Tobacco
WHAT IS TOBACCO?
The primary ingredient in tobacco is nicotine. Nicotine is an extremely addictive poison.
COMMON Tobacco Products include: cigarettes, cigars/cigarillos, pipe tobacco, hookah, spit/chew tobacco, e-cigarettes etc.
TOBACCO IN HAWAII
1,400 lives lost to tobacco use each year in Hawai’i
10% of high school students in Hawai’i smoke
$526 million tobacco-related health care costs to Hawai’i taxpayers each year
HEALTH RISKS
Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causes diseases and reduces one’ health
Heart disease
Stroke
Cancers/ Lung cancer
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) including emphysema and chronic bronchitis
Smoking can cause complications during pregnancy such as eptopic pregnancy and miscarriage
Smoking while can pregnant can lead to stillbirth, premature birth and low birthweight babies
Effects of Secondhand Smoke (ETS):
Secondhand smoke is the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers mixed together with the smoke that comes from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar or pipe. Approximately 200+ kids are killed each year from respiratory distress and fires caused by ETS and unattended cigarettes.
LEGAL PENALTIES
It is illegal for tobacco products to be sold to minors under 21 years old in Hawaii
Federal law requires merchants selling tobacco to ask for a photo ID with purchase of tobacco products
In Hawai’i it is illegal to smoke 20 feet from any public building or public space (including beaches)
QUIT NOW
Free Coaching/Free Patches
Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669)
Sources: The Honolulu Police Department Narcotics/Vice Division, The State of Hawaii‘I/Department of Health/Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division ; The American Lung Association 2005; The Honolulu Advertiser; Epidemiologic Trends in Drug Abuse; Tobacco Use in America: Findings From the 2003 National Household Survey, REAL: Teens Against Big Tobacco, Cancer Prevention and Early Detection 2004; Cancer Facts & Figures 2004; Hawaii Youth Tobacco Survey, Middle School and High School Highlights, 2001-2003, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.