Third hand smoke and babies

[AHapka]

I do think that nicotine replacement therapy needs to be more accesible to those who are poor. We subsidize methadone therapy to get addicts off narcotics. We have prescription medication to help alcoholics. But smokers have to pay $40 or more for a set of patches and ultimately they’ll need more than just one set. I do think someone needs to take all these tax dollars that smokers are pouring into the system and use them to help the smokers get off the stuff.

The money from the tobacco lawsuits a few years back were supposed to go to that, but were instead used by most states for other stuff

So the likelihood of it ever happening is nil to none I would think.

 

[deb1]

My MIL was a 4 pack day smoker. She started smoking at age 18. I never saw her without a cigarette in her hand. Twelve years ago she was diagnosed with heart trouble and had a quadruple bypass. As she awoke from her surgery, she asked the doc when she could have a cigarette. The doc told her she could not have ANY, as she had just had quadruple bypass, she could not leave her bed as she was hooked up to IVs, monitors, etc., and no smoking was allowed in the hospital. He suggested she quit altogether. She did - cold turkey.

It is 12 years later, and she had not touched a single cigarette since then. She never used nicotine replacement therapy. It CAN be done!

My FIL smoked for another year, and then he, too, quit cold turkey. He was about a 2 pack a day smoker.

My mother smoked heavily. I would bet about four or five packs a day. She quit cold turkey also. So I know that it can be done. My husband weaned himself off slowly and then quit all together. Neither he nor my mom used any kind of nicotine aid.

I read somewhere that the average smoker will attempt several times to quit before he/she actually succeeds. So, all you smokers, just keep trying. Eventually you will be able to stop.

 

[tapiocapudding]

I’m half paraboid about 2nd hand smoke from my coworkers. they all smoke like crazy in all the buildings/vehicles. it’s gross. but what can I do. it might harm me someday but the baby should be fine, not like he’s breathing yet…

I truly think 3rd hand smoke is bogus though. It’s a smell. big deal. I burn trash or weeds and come in reeking of smoke too, how is it different? pretty soon candle smoke will be harmful and people with young or elderly in their homes will be told not to light a candle!

personally, I think it’s a rude habit. to come into someone’s house stinking like cigarettes. but other than being offensive to nonsmokers, I can’t buy the idea that the SMELL alone is harmful.

It’s not just a smell though - the chemicals in cigarette smoke cling to clothes and hair and can be harmful, though not nearly as harmful as second hand smoke itself I’m sure. Those who are allergic to cigarette smoke can have severe reactions just to the clothes of a smoker. But I do think that if a relative who doesn’t see a baby too often and has been smoking holds the baby (healthy, full term baby without breathing issues) for a few minutes the harm is probably not severe. At least, no more severe than long term exposure to city smog or car exhaust or any number of other things the baby will be exposed to over time.

And thanks PP, I hope my DH will eventually be able to quit someday. I really want to share my golden years with him and it saddens me to think that if he keeps smoking I’ll probably lose him far too early

but it’s waaaay past my bedtime and I still need to pray my rosary, so I’m out!

 

[Feanor2]

Tapiocapudding,

Your DH is absolutely doing the right thing! I commend him! Well whatever my approval counts for.

I wish my parents had done the same for me- but alas, they also gave many gifts so you win some you lose some!

 

[Feanor2]

Oh and about the taxes,

I support taxes on tobacco not as a detriment to smokers (chewers! ) or to attempt to make them cease smoking.

I see this as contributing to a holistic approach on the habit. With taxes some of that money can be utilized to fund nicotine replacement, support groups and other healthy interventions. Now how to ensure that these taxes are appropriately would need to be paramount.

In this way, the smoker can continue to smoke- because thank God, we don’t live in some crazy dictatorship- and can do most of what we want- AND at the same time contribute to the “other end of the spectrum.” This would be especially useful for less advantaged individuals who want to quit.

I guess I see alc. the same way. I do drink btw.

 

[just_me_1]

Oh and about the taxes,

I support taxes on tobacco not as a detriment to smokers (chewers! ) or to attempt to make them cease smoking.

I see this as contributing to a holistic approach on the habit. With taxes some of that money can be utilized to fund nicotine replacement, support groups and other healthy interventions. Now how to ensure that these taxes are appropriately would need to be paramount.

In this way, the smoker can continue to smoke- because thank God, we don’t live in some crazy dictatorship- and can do most of what we want- AND at the same time contribute to the “other end of the spectrum.” This would be especially useful for less advantaged individuals who want to quit.

