New Effort against Smoking with New Legislations

Published on December 18, 2009 9:11 AM

Oregon, a state of the northwestern US, has the same problem as many other states, problem like smoking increase among inhabitants.

A new study found that every day 18 Oregonians die from tobacco use while 20 kids start smoking. These findings make anti-tobacco researchers anxious, and not only. Another problem is second smoke exposure. They also found that 35,000 Oregonians are exposed to secondhand smoke at their work places. Also Oregon wastes only one penny of a $1.18 cigarette tax on tobacco uses prevention.

Researchers found not only bad news, but also good new. Unlike other years, in this year was felt a little decrease in smoking use, thanks to new anti-smoking legislations. For example, on January 1st, Oregon restaurants and bars went smoke-free, and in June, the Legislature passed a landmark bill requiring Oregon’s commercial health guarantee to provide coverage for tobacco and smoking cessation.

And also the U.S. Food and Drug Administration plan to introduce in Oregon a new project which will enroll members aged 15 years and older which will receive at least one tobacco cessation benefit during their enrollment. This new advantage will starts on Jan. 1, 2010. "As pulmonary specialists, we care for patients with smoking-related lung diseases every day. We are hotly worried of the ravages of cigarettes use, including second-hand smoke too. We’ve learned over the years that the key is in prevention. We can now tell our patients who want to quit tobacco that help is here," said researchers.

They all hope that this new law will place Oregon at the forefront of preventive health care. This is not a well-known legislation because only six other states have similar law in place. This new legislation will give smokers the help and resources which they need only to quit smoking. Starting with January 1st several tobacco cessation products, like nicotine patches, lozenges and nicotine gum, will be sold over the counter and will not require a prescription.

The new law covers prescriptions, nasal sprays, oral inhalers, over-the-counter remedies, consultations, assistance and education. Medical researchers have taught that each patient needs an integrated approach, using a combination of available therapies along with careful planning to increase their chances of successfully quitting tobacco for good.

In general all of us know that tobacco is very addictive. Even though most smokers know they should quit, they find it very hard to go without the daily dose of nicotine that tobacco products contain.