TIPS FOR TOUGH TIMES
Issue #56					Maryland Attorney General's Office
						Consumer Protection Division

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Tobacco: The Cost Might Surprise You

True or False:

*	Joe Camel, the cartoon used to advertise Camel cigarettes, is as 	familiar to 6-year-olds as Mickey Mouse.

* 	Tobacco use is rising among young people.

* 	More Marylanders will die from tobacco use than from AIDS, alcohol, 	accidents, murders, suicides, illegal drug use and fires combined.

*	Nicotine is as addictive as cocaine and heroin.

*	90 percent of people who become life-long smokers started when they 	were teens.

All true. Tobacco is the No. 1 killer of Marylanders, robbing us of more than 7,300 family members a year and costing our state $1.5 billion. Yet 50 to 60 young people begin smoking each day in Maryland, and 3,000 teens begin smoking each day in the United States. Most will not quit; a third will die of smoking-related illnesses.

Smoking is expensive, and not just because cigarettes cost  money. The other, indirect costs of smoking to you, your employer and society may surprise you. In the end, smoking may cost you your life.

Whether you are an adult or a teen, a parent or a student, a smoker, a nonsmoker or the friend of someone who smokes or is thinking about smoking, here's what you should know:

*	A recent Harvard University School of Public Health study concluded tobacco will become the single largest cause of death and disability in the world within the next 25 years.

*	According to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, tobacco use meets the primary criteria for drug addiction, as developed by the World Health Organization and the National Institute of Drug Abuse: Nicotine Addiction is characterized by a strong, persistent, often irresistible urge for tobacco products. Tobacco use is mood-altering, and there are regular patterns of use that continue despite harmful effects.

*	Teens underestimate the addictive effects of cigarettes. About 73 percent of teen smokers who say they think they will quit in the near future are still smoking five years later.

*	Chewing tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarettes; it has been linked to cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cancer of the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, pancreas and lungs.

*	Maryland's cancer death rate is third highest in the nation. Tobacco has been linked to lung cancer, oral cancer and many other cancers. Students who use tobacco are three times more likely to use alcohol, eight times more likely to use marijuana and 22 times more likely to use cocaine than their peers who don't smoke.

*	You are a target. Tobacco companies need new smokers, so they spend billions of dollars on ad campaigns designed to make smoking look desirable. The reason is simple. Some smokers quit, many die. Tobacco companies need to replace the customers they lose. Once you start, you are likely to remain a customer for the rest of your life, so the companies find the billions of dollars they spend recruiting users to be a worthwhile investment.

*	Society is becoming less tolerant of second-hand smoke. Many stores and restaurants now do not allow smoking. And many workplaces, including most in Maryland,  do not allow smoking.

Teens are overwhelmingly the biggest new-customer base for tobacco companies. With 3,000 teens a day beginning a habit many never can kick, ads and merchandise promoting cigarettes are garnering big results. And while laws ban the sale of tobacco products to minors, teens do not appear to have trouble purchasing cigarettes or smokeless tobacco.
U.S. News and World Reports recently interviewed 20 Baltimore-area teens about smoking. The teens told the magazine they know they are targets of ad campaigns and that the ads do attract them, that they smoke to rebel against authority and that they smoke to be like their peers. Most were not seriously concerned about the health risks and most believed they would be able to stop smoking when they chose to.

If you are a teen considering smoking, keep in mind that 90 percent of people who become life-long smokers started when they were teens. Starting to use an addictive product that eventually kills one-third of the people who use it is a very serious decision.

If you are a parent, talk to your teens about smoking. Studies show teens are more likely to smoke if their parents smoke. If you have tried to quit and failed, talk to your child about why you failed and how difficult the habit is to break.

If you are a smoker who wants to quit, enlist the help of your family, friends and physician. As smoking becomes less acceptable socially, and as evidence of the health risks mounts, more and more products and programs aim at helping smokers end addiction. Your doctor can give you more information about which of these products or programs may be best for you.

Smoking is a dangerous and, for many, a lethal habit. For your own sake, if you are a smoker or someone thinking about starting to smoke, you need to evaluate our developing knowledge about tobacco's health risks.

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You can find back issues of Tips For Tough Times on the Internet at http://sailor.lib.md.us/docs/tip_toc.html

Tips For Tough Times is available in alternative formats for visually impaired consumers. Call (410) 576-6956.

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October 1996. Tips for Tough Times is produced by the Consumer Protection Division of the Maryland Attorney General's Office.
J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Attorney General
William Leibovici, Chief, Consumer Protection Division
Lucy Weisz, Deputy Chief, Consumer Protection Division
Jackie Ward, Editor
Andrea Cooper, Graphics

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Volunteers Needed

Help consumers with problems, experience the workings of a law enforcement agency, and develop valuable skills by volunteering at the Consumer Protection Division's downtown Baltimore office as a:

* Consumer Affairs Mediator: Mediates consumer complaints against businesses and responds to consumer inquiries on the telephone hotline.

* Health Advocacy Mediator: Mediates consumer complaints against health care providers and responds to consumer inquiries on the telephone hotline.

* Legislative Aide/Consumer Advocate: Assists in conducting research, preparing reports on consumer issues, and monitoring state and federal legislation affecting consumers.

Our office is convenient to the Light Rail and Metro. The Inner Harbor, museums, theaters, restaurants and other attractions are close by. Interested? Call Ann Brooke at 410-576-6550.

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HOW YOU CAN REACH US

Consumer Protection Division, Maryland Attorney General's Office
Downtown Baltimore
Consumer Protection Division
200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202-2021

Complaints
* General: (410)528-8662 (9 a.m. to 3 p.m., M-F)
* Health Education & Advocacy Unit: (410)528-1840 
	(9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., M-F)
* D.C. Metro Area: (301)470-7534
* TDD for hearing impaired persons: (410)576-6372
Send written complaints to:
Consumer Protection Division
200 Saint Paul Place, 16th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202

Branch Offices
* Cumberland
	(301)722-2000
	(9 a.m. to 12 p.m., 3rd Tues. of each month)
* Frederick
	(301)694-1071
	(9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2nd and 4th Thurs. of each month)
* Hagerstown
	(301)791-4780
	(8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
* Salisbury
	(410)543-6620
	(8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)