I guess I see alc. the same way. I do drink btw.

I dunno. I don’t smoke and HATE the habit, but do we really need to turn over more power (via taxation) to the government? I am against the idea out of principle. it’s like these states that ban smoking in bars–now they’re starting to go out of business. that’s just bad economics, especially now. I never spent time in those smokey bars before but that was my choice. I still don’t… so that’s doing nothing but making the smokers go elsewhere (home? where they can have a beer and cigarette…).

I just don’t understand how the government can meddle around taxing this and that for our “health” (like we’re not capable of taking care of ourselves!) but can, on the same token, slaughter the unborn the way they do… (with our tax dollars…)

sorry getting way off topic, I just find this stuff fascinating

 

[whatevergirl]

:thumbsup:hear hear:thumbsup::thumbsup:WG I can’t agree more. Throw tomatoes all you want, I will still hold the same opinion and will vote for it if it were to come to one in my city/state.

There was another thread on this awhile back and I pointed out how on I think it was Myth Busters? awhile back, they did an experiment with clothes of smokers. They measured how much carbon monoxide their clothes ‘off gassed’ and for how long after they had smoked. **Turns out there was still CO2 coming off the clothes even after being washed!! Even I was surprised at that one. **
It’s no wonder SIDS is associated with babies having a smoking parent. Feanor 2 you are on the right track with your upcoming addition’s health:thumbsup:

(bold part mine) holy smokes, shanny! pun intended. That’s awful. And I’m surprised by that too!! Wow!

 

[_wifey]

A few thoughts…

I live somewhere they have “banned” smoking from bars & restaurants…and most of those are still doing quite well…the ones that have failed are, trust me, not from lack of business from smokers.

Also, the biggest hospital in this city where I live does have a non-profit (free for everyone!) program to help smokers quit…and this hospital is located in the poorest region of the city (not the state, though )

I was a smoker for years…even quit a few times, too. But I never smoked more than a pack a week unless I was sharing! I’m not quite sure what motivated me now, but I was able to quit cold turkey a few years ago. It is still hard when I go out sometimes, but as most of my friends have changed to non-smokers (some are new, some just quit) it isn’t as difficult as it was.

My dad, stepmom, & brother still smoke, but I could not imagine in a million years telling them that they could not hold any future children I might have. I doubt I’d even tell them to wash their hands. And this is with having a freakish obsession about environmental toxins (did you know that bleach produces dioxin which lingers and has been linked to diseases such as endometriosis? You won’t catch that stuff anywhere near my house!)

 

[Feanor2]

A few thoughts…

I live somewhere they have “banned” smoking from bars & restaurants…and most of those are still doing quite well…the ones that have failed are, trust me, not from lack of business from smokers.

Also, the biggest hospital in this city where I live does have a non-profit (free for everyone!) program to help smokers quit…and this hospital is located in the poorest region of the city (not the state, though )

I was a smoker for years…even quit a few times, too. But I never smoked more than a pack a week unless I was sharing! I’m not quite sure what motivated me now, but I was able to quit cold turkey a few years ago. It is still hard when I go out sometimes, but as most of my friends have changed to non-smokers (some are new, some just quit) it isn’t as difficult as it was.

My dad, stepmom, & brother still smoke, but I could not imagine in a million years telling them that they could not hold any future children I might have. I doubt I’d even tell them to wash their hands. And this is with having a freakish obsession about environmental toxins (did you know that bleach produces dioxin which lingers and has been linked to diseases such as endometriosis? You won’t catch that stuff anywhere near my house!)

I have found the same with restaurants in Boston. I now live in NC and perhaps they will do the same thing here. If people want to eat our or go to the bar I have found that they will even if they have to step outside to smoke.

I agree that there are so many major and minor environmental health concerns that it becomes silly to have a complex. Normal and sensible precautions are reasonable.

Congratulations for quitting!

 

[tundramom]

a substance abuse counselor once told me that in the spectrum of addictive substances, Nicotine ranks highly. Right up there with Heroin.

If you look at addictions, it’s easy to see how baffling it all is. Tobacco is less accepted these days, but did you know that alcohol is the ONE addictive substance that affects every system in the body?

something to think about. Is smoking a nasty habit? Yup. Do smokers really like it? Probably at first, but not for long.

in Christ
Steph

 

[Feanor2]

And then you have those fascinating individuals who smoke and drink (even too much) and live into their 80’s.

It shows the profound effect of how a good set of genes can bestow a kind of resilience. I imagine diet and exercise are integral also. . . hmmm. . .