Tobacco's toxic residue warns teen smokers
Arizona's new anti-smoking campaign has a logo that creeps like a black widow spider and might possibly catch the imagination of teens so they take a more objective look at tobacco addiction.
Sponsored by the Arizona Department of Health Services, a graphic presentation of the campaign, titled "Venomocity," was given Wednesday by Lorraine Castro, Yuma County Health Services District employee.
Castro said she tries to counteract the glamorous pitch tobacco companies make so teens are aware of the dangers of smoking.
Aubrey Coil, 16, a Cibola High School sophomore, is one of a dozen teens who attended the Venomocity campaign at the Main Library. Aubrey said all the visuals on display were great so people could see for themselves.
One of the more striking specimens were an actual sets of lungs, one pair pink and healthy, and another blackened and scarred with an abscess. The lungs were from a pig because they are similar to human lungs, and scientists exposed the blackened pair to a slurry of tobacco tar equivalent to 15 years of smoking.
Aubrey said seeing the presentation made a difference.
"When the kids see the lungs, they say, 'Gross! Why would anyone want their lungs to look like that?'"
Aubrey said she knows students who thought smoking wasn't such a bad idea until they saw Venomocity, but the presentation changed their opinion markedly. Not only is it bad for your body but it is such waste of money, she said.
"You can tell someone smoking is bad but until they see this, they won't know how bad because words can only go so far."
Castro also displayed some of the 4,000 different chemicals that can be in tobacco products, 40 of which can cause cancer. Part of the reason tobacco is loaded with so many chemicals is to keep the product burning slowly and evenly so people can use them at leisure.
Besides cancer, smoking can cause emphysema, gingivitis, wrinkles in the face and stain the pigment of fingertips, she said.
"People say when they quit, their sense of smell comes back. Then they notice what tobacco did to their furniture and car and they say it smells awful."
Addiction causes a strong craving, Castro said. When people smoke, the brain releases a chemical called dopamine, which scientists theorize acts like a reward mechanism that makes a person want to repeat the activity. So instead of smoking one cigarette, people will smoke dozens, Castro noted.
"Tobacco addiction is the same as heroin. Some people say it's easier to quit heroin because cigarettes are sold everywhere."
Most teens will not consider the long-term effects of a disease that takes 20 years to develop, she said.
And tobacco companies keep coming up with new products to lure teens into smoking, she added.
There is a "spit free" chewing tobacco with a mint flavor that smells like chewing gum. Then there is "Pink Dreams," wrapped in pink cigarette paper that looks cute to girls, and a brand, Camel No. 9, that is a trendy name intended to remind girls of the perfume, Chanel No. 9.
"Venomocity is a campaign developed by teens for teens. But we also want to show them the loss of control that comes with nicotine addiction and can lead to 20 years of smoking," Castro said.
