Smoking Cessation 2009-2010

Here we are at the end of the 2009. What sort of year has it been for smoking cessation? The biggest development in the past year has been the passing of legislation giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the right to regulate tobacco products. While it is too soon to see any dramatic effects, there are high hopes that in years to come this will have a big effect in reducing the number of people who suffer serious tobacco-caused illness.

The other major development in the United States has been continuing increases in tobacco taxes, including a meaningful increase in federal taxes on all tobacco products in April. I am confident that this will have a positive impact in reducing smoking prevalence this and next year, particularly when combined with increasing restrictions on smoking in public places. These legislative and policy factors take a little while to have their effects, but they are very important.

On the negative side we have seen state budgets for tobacco control shrink significantly, and smoking continuing to be presented in a normalizing or glamorizing way in movies.

On the treatment side we have seen plenty of reassuring evidence on the safety and efficacy of varenicline, and also treatment with nicotine patch plus another NRT product. Telephone quitlines and internet website continue to provide free counseling and support, and some cities also have specialist face-to-face smoking cessation services. However to me it remains disappointing to see so many US cities without high quality smoking cessation services.

So what does the future hold? In many ways there has never been a better time to quit smoking. Smoking has been banned on so many pubic places , and is so expensive per pack, that it has become a real hassle to be a smoker. When these factors are added to the known health effects of tobacco, and the growing social unacceptability of smoking, it makes for a growing movement towards smoking cessation.

If you are a smoker or a recent ex-smoker then I wish you all the best for a stress-free and smoke-free 2010. I hope that you will find some of the information on this blog helpful, and will consider sharing some of your experience. If you have a specific question about smoking cessation then I encourage you to try to use the “search Health Experts” function on the right, to find articles on specific topics. Also please feel free to share your questions or experiences by posting your comments.

Have a healthy, smoke-free and peaceful 2010.