain your teeth and make your breath smell awful. Ask any 12-year-old, they can tell you.
But what Smith said is something less well-known. In the focus to prevent kids from starting in the first place, most anti-smoking campaigns ignore the benefits one can have if they quit smoking. Physiologically, he said, our body recovers from smoking damage very quickly. Immediately, a smoker will show medical improvements once they quit.
“If someone is a smoker or tobacco user, the very best thing they can do for their health is to quit,” Smith said.
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