Tobacco use is a serious problem in Chattanooga and across our state. National statistics show that more than 15 percent of adult Americans smoke or use tobacco products regularly, and in Tennessee, nearly 11,500 adults die each year from smoking.
To highlight the seriousness of the issue and to encourage more Tennesseans to quit, Gov. Bill Haslam has identified this week as "It's Quittin' Time in Tennessee," and the Tennessee Department of Health along with partners across the state are encouraging tobacco users to give up the habit.
We hear all the time how bad tobacco use is for us, but we might not fully realize how harmful it can be. Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined, and thousands more people die each year from tobacco-related causes such as smokeless tobacco and fires caused by smoking. Those accidental fires claim more than 1,000 lives a year in our country.
Tobacco use has been linked to lung cancer, chronic heart disease, type 2 diabetes, birth defects and more. It also increases the risk of other types of cancer including mouth, stomach, kidney, uterus, cervix, ovaries, and colon.
In Tennessee, annual health care costs that are directly caused by smoking add up to nearly $3 billion each year.
Quitting tobacco can stop or even reverse many of the harmful effects of past tobacco use. Quitting is not only good for your health but for those in your life - your family, friends and co-workers - who suffer the effects of secondhand smoke whether they choose to use tobacco or not. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes heart disease, ear infections, asthma, and lung cancer, even in people who have never smoked.
If you or someone you know needs help quitting, there are a number of free resources available through various employer-sponsored wellness programs, county public health departments and local health care institutions. For more information and resources including an online cessation tool, visit www.tnquitline.org. You may also call the Quit for Life program at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) to speak with a counselor who will help you assess your addiction and help you create a quit plan.
Let's commit to quit.
Kevin Lusk is chairman of Tobacco Free Chattanooga.