When smokers light up, they usually are forced to do so far from human contact. And now the obvious is confirmed: Many Americans hold people who still smoke in lower regard.
One in four people say they respect a person less when he or she smokes, according to a recent Gallup Poll, vs. 14% in the 1990s. Former smokers aren't more empathetic; even among current smokers, 5% have less respect for tobacco users.
Despite this social marginalization -- layered atop a barrage of anti-smoking ads, restrictive legislation, soaring per-pack prices, heightened pressure from employers, doctors and insurers, and a ban on smoking on 500 college campuses -- 19.3% of the U.S. population still smokes.
The good news: A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week says that, among daily smokers, the percentage who smoke 30 or more cigarettes a day dropped to 8% in 2010 (down from 13% in 2005). And today there are more tools, free advice and greater understanding of how tough it is to quit.
"Just because someone has already failed once, twice or more doesn't mean they can't be successful the next time. We know that now," says Patrick Reynolds, who in 1989 started the non-profit Foundation for a Smokefree America (tobaccofree.org). "Failed attempts are part of the normal journey toward becoming a non-smoker."
Reynolds, grandson of cigarette company founder R.J. Reynolds and a former smoker, believes proud rigidity among smokers has diminished. "Most people who still smoke feel shame more than anything," he says.
Towson, Md., clinical psychologist Marc Lipton says 30%-35% of his quit-smoking clients "have untreated anxiety and depression," and smoking can't be addressed until those are. But once they are, success is more likely.
Reynolds says one of his most effective techniques is to remind young people of today's truth. "Why would you take up a habit," Reynolds asks them, "that is guaranteed to make you a social outcast?"
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