Essay Sample on Controlling Cigarette Consumption Among Women Aged 15-24

Cigarette smoking has been a persistent problem affecting young adults in today’s society. Women, particularly those between 15 and 24 years, are among the group affected by cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking has a severe effect on both active and passive smokers. Some of its health effects include increasing chances of COPD, lung cancer, and chronic bronchitis as well as accelerating attacks leading to death for people who have asthma. The adverse effects of cigarette smoking make regulation of its consumption critically essential. Therefore, the paper examines the primary and secondary approaches vital in the control of cigarette smoking.

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The primary prevention approach towards controlling cigarette smoking for a young women population is mass consumer education for smokers. Mass education on the dangers of smoking is the critical strategy for regulation and reduction of cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking, for many years, has increased as a result of peer to peer interactions. Mass education is critically essential in reducing the trend by reaching a wider population susceptible to smoking. Mass consumer education sensitizes women and ensures a change in the social norms that cause increased cigarette smoking. Additionally, anti-cigarette consumption education in the mass media enhances positive changes in institutional policies. As a result, the smoking patterns amongst women between 15 and 24 who might in these institutions shun cigarette smoking. An excellent example is the college policies that prohibit cigarette smoking within the institution, and more significantly, in areas where there are large social gatherings and interactions. According to the Public Health Service, the antismoking campaign in the mass media has been effective in the past as it led to a reduction in smoking trends in 1967.

Implementation of the tobacco control programs at the state levels is a secondary measure vital in controlling cigarette smoking. The approach can employ means such as increased prices on tobacco products through taxation, banning glamorous advertisements on smoking, cessation therapies, and a general ban on cigarette smoking except for selected smoking zones. The implementation of these approaches is effective in regulating tobacco smoking as it fights the initiation of smoking habits for young women. Additionally, the method reduces the tendency to develop smoking habits caused by secondhand smoking. State regulation measures on cigarette smoking have been effective in the reduction of the trend as observed from the Tobacco Control Scorecard from 2001 (Levy). Increased taxation imposed on cigarettes and tobacco products reduces smoking amongst young women as it makes it a relatively expensive activity. According to Brock, the 2013 tax increase on cigarette and tobacco products in Minnesota by $1.75 led to a significant reduction in smoking among teenagers (170). Therefore, tobacco smoking control measures of the implementation of state regulations are effective in controlling cigarette consumption trends.

In a nutshell, mass consumer education against cigarette smoking is a primary control measure for regulating the consumption of cigarettes. It involves the sensitization of the population through the mass media on the dangers of cigarette smoking. The control measure has been effective in reducing the smoking trends by educating the most vulnerable young women on the dangers of tobacco. Additionally, mass education has been pivotal in enhancing antismoking changes in areas such as learning institutions and social centers. The secondary measure for controlling cigarette smoking is the use of state regulation measures such as increased taxation on tobacco products.

Works Cited

Brock, B., Choi, K., Boyle, R. G., Moilanen, M., & Schillo, B. A. (2016). Tobacco product prices before and after a statewide tobacco tax increase. Tobacco Control, 25(2), 166-173. September 01, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4492908/

Levy, D. T., Tam, J., Kuo, C., Fong, G. T., & Chaloupka, F. (2018). Research full report: the impact of implementing tobacco control policies: the 2017 tobacco control policy scorecard. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 24(5), 448. Retrieved on September 01, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6050159/

Public Health Service. Office of the Surgeon General, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention, & Health Promotion (US). Office on Smoking. (2012). Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. US Government Printing Office. Retrieved on September 01, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK99240/