Sign In / Sign Out
Facts
89.6% of ASU students did not smoke cigarettes in the past 30 days.
97.0% of ASU students did not smoke tobacco using a hookah (water pipe) in the past 30 days.
Sources: American College Health Association. American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment: Arizona State University Spring 2017. Baltimore: American College Health Association; Spring 2017 (n=2,096)
Basic Information
Basic Information
It is no secret that cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Yet, tobacco use can lead to dependence. Many people try multiple times to quit using tobacco products. Today there are effective treatments and resources for quitting.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Quitting Smoking.
Health Benefits of Quitting Tobacco Over Time
- 20 minutes - reduced heart rate and blood pressure
- 12 hours - normalized level of carbon monoxide in your blood
- 2 week to 3 months - improved circulation and lung function
- 1 to 9 months - decreased coughing/shortness of breath and normalized lung functioning
- 1 year - reduced risk of coronary heart disease, though still a greater risk than a nonsmoker
- 1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014 [accessed 2015 Oct 5].
- 5 years - reduced risk of stroke
- 10 years - reduced risk of lung, mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix and pancreatic cancer
- 15 years - reduced risk of coronary heart disease to that of a nonsmoker
The great American Health Challenge, Copyright 2007 American Cancer Society, Inc.
The Effects of Secondhand Smoke
In adults who have never smoked, secondhand smoke can cause heart disease and/or lung cancer.
- For nonsmokers, breathing secondhand smoke has immediate harmful effects on the cardiovascular system that can increase the risk for heart attack. People who already have heart disease are at especially high risk
- Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their heart disease risk by 25–30%.
- Secondhand smoke exposure causes an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths annually among adult nonsmokers in the United States.
- Nonsmokers who are exposed to second hand smoke at home or work increase their lung cancer risk by 20-30%
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Secondhand Smoke Facts
Social Smoking
Social smokers light up regularly but not daily. They only have a cigarette when they go out with friends and drink. They think, "I will smoke a little in social situations and quit later." The facts about social smoking include:
- There is really no safe amount of smoking.
- One cigarette can lead to another.
- If you smoke at all you are at an increased risk for cancer and heart disease.
- Second hand smoke is dangerous.
- Social smoking can lead to regular smoking.
- The bottom line: choose not to smoke. Not when you drink, not when you study, not when you are out with friends.
Hookah
Some people believe that smoking hookah is safer than smoking cigarettes because the hookah smoke is filtered through water before it is inhaled. The truth is smoking hookah has the same risks as smoking cigarettes. Hookah smokers actually inhale more nicotine than do cigarette smokers because of the massive volume of smoke they inhale. Also, the smoke produced still contains high level of toxic compounds and carcinogens.
Source: www.who.int
TOBACCO USE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
TOBACCO USE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
ASU students surveyed who use tobacco reported having lower grade point averages than those who did not use tobacco.
Percentage of tobacco users with a cumulative grade point average of:
- A = 15.8%
- B = 21.3%
- C = 19.3%
- D/F = 36.8%
0.8% of tobacco users did not provide a GPA on the survey.
National surveys of high school students show similar results, with high school ages tobacco users reporting types of grades earned (mostly A’s, B’s, C;s and D’s/F’s):
Percentage of high school students who currently smoke cigarettes received mostly:
- A’s = 10%
- B’s = 19%
- C’s = 27% and
- D/F = 45%.
American College Health Association. American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment: Arizona State University Spring 2017. Baltimore: American College Health Association; Spring 2017 (n=2,096)
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Tobacco use and academic achievement. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/health_and_academics/pdf/tobacco_use.pdf .
Self-evaluation
Self-evaluation
Changing for Good
How many times have you vowed to start exercising, eat healthier, get more sleep, reduce stress or quit using tobacco without taking any action toward your goals? Or slipped back into engaging in unhealthy habits after experiencing some life challenges and disruptions? Behavior change is a process that occurs in several stages. Understanding the stages of behavior change and determining where you are in the process will help you successfully move from one stage to another, change your behavior and live a healthy lifestyle.
