The Causes and Health Related Impact of Smoking - Research Proposal Example

Empirical Study About The Causes And Social And Health Related Impact Of Smoking "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know becauseIve done it thousands of times." - Mark Twain No matter how funny the sentence above might seem smoking literally kills a person. The tobacco industry spends nearly $29 million each day just for marketing cigarettes (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). The US could have easily overcome the economic recession if half of that amount was spent productively to create better jobs. All the habitual smokers are well aware of the various ill effects caused by tobacco but still cannot quit smoking because of addiction (Weiten, Dunn & Hammer, 2011). Teenagers start smoking to establish themselves as adults among their peers. The habit continues into adulthood. People smoke for prestige and later make it a prominent habit (Burnham, 1993). They smoke when they are tensed, when they are happy, sad and to relieve themselves from mental stress. This research paper will try to analyze the mentality of the chain smokers and determine whether control in selling such products will limit them from smoking. The paper will also underline smokings influence on society. Aims and Objectives The purpose of this project is to get a detailed picture of the chain smokers attitude and determine whether the government controls could control their habit. The project aims at analyzing What prompts the smokers to stick to cling to the habit intensely Check how far the smokers are aware about the ill effects of their habit Whether strict control enforced in family level as well as by the government will help them Literature Review Thousands of books, journal articles and research papers have been submitted regarding smoking over the years. Smoking habit was very common during the 1950s in the US. The level of smoking has deteriorated by many folds now, but smoking still kills millions of people around the world every year. As mentioned earlier smoking starts just by taking a puff to impress friends and build image among the group and sticks to the user like a curse (Spring, 2008). None of us remember the first time we ate chocolate. But, most of us do eat it till date even though we suffer from obesity or diabetes. Smoking is a similar habit, but very harmful to health than eating chocolate. At one stage it makes a person so addicted to nicotine that the body starts getting various side effects like shaking hands, and headache if they do not smoke in a particular interval (Spring, 2008). Media also plays a major role in creating a myth that the smoking is a stress buster. Oftentimes, the elite and the rich are shown smoking. Heroes with perfectly refined manners are shown to be smoking. Youngsters who watch such movies aspire to be like them rich, own a car and villa like them. Since all this will take time, they resort to doing what they can imitate immediately, smoke like the hero. The changing lifestyle of people which makes them live away from the family with little restrictions to smoke, lack of awareness regarding what might seriously go wrong and the media depiction are all a reason for inducing smoking among youngsters (Keyishan, 2003). Adapting smoking habit at the age of 40 or 50 is very rare. Most of the smokers start young and die young. Smoking will create major financial, social acceptance as well as health problems in the future for such youngsters (Russel, 2012). Smoking a cigar or two will not make a big difference initially. But as time passes, they are forced to smoke nearly a packet full of cigars per day. Our lung is similar to a sponge which will get severely damaged due to the excessive nicotine. Similarly, the financial strain smoking puts upon average earners makes them very vulnerable to indulge in various illegal activities just to earn enough to smoke. Research Methodology Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected for the research. A survey form consisting of nearly 15 questions will be presented to selected smokers. The smokers are identified from a therapy center where they have enrolled to come out of the habit. The questions will focus on how they got into the habit, why they like to come out, how smoking had affected their financial and social image. The data collected will be analyzed using Graphical analysis method and Text analysis method Data was collected by visiting nearly 50 heavy smokers from a therapy center recommended by a lead hospital. The volunteers approached each smoker and gave them a questionnaire to fill in. They also talked to them directly regarding the subject. The collected data were fed into the spreadsheet software and analyzed personally by the researcher to come to the final conclusion. Results of the Research Among the 50 participants nearly half them aged under 35. People who like to quit smoking voluntarily are usually middle aged. Others have enrolled in the therapy because of various reasons like the hospital forcing them, unable to meet the financial expenses etc. Most ( more than 80%) of the smokers agreed they started smoking in teenage. They did so for fun, influenced by media and parents. They felt they would have quit the practice if their family members had been very strict about it. They admitted to smoking affecting their health in the course of time severely. Among the 50 people interviewed nearly 20 people were aged 20 to 30. There were 10 female smokers and 40 male smokers. When asked what prompted you to smoke in the first place, most of the them answer peer pressure (nearly 23). They picked up the habit of smoking in hostel when they were away from the family because friends said it would ease pressure and give them confidence. They started smoking for the fear of being rejected by the group and got addicted within two or three years. They feel they would not have grown so addicted to the habit if their parents had found out earlier or any elders have stopped them at an early stage. When asked why they want to quit smoking, 3 women and 2 men answered they were about to get a child. Nearly 23 people out of 50 said they faced severe health and financial issues due to smoking. Their hospital and the mounting bills have forced them to enroll in the therapy. What started as a habit to be accepted in the public stops when the public starts moving away from them. Smoking Age Group What Prompted You to Smoke? Why do you want to quite smoking? What health problems you face ? Considering the health problems in detail, one person suffers from Cancer, while most of them suffer from severe headaches. Shivering hands are common for 10 people. The smokers are aware these are early symptoms of much the serious diseases. In fact, they were aware from the very beginning, but gave in to temptations. Recommendations From The Research The government should control youngsters smoking on the campus and other areas through strict monitoring. It should make the cigarette’s costlier and hard to get for youngsters. The parents leaving their children in hostels should monitor them closely and warn them firmly to quit the habit immediately or they will stop paying for their expenses. Such measures will save the children regretting their addiction in the later part of life. Peer pressure can be used to motivate kids not to smoke too. Educational institutions should come up with creative means of establishing clubs and groups which do not smoke and give them extra perks in or rewards like less study hours or grace marks. They can reward students who bring in a friend or two to the group with small rewards like mobile recharge. This will motivate many students to stop smoking and make their friends follow the same. Smoking can be contagious. Corporate offices can hold no smoke parties. They can follow the same method given above to create no smoke clubs. They should conduct awareness programs about smoking for their employees occasionally. They can reward the non-smokers and the people who come forward to quit smoking with small rewards like movie tickets. They can condemn them with severity if they fall back to old ways. Conclusion Smoking develops as a harmless habit and grows its tentacles long to influence every part of the life. While the college pals do not include non-smoking kids in the groups, the elite groups in clubs and offices do not include chain smokers among them. So, it is better to have a balance and get rid of the habit to maintain a dignified social status. Youngsters who get into the habit should be extra careful as it is their health they pay as price for every cigarette they buy. They should understand it is better to be left alone by a smoking group than be accepted as one of them and be deprived of several good things in life like good health and financial security. Adults who are chain smokers should realize they harm their family too for their addiction. There are several types of help avaialable to those who choose to quit. References 1. Burnham, J.C. 1993. Bad Habits: Drinking, Smoking, Taking Drugs, Gambling, Sexual Misbehaviour and Swearing in American History. 2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2012. Economic Facts About U.S. Tobacco Production and Use. Smoking & Tobacco Use. Retreived from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/economics/econ_facts/ 3. Keyishan, E. 2003. Everything You Need to Know About Smoking. The Rosen Publishing Group. 4. Russell, B. 2012. Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits. 5. Spring, B. 2008. Smoking Cessation with Weight Gain Prevention: Workbook. 6. Weiten, W., Dunn, D.S. & Hammer, E.Y. 2011. Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustment in the 21st Century. Read More