The Stages of Change, also known as the Transtheoretical Model, features six stages – precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance and termination. While individuals can progress through the stages in a linear fashion, often individuals recycle through the stages. Most often, individuals start with the action stage and end up not reaching their goals due to not thinking about their behavior long enough or preparing to change. Each Stage of Change has certain characteristics and a variety of strategies to utilize to help you successfully move from one stage to another.
- Pre-contemplation: Not ready to change
- Characteristics:
- Have no interest in or are not considering changing current behavior in the next few months
- May be in denial about negative effects of the behavior or not consider it serious
- May have tried to change many times before and have given up
- Could be depressed and defensive
- Strategies
- Think about the positives and negatives of the behavior for yourself and others
- Learn more about the risks of the current behavior and the benefits of changing the behavior
- Contemplation: Thinking about change
- Characteristics:
- Considering changing behavior
- Intend to change behavior within the next six months
- May be ambivalent about changing
- Strategies
- Think about the benefits of changing behavior
- Identify barriers to change and support systems
- Reduce the negatives associated with behavior change
- Preparation: Getting ready to change
- Characteristics:
- Decided to change behavior
- Planning to take action within the next 30 days
- Strategies
- Make a plan, set realistic goals and timeline
- Tell friends and family members and ask for support
- Research and select resources
- Prepare how to deal with obstacles, stressors and relapse
- Action: Initiated change
- Characteristics:
- Took definitive action to change behavior (several days to six months)
- Strategies
- Keep practicing the new behavior
- Celebrate and reward progress – daily, weekly and monthly
- Remain aware of obstacles, stressors and temptation to return to previous behavior
- Connect with support system regularly
- Learn from slips and setbacks
- Maintenance: Maintaining Change
- Characteristics:
- New behavior changed and sustained for six months or longer
- Strategies
- Share experience and support others
- Continue to utilize support system
- Maintain self-awareness and confidence
- Learn from slips and setbacks
- Termination: Change Established
- Characteristics:
- Not temped to return to previous behavior
- New behavior has become a habit
- Sure one will not return to unhealthy habit as a way of coping
- Strategies
- Remain aware of temptation to return to unhealthy habit when experiencing stress or life changes
- Continue to utilize support system
- Share experience and support others
To learn more about Stages of Change, view the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change video and review the book Changing for Good: A Revolutionary Six-Stage Program for Overcoming Bad Habits and Moving Your Life Positively Forward.
Prepare to be Tobacco-free
- Make the decision to quit and stick to it
- Set a quit date and make a plan
- Select resources and choose quit aids
- Plan how you will deal with withdrawal and relapse
- Maintain and enjoy a tobacco-free lifestyle
Living Tobacco-free
Quitting tobacco is a process that occurs over time with hard work and commitment. Living tobacco-free is an important component of a healthy lifestyle and offers many health benefits. Understanding stress, surrounding yourself with support, utilizing resources, awareness of thoughts and emotions, embracing new habits and expanding your coping skills now and in the future will give you the strength to continue to fork the smoke!
Take a few minutes to review the topics that were presented throughout the challenge by visiting the Fork the Smoke! News Archive. Consider what you have learned and how you’ve applied this information to your life. Determine what suggestions you would like to act upon at this time to boost your success and enhance your well-being.
Become familiar with quitting resources that can support your success.
How to help a friend
How to help a friend
Do you know a friend or family member who is trying to quit tobacco? You can play an important role in helping someone you know become tobacco-free.
A great resource for information on how to help someone else quit using tobacco is at smokefree.gov.
Become familiar with quitting resources that support their success
ASSESSMENTS AND CLASSES
ASSESSMENTS AND CLASSES
Your First Step to Change: Smoking
Provides a guide to help you better understand your tobacco use, figure out if you need to change your habits, and decide the best way to change. If you are concerned about your smoking, this guide is for you. Provided through the Division on Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
resources
Laws and Policies
Laws and Policies
ASU is a tobacco-free university. For information on the tobacco-free policy and it’s enforcement, visit ASU Tobacco-Free Initiative.
Programs and Activities
Programs and Activities
Fork the Smoke Tobacco-Free Challenge is an annual program that supports students, faculty and staff in quitting tobacco, maintaining their quit status, or supporting someone they know in their quit efforts. This program starts each year in conjunction with the Great American Smoke-Out in November. Join the many ASU students, faculty and staff who lead a tobacco-free lifestyle. Fork the Smoke